The Gunners are enjoying their best season in years and any team sitting at the top of the Premier League should have nothing to fear. Photo: Kieran Lynam, Dublin (CC BY)
The draw for the last sixteen of the UEFA Champions League has produced several mouthwatering ties with arguably Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal the best of the bunch. These two teams went head to head at exactly the same stage last season with the Germans prevailing on their way to the title, but things could be more tricky for Franck Ribery and Co. this time around. Whilst there is no doubt that Bayern are once again a force to be reckoned with in the race to the Champions League crown, the Gunners are enjoying their best season in years and any team sitting at the top of the Premier League should have nothing to fear. This tie will be given added spice by the fact that three prominent German international stars are in coach Arsene Wenger’s squad, and Per Mertesacker, Mesut Özil and ex-Bayern man Lukas Podolski would like nothing better than to put one over on their international team-mates.
Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich: Odds to Qualify
Bayern Munich 1.22
Arsenal 3.75
(Odds provided by www.intertops.eu are current as of today, but subject to change)
Another Bundesliga team that will certainly be happier with the draw is last season’s beaten finalist Borussia Dortmund who face a duel with Russian champion Zenit St. Petersburg. Coach Jurgen Klopp’s men, who won many new friends throughout Europe on their way to the final last year, came out on top of this year’s Group of Death (leaving Arsenal and Napoli in their wake) and are now favourite to move past a St. Petersburg team that struggled to impress on its way to the knockout stage. Dortmund have been plagued by injury worries so far this season and have slipped far behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race and so will be targeting another strong run in Europe to keep their fans happy. Indeed it would be a major surprise if the men in Black and Yellow don’t move on to the quarterfinals this time around.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Zenit St. Petersburg: Odds to Qualify
Borussia Dortmund 1.2
St. Petersburg 4.0
(Odds provided by www.allyoubet.ag are current as of today, but subject to change)
