Mesut Ozil says Arsenal have the quality to overcome Bayern Munich in the Champions League if they match the barnstorming showing that destroyed Manchester United 3-0 on Sunday.
The Gunners currently sit bottom of their group after disheartening defeats against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos and know there’s no room for further dropped points if they’re to qualify for the knockout stages for a sixteenth consecutive season.
Recognising that the pressure is on, Ozil told Bild that he firmly believes in the quality of his teammates as they brace themselves for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s high-flying Bundesliga champions.
“It is true that there is a lot of pressure on us in the Champions League. We can beat Bayern, though, if we play at the same level as against Manchester United.
“I was a bit surprised to see Bayern beat Dortmund 5-1. Bayern’s results show that they are in great form.
“We have a lot of respect for Bayern, but we are not afraid of them. We are playing at home and we know how to score goals and be successful against Bayern. Of course, it will not be easy, but we have the potential to beat any team.”
Such is the confidence garnered from the victory over Manchester United that Ozil believes Arsenal can win the Premier League title for the first time in 11 years. Arsene Wenger’s men currently sit in second place in the table, three points behind Manchester City, despite losing twice in their opening eight games.
“We have a great team with a lot of world-class players,” he added.
“Our goal is to win the Premier League title. I think we can achieve it this season if we do not get any major injuries. But the season is still long.”
woww. that’s the, attitude peeps..We have to be fully alert against Bayern, NO switching off. We will do this! am quite optimistic
We were more than a match for them last time until the red card. Had the chances to go up 2-0 . Then the missed penalty and red card screwed up everything. The start was brilliant. Ozil was in great form too till the penalty incident. If we start like that, and convert one of those chances, we will win. Our defense is strong enough this time. They can very well protect even a one goal lead. Scoring first and scoring early is going to be key .
Much as I love Per would like to see Koscielny and Gabriel start this match (assuming both are fit). Imagine if we got at them like United and beat them by a couple.. Unlikely I know but that could seriously put our season on the right track. Anyone know if Lahm is back at RB now? Looks like it- shame, would’ve fancied Alexis to demolish Rafinha.
Alexis will still demolish Lahm as long as he has cover.
They played a 3313 against BVB. Lahm midfield.
That’s my favourite formation!
For Bayern.
Who in which positions pls
Couldn’t agree more! I’ve been waiting for years for the mentality of not being any team that we face.
Looks like Pires and Henry being at the training ground has finally rubbed off on the squad… along with Cech and Sanchez.
Now we have to do our job and show Bayern it wasn’t a fluke the last time we beat them. Hopefully Walcott can draw further inspiration from the performance.
Forever COYG!!!
Let’s top Group F with 12 points!
I really hope the two games between Zagreb and Olympiacos will be draws and we will beat Bayern At Emirates and draw in Munich.
About hope, I hope we win the rest of our matches in the group!
Amen to that.
2, two points behind Manchester City
I taught at English with Real Madrid’s charity. The whole outfit, from students, to former players and staff were all devastated to see Ozil moving on. We poached an absolute gem.
I hope you laughed at them.
Can we do it?
yea we can!! if we play the way laid manU where everybody was defensively switched on, then we can beat anybody. bayern is an attack minded team and i for one never fear playing such teams. they will not ‘park the bus’ and so there will be spaces available both teams to play, and when we are allowed to play, we can hold our own against any team and can sometimes be devastating as evidenced in the manU game and the Leicester game. We just neeed to make sure that we defend as a team, press for the ball from… Read more »
No red cards please.
no, I’d like to see Neuer get one of his sweeper keeper moments wrong and receive a red card for taking Alexis down in the box. Let Ozil have the penalty to make up for last season’s miss!
No
I know what will happen, it happens everytime we play Bayern…We loose at home and then go on Winning them at their place after Wenger must have watched the videos of the previous game at home.
Just hope Wenger finds a way to nullify their attack early on than later. COYG
Extremely unlikely, but excited nonetheless
if we start as we did last time and no one misses a penalty then we can
You mean: no Arsenal player misses a penalty. 😉 Let’s not forget Alaba missed penalty… For Mesut, well, yes, it was frustrating, but Neuer had to punch it out. 😉
Here’s hoping for a Zagreb-Olympiakos draw (twice!) and for Ireland to sprain a few German ankles this Interlull (not Mesut!)
Anyway, let’s stick 5 past ’em 😉
We certainly have the ability to score against them and hopefully can get one or two early to put the pressure on them, but we cannot sit back and let them have the ball as they’ll pick us apart. We’ve got to get after them as a unit (not just a couple of people) and close the space down to prevent them from playing the ball around with little pressure. Will be interesting to see if Kos is healthy which two CDs Wenger selects. Mertesecker is German and knows the players well and has experience against them, but Gabriel has… Read more »
Nobody can man mark Lewandowski, not in the mood he’s in lately. Hopefully Poland will lose 5-0 twice and demoralize him so much that he comes back down to earth.
Kos has had Messi in his back pocket before and he’s always in a mood.
Think we’ll turn them over personally.
Kos! Can’t wait to watch him put Müller in his back pocket too. 🙂
United’s display blueprint for Bayern…Guardiola take note.
That’s fighting talk. I like it.
I want us to do well in the premier league this season more than anything else. We have a great chance. If we can replicate the results we had against City last season – win one and draw one, then we are in with a real chance of winning it from where we are.
