{"id":9422,"date":"2024-04-08T22:02:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T21:02:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9422"},"modified":"2024-04-10T11:23:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T10:23:24","slug":"old-foes-reunited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9422","title":{"rendered":"Old Foes Reunited"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"V7l7lebATn9G7GCXresV_A\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1456860071\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'V7l7lebATn9G7GCXresV_A',sig:'5k1-BNQVg75gn_ajYRPw9UPjbC6XSzg68Dyqtznk1Jo=',w:'594px',h:'417px',items:'1456860071',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>It has been 14 years since Arsenal Football Club last played in a UEFA Champions League quarter final but tomorrow evening that will come to a long-awaited end when our old nemesis, Bayern Munich, come to town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite being born in the very early 2000s as my pseudonym would suggest, I am indeed old enough to recall our most recent appearance at this stage way back in 2010 (some two thirds of my life ago) as we were pitted against a Barcelona side who were truly at the peak of their powers and then some. Despite a valiant 2-2 draw in N5 when we really should have been down and out at half time, in the second leg we were treated to the Lionel Messi show as he stuck four goals past a hapless Arsenal defence as we lost 6-3 on aggregate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seven consecutive Last 16 defeats ensued to a number of different opponents; We would succumb to the wrath of Messi and co on a further two occasions, AC Milan (if only RVP didn\u2019t attempt the chip), Monaco (thanks Giroud) and Bayern x3 (do we really need reminding?!) which preceded another seven years of exile from the Champions League altogether, but three thousand iPhones, five Prime Ministers and one global pandemic later, Arsenal are finally back where Ivan Gazidis told us we belong and that is competing in the latter stages of the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Or was it Leicester?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s been a mostly enjoyable ride to the last eight, we won our group comfortably, scoring some lovely goals along the way but then came a very hairy 210 minute or so tie with Porto in which we scraped through via a penalty shootout victory, courtesy of some much-needed David Raya heroics as well as most of our players being quite good at converting from 12 yards. It was a tie we could\u2019ve easily lost in years gone by, but we did the opposite of losing and that\u2019s something we\u2019ve done quite a lot lately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what about Bayern Munich? Well, as I said in the first two words of that previous sentence, for much of this campaign Bayern have been a little bit \u2018so what.\u2019 They currently lie in second place, some 16 points behind Bayer Leverkusen with only 18 points to play for in the Bundesliga. Bayern will arrive in North London as the German Champions as they have been for over a decade, but there is a very good chance that by the time CER and I touch down in Munich next week, they will have been stripped of their crown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is not easy to understand why Bayern have collapsed in the way that they have but could it be in some way related to a certain player who is affected by a serious medical affliction known as \u201cSpursiness\u201d? Yes that\u2019s right folks, I am of course talking about Harry \u201cno medals\u201d Kane. In fairness to the former Spurs skipper, he has been banging the goals in at his usual rate, but he clearly possesses some sort of trophyless stench that impairs the abilities of his teammates, a stench Kane himself has become nose blind to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All jokes aside, he is in my opinion the greatest striker on the planet, a player who can score a goal out of nothing and as complete forwards go Kane is one of the best strikers not just currently but of the last 20 odd years. I do honestly enjoy the fact that he\u2019s no longer of a Spurs persuasion allowing us to enjoy his abilities more than what was previously socially and morally acceptable when he was over on the dark side of Seven Sisters Road. Of course, it won\u2019t all be about him, but his return to North London was unsurprisingly touted as one of the main narratives when the draw was made, and Gabriel and Saliba will have a huge task in keeping him quiet. Expect him to be greeted by a loud cacophony of boos every time he touches the ball!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsewhere, Bayern also boast the lightening bolt that is Leroy Sane, a man Arteta knows very well indeed from his time in Middle East Manchester. On the other flank there is the promising Musiala and of course Serge Gnabry, formerly of this parish and a reject from the Tony Pulis school of late 2000\u2019s hoof ball. To the surprise of a man of Pulis\u2019 genius, Serge has gone on to do all right for himself in Bavaria. Although I suppose that means little when you aren\u2019t six foot seven, don\u2019t have webbed hands and feet and are not in possession of a forklift truck license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bayern also boast the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka and at the back we are likely to see Upamecano and De Ligt, two players who haven\u2019t set the world alight following promising starts to their careers at Leipzig and Ajax respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite Bayern\u2019s poor domestic form, you would expect them to be right up for this given it is their only realistic shot at silverware this season. They are a far more experienced European side than we; how much that will count for will be very interesting indeed. We will need to bring the noise, scarves and preferably our dinner too. Don\u2019t forget your schnitzel and Lederhosen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There will be no Bayern fans in the ground due to UEFA sanctions so whether the additional 3,000 seats will be taken up by Gunners fans or the \u201cUEFA football family\u201d will be something worth looking out for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as Arteta\u2019s team selection goes, bar Timber we have a completely clean bill of health which is rather handy. I expect Tomiyasu to come in for Zinchenko on the left to combat Sane\u2019s tendency to cut inside, and it will be interesting to see who starts alongside Rice out of Partey and Jorginho. I suspect it will be the latter. Further forward I would start Jesus on the left and stick with Havertz down the middle. I am willing to admit he is starting to prove me wrong. As the saying goes, \u201cif it ain\u2019t broke don\u2019t fix it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I, along with every Arsenal fan near and far, am really looking forward to this one and I do fancy us to go through to the semis. We are in incredible form right now and the possibility of a league and European Cup double is well and truly on, and it\u2019s been a while since we\u2019ve been able to say that. 2-0 to the Arsenal in N5 followed by a gritty 1-1 draw in Bavaria is what my sources are telling me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images It has been 14 years since Arsenal Football Club last played in a UEFA Champions League quarter final but tomorrow evening that will come to a long-awaited end when our old nemesis, Bayern Munich, come to town. Despite being born in the very early 2000s as my pseudonym would suggest, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9422"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9438,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9422\/revisions\/9438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}