The Arsenal Women manager, Jonas Eidevall, has told his players to take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Allianz Arena with respect “but without fear”.
The Gunners face an in-form team with a formidable home record on Tuesday evening but the Swede sounded confident and pointed to his team’s results in the group stage as a reason why they should approach the game in a positive frame of mind.
Bayern have won 12 of their past 13 Champions League games at home and are on a run of 12 consecutive home victories in all competitions. Asked why Bayern are so difficult to face in Germany, Eidevall said: “Mainly because they are a good team … but we’ve been playing against teams who have great home records, to be fair, such as Juventus and Lyon this season, and we managed to draw in Turin and won in Lyon. So we have respect for that [Bayern’s good home record], but should not fear it.”
Arsenal are looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2013 and Eidevall feels that a recent mini‑break has helped the team to prepare well for the fixture. Arsenal have not played since beating Reading 4-0 on 12 March. “We have tried to use it in the best way possible: a mixture of getting some time off to recover but also to use the time as efficiently as possible to work on things in our game, not only for this game but for the other games we have ahead of us,” he said. “It has been really good to work with the squad and hopefully we can show tomorrow that we are well prepared.
“I have had a feeling lately that I am sharing less information with the players because I am more sure that we know what to do in those situations. Let’s hope that is a good sign and not a sign of false security.”
The Bayern midfielder Sarah Zadrazil said she was excited that the game was being played at the club’s main stadium. “It is always very special to play at the Allianz and it is of huge value to women’s football in Germany to be able to play in these big stadiums,” she said.
“We hope we can produce a few fireworks on the pitch. Everyone is highly motivated for the game against Arsenal, who are a difficult opponent. The anticipation is high.”