I won’t lose sleep if we don’t progress in the CL this year.
If we achieve this, then we can put all our energies into pushing for the CL next season.
have anyone noticed the atmosphere in arsenal fans after united win? theyre not as happy as you expect them to be after sucha win; theyre rather quiet probably its thqt they no longer have that kinda trust in the team anymore, after all years of making mistakes and responding, just to make another mistake afterwards… tbh I too dont trust us to win a major trophy just yet, not until I see a hint of consistency in this team.
BM are one of the favourites for the cl. However they were beaten 4-0 at home by RM. Arsenal will be up against a wall. It aint going to be easy.BM are a different team from MU and will have observed how the gunners scored . You can bet they will put a stranglehold on our md and Sanchez. Their goalie is in one of the top ,imho.Nothing is impossible . The thing is the gunners defence must be at the top of their game. Their Polish striker has scored nine goals in 2 games. He must be shackled if… Read more »
“We have a great team with a lot of world-class players” – Ozil.
How many wc players do we really have?
Cech, Koscielny, Cazorla, Ozil and Alexis – 5 of them;
Bellerin, Monreal, Ramsey, Walcott, Mertesacker, Gabriel and Coquelin are very good but not world-class; all by my reckoning. What do you guys think?
Agree completely that we’ve ‘only’ got five world-class players in Cech, Koscielny, Cazorla, Ozil and Alexis. But isn’t five just about the number recent teams needed to win the Champions league?
– Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Pique, Mascherano
– Ronaldo, Benzema, Bale, Ramos, Modric
– Neurer, Muller, Lahm, Ribery, Robben
Lewandoski?
Seriously?? Neymar, Suarez, Busquets, Alves ain’t world class?? What about Alonso?? Alaba, Javi Martinez? Boateng??
That you are wrong
Is that all? Your right opinion would be appreciated. You must know the right to tell it from the wrong.
I agree Pony. What does “world class” mean? Winning the CL?
Are Schweinsteiger and Rooney “world class”?
It’s not how many “world class” players but how many turn up on the day. If everyone puts in a shift like they did against manure then we can beat anyone.
Que misleading optimism in 3, 2, 1… Joke to the side, it will be virtually impossible to do the same thing to Bayern, as they are serious squad (unlike crappy UTD) and won’t let our boys put pressure on them as those twats did last weekend. There has to be strength in midfield to stop them organizing right from the start, and I tell you, Coq and Santi are crucial for this game. Our biggest chance are fast brakes as always, but we need to be aware of the danger that Bayern possesses in midfield and up front. This game… Read more »
Just re-watched the game and looking at the manure players’ faces and at their bench right before kick off, they had no idea what was coming 🙂
We had no idea neither. 😉
Can someone define world class please? People like to use this term but no one seems to be able to define it. Fawcow is apparently world class but last time he was out he was in the pocket of some anonymous defender from Southampton. Benzema is world class but was still on bench during some crucial game while giroud who is not world class was playing.. Pundits are unanime that Rooney is world class. Eh?
To me, if Ballon d’Or is shortlisted to 10 and you are still part of it then you are world class. To me…That’s the problem.
There is no agreed criteria and it is totally an opinion phrase which is exactly why empty headed pundits love to bandy it about. It’s useless as a differentiator of players. I roll my eyes when I see arguments over who is and who isn’t “world class”.
The only thing it is useful for is a casual compliment.
Falcao WAS world class. Injuries and old age messed him up. No doubt the Falcao of atletico madrid would’ve bossed this league easily.
That’s what happens when you put money first…and crooked agents as well.
Oh God. He’s just used the B-word. We’re fucked
I think BM will attack our right side putting pressure on young Bellerin. So whoever plays on that side will have to work his socks off to join in defending. I would go for the OX. His speed will keep their left back behind creating space. What say?
I dunno, that’s a major risk. The Ox has a very bad record (some of it just bad luck) with giving the ball or cheap fouls away when he tries to play defence down the right and it leading to a goal. It’s happened like 5 times now. To the point where Arsene even said it had become a mental issue for him.
I’d be more inclined to go with Ramsey and just put him in a room with a video projector repeating “do not go too far forward, track back” over and over for 2 hours before the game.
It’s not like we have a choice. This is a must win.
Off topic, but I saw ex arsenal academy player sanchez waat score yesterday @ Indian Super League. Must say I was impressed though he never made it through to the Gunners first team
We have a better Sanchez now.
This.
If we beat Bayern at home then lets have a crack at qualifying, if not, then lets have a crack at coming fourth in the group!
We need to get 3 points at least from the two legs. It’s difficult but possible.
Just in case there are those who think they know better than Arsene, how many thought Wenger was crazy when he insisted Theo can play at CF effectively? Gabriel has also been an inspired and economical purchase. Per is still positionally solid and Koscielny if fully fit is an amazing sweeper. They are still first choice pairing But Gabriel’s no nonsense approach is addictive and I think Wenger may have finally found the Cback he has needed to rotate through Meterscielny. We now have to get some of the peripheral players up to speed. Excited for the Bayern games. And… Read more »
Can’t help but wonder if Ozil scored that penalty against Bayern that time. Would he have become irreplaceable any sooner.
We should win at home- we should always win at home – ‘but sometimes we don’t. In Recent history we’ve had better results away at Bayern than home against them.. Better to split results in this situation than against them in the knockouts.