Betting: Groundhog day on the cards for Arsenal against Bayern Munich
As sure as night following day, or Manchester United remaining in sixth, Arsenal will once again take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League this evening.
The round of 16 tie is the fourth time they’ve been drawn together in the past five seasons, and the third occasion at this stage of the competition.
After being thumped 5-1 in their last meeting, and being eliminated the two seasons before that, Gunners fans must be sick of the sights of the German giants.
Arsene Wenger must have thought he’d dodged his bogey side when Arsenal topped Group A – only to see Carlo Ancelotti’s men finish second in their pool.
“Should we just book our travel to London now?” enquired Bayern on Twitter ahead of the draw – and they would have been right to.
Playing at the Allianz Arena is just another reason for Arsenal fans to rue yet another Groundhog season.
History has repeated itself as the attacking, but brittle squad showed early promise before a crisis of confidence and poor performances against rivals has seen the Gunners drop out of the title race.
The calls for Wenger to make this season his last are growing ever-louder – his side haven’t reached the quarter-finals since 2010.
Bayern are also having a routine season, though theirs is far more enjoyable than Arsenal’s.
‘FC Hollywood’ are seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, and have won ten of their last eleven matches.
The only surprise was not topping their Champions League group ahead of Atletico Madrid – though they were able to beat last year’s finalists 1-0 during the first stage of this tournament.
Their last meeting with Arsenal in November 2015 was as one-sided as it gets – the 5-1 defeat the worst Wenger has suffered in European competition.
With that result in mind, and having been totally outplayed by Chelsea earlier this month, I just can’t see the Gunners getting anything tonight.
Back Bayern at 1/2 with 188Bet.
There could be goals too – though maybe not quite the six of 15 months ago.
I’ll be on 188Bet’s 6/4 for over 3.5 total goals.
Pointers
Bayern 1/2 – (188Bet)
Over 3.5 goals – 6/4 (188Bet)