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| Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance |
It is on days like this that it becomes apparent why fourth
place is a trophy. The chance that comes with Champions league football is one
to savor. Yes, we are rank outsiders against Pep’s Bayern, but it this is one
of those moments when just being there, there to compete is enough.
You see, the world’s problems are precisely because of that:
Too many people without the chance to engage and contribute to humanity’s forward
march into the 21st century; their attributes locked out of the
collective pot because of their age, sex, creed and even geography.
Have no doubts about it, Bayern are excited too. In all probability,
the Bavarians ought to be significantly more pumped up for this Champions League
round of 16 tie than last year. A lot of water has passed under that bridge
since our aggregate 3-3 score against the eventual champions, at a similar stage,
thanks to the “so-Mourinho’s-19th century-like” away goals rule.
For starters, Bayern
Munich cannibalized Dortmund and have effectively turned the Budensliga into
the new La Liga. Goetze, Lahm and company must be bored of the Freiburg, Hamburg and Franfurt diet. The Bavarians have
ripped the league apart and stand 16 points clear, being unbeaten in 46 matches
this season. Everyone considers them to be the team that will do the impossible
and become the first to retain the Champions league crown.
Arsenal has had the proper preparation for this tie having
faced a quality Liverpool side twice and a creaking Manchester United. This trio
of games that preceded this quartet of killer fixtures offered a complete exam,
including a thorough cavity search by Liverpool, for a side that many consider
to have exceeded expectations.
Moreover, football is one cruel (B word that rhymes with
Witch). The Liverpool nightmare could replay or Arsenal could make most of their
underdog status to register The upset of the season. When compared to Bayern, will
Arsenal be in the zone mentally given that more than once, against Manchester
City in this season’s group stage and against us in the second leg tie in the
last campaign, the Bavarians have fallen to the temptation of complacency that
comes with routine fixtures?
Will the physical freshness that comes with a winter break
and astute rotation from Pep make the difference? Or is it a case of one
manager in the grammar of Big Sam “out-tactic” the other? One thing is for
sure, we head into this tie in better mind frame, form and sense of family than
last season which saw us face Bayern in the wake of second-tier Blackburn
knocking us out the FA Cup.
A positive result against Bayern, even in this first of two
ties, and the wind will be up our sails in the EPL title run in. An inglorious result and we could find
ourselves deep in the dungeons, 9 light years away fast approaching Liverpool’s
20 plus light years away from the gleam of a premiership title.
This statement has
the stink of a Suarez-esque fall in the box, but you only have to look at
Barcelona’s staggering after the unrelenting hangover of Bayern’s mauling in
last season’s Semi-final. It becomes
more perverse given the maturity of Barcelona as a football club in all regards
financial, brand equity, youth systems and identity in style of play.
Catch us tomorrow on match for our thoughts on how we might
line up. Drop us a line in the comments on the article and our new look. In
case you are yet to take note, we have a new home on the web www.arsenalii.co.ke as you can see; we are still working on the décor.
All this is thanks to you Arsenal damu for your continued support. Kwaheri ya
kuonana
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