MUNICH, Germany (Sporting Alert) — Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that defender Kieran Gibbs has been ruled out of Wednesday night’s Champions League last-16 second-leg clash away to Bayern Munich.
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Gibbs has a calf injury against Everton in the FA Cup win and did not make the trip to Germany, but centre-back Laurent Koscielny returns to the squad after he missed the Everton clash with a hamstring problem.
“We have lost Kieran Gibbs from the squad on Saturday with an ankle problem,” Wenger said on Arsenal.com.
“Laurent Koscielny is back in the squad, so the only change in the squad is Koscielny for Gibbs.
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is suspended for his sending off in the first leg defeat, while striker Yaya Sanogo, who started the first leg at home, has been ruled out with a foot problem.
Defending champions Bayern Munich lead the contest 2-0 and are favourites to finish off Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.
However, the English Premier League side refuses to give up.
“Bayern are the best team on the continent at the moment, but I am confident,” Wenger said. “It is difficult to say if Bayern are better this year than last.
“We will see. But of course, they have the quality to be there right at the top. Performances win you games, not being favourites.”
He added: “We are focused on putting on a great performance. The history, with last year, is important. We know we can do it this time because we already did it last year.
“It is a possible task for us. My team has quality and ambition. With a top performance we can do it. It would be absolutely great to win. A big win would set us up for the last few months of the season.”
Bayern Munich warmed up for the clash with a convincing 6-1 hammering of Wolfsburg at the weekend in the Bundesliga and Pep Guardiola believes his team is on the right path to make the quarter-finals.
“Well, of course 2-0 was a good result for us. Though it is dangerous, we have a good chance to go through,” Guardiola said.
“We have to bring our ideas to fruition. The Champions League is more important than the Bundesliga and we have to do our best.
“The main thing for us is avoiding conceding a goal. We have to play with the mentality that we want to win the game. We will play in a way that makes sure that we want to win the game.
“They have very good midfielders and you really have to do well against them. We have to win this game, it doesn’t matter what we did in the first leg. This is what we have to concentrate on,” he added.
Arsenal squad: Fabianski, Viviano, Sagna, Vermaelen, Arteta, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Giroud, Ozil, Podolski, Jenkinson, Rosicky, Flamini, Gnabry, Miyaichi, Hayden.
