Arsene Wenger makes bold Bayern vs Arsenal prediction ahead of Champions League clash

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal can take advantage of Bayern Munich‘s vulnerability at home to “glide through” into the Champions League semi-finals.

The two teams played out an absorbing 2-2 draw in the first leg at the Emirates, and the tie reminds finely poised ahead of the second leg in Germany.

Bayern’s veil of invincibility has been pierced after they failed to win the Bundesliga for the first time in 12 years, and face an Arsenal team determined to right the ship after a disastrous loss to Aston Villa on the weekend may have cost them their own league title.

When asked to predict the game on BeIN Sports, Wenger said: “Arsenal against Bayern Munich is a 50-50 game. Bayern have recently been vulnerable at home in the Bundesliga, they lost to Dortmund in a very important game so they will not be 100 per cent confident. I still think Arsenal might just glide through against Bayern.”

When asked if he was making the prediction with his head or his heart, Wenger replied: “A bit of both, a combination!”

Allianz Arena has traditionally been a house of horrors for Arsenal. Their last two visits both ended in heavy 5-1 losses, most recently in the 2016/2017 Champions League round of 16. Arsenal have only won once in Munich, prevailing 2-0 in March 2013 but were still knocked out on away goals by the eventual champions.

Arsenal have not made the Champions League semi-finals since 2009, and lost seven last-16 ties in a row before missing out on the Champions League entirely for six seasons. Mikel Arteta thinks a victory tonight would be cathartic.

“It would be unbelievable,” Arteta said. “If we make it happen tomorrow and we’re in the semi-final, we’ll be in a really high emotional state with something that we haven’t achieved in 15 years and that’s the opportunity.