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Arsenal Vs Bayern Munich: Granit Xhaka Set For Return As The Saviour
Granit Xhaka has been absent with his latest suspension and the Arsenal midfield has suffered as a result. It is all set up for him to return as saviour.
The recent struggles that Arsenal have had can be primarily attributed to one position: central midfield. In the loss to Watford a little over a week ago, Arsene Wenger started Francis Coquelin and Aaron Ramsey as the pair of holding midfielders. It did not go well.
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Ramsey was awful for just under 20 minutes. He sprayed passes all over, was unable to provide the spark for the attack in his most natural and best-suited box-to-box role and first failed to collect (or even challenge) for Gabriel Paulista’s loose throw in before simply jogging back, wholly unaware of the danger to see Troy Deeney put the Hornets two goals to the good under a quarter of an hour played.
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The Welshman was subbed off with a calf injury and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was forced into the lineup for the remainder of the game and then had to start against Chelsea a few days afterwards. He was paired by Coquelin and this time it was the Frenchman’s turn to be badly exposed. Defensively Eden Hazard ran rings round him while on the ball, his inaccurate distribution was able to engineer few attacking opportunities for his side.
These personnel issues that Wenger was forced to navigate his way through were thanks to injuries, an untimely African Cup of Nations and a needless four-match suspension for Granit Xhaka. Thankfully for Arsenal, Xhaka has just two more games of the ban to serve and, seeing as it does not apply to European competition, will be available for the first leg of the last 16 Champions League tie with Bayern Munich.
Given his side’s recent issues in central midfield and the fresh legs that Xhaka will boast, it is difficult to see how Wenger veers away from the £34 million man for the first Bayern leg in Munich. With the Premier League all but over for Arsenal, this is now the first of the two biggest games of the season. The stage is set for a sensation.
It would be an unlikely victory, a near miracle, if the North London side were able to topple Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern at the Allianz Arena, even with the reported dressing room split and recent poor form – they are still top of the Bundesliga and have just qualified for the quarter-finals of the German Cup, seeing past Wolfsburg, so it’s all relative.
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The midfield will be tested greatly against the might of the Bayern team and Xhaka would have to play a major part if Arsenal were indeed to win. Central midfield is need of a saviour and Xhaka is set to return. It’s written in the stars… hopefully.