By Myles Palmer
Ashley Cole may come in for Silvinho, but Luzhny has played for Dynamo Kiev against Bayern and could be used at left back.
Cole could handle a Champions League home game, but it would be unlike Wenger to gamble on a novice in the biggest game of the season.
The probable teams are :
BAYERN MUNICH: 1-Oliver Kahn;4-Samuel Kuffour,25-Thomas
Linke, 18-Michael Tarnat; 7-Thorsten Fink, 11-Stefan Effenberg,16-Jens Jeremies, 13-Paulo Sergio; 10-Ciriaco Sforza, 7-Mehmet Scholl; 9-Elber.
ARSENAL: 13-Alex Manninger; 2-Lee Dixon, 5-Martin Keown, 6-Tony Adams, 22-Oleg Luzhny; 7- Freddie Ljungberg, 4-Patrick Vieira,18-Gilles Grimandi, 11-Robert Pires; 10-Dennis Bergkamp, 14-Thierry Henry.
The referee is Stefano Braschi of Italy.
There is a temptation to say that Bayern have five world class players :Kahn, Effenberg, Elber, Scholl and Kuffour.
But I will resist that temptation because most of Bayern’s stars are below their peak form.
While Scholl is playing the best football of his career, Kahn has made some boobs lately, and the other three have had serious injuries.
Scholl is quick, neat technician who can pop up with an early goal. He is zippy, skilful and creative, but he may lack the power to bother a side as athletic as Arsenal.
Kuffour can be an awesome stopper.Is he playing anywhere near his best at the moment? I doubt it.So Kuffour might be given a torrid time by Thierry Henry.
Elber was an amazing striker at Stuttgart. He has such a great eye for goal that he is like Kenny Dalglish : he doesn’t have to look before scoring.
If Elber is 100% fit he is one of the best strikers in the world, a lot better than Marcao and Robson, the Spartak duo who took Arsenal apart in Moscow.
Paulo Sergio, the former Roma star, is also more talented than Spartak’s Brazilians.
But Jeremies is a just a clogger and the others are bang average.Man for man, Arsenal are the superior side.
Effenberg says he is looking forward to facing Vieira. But he is 32 and long past his best. He can still produce glimpses of genius because he was a spectacularly gifted playmaking halfback in his prime. If you are as good as he was you can never completely lose it.
Effenberg refuses to play for Germany these days.Darryl, my Bayern correspondent (who is married to a Munich girl) says Effenberg always bottles the big games.
We shall see. You just never know with playmakers. Veron played well at Highbury and badly in Rome.
Kahn is one of my favourite goalkeepers. He is in the Toldo/Barthez class. An astounding shot-stopper who fumbles crosses from time to time. He is almost as great as Schmeichel was, but he drops more clangers than Schmeichel ever did.
Kahn is their captain and he will not drop any clangers in a game of this magnitude.If Bayern are hard to beat it is because Kahn is hard to beat.
Having said that, I think Freddie Ljungberg will score tonight. If he is bold enough to score two goals against Lazio he is good enough to score one against Bayern.
Bergkamp is on form. It is his game, his pitch, his crowd and his opportunity tonight. Bayern are among the big boys of the Champions League. Finalists in 1999.They will bring the best out of the Dutchman, who would love to turn the Germans over.
Bayern lost to Real Madrid last season’s semi after beating them 4-2 and 4-1 in the group stage.
The difference? Anelka, who scored in both games. I’m sure Thierry Henry has been on the mobile to his mate: We are playing Bayern, Nic,what can you tell me about them?
Ottmar Hitzfeld has shown a sense of humour by saying Bayern will attack. They won’t attack!
Bayern want a tight game, not an open game, because they know that in an open game they would get ripped to shreds.
Hitzfeld did not get where he is today by bravado.He got there by good organisation, attrition and clean sheets. He won the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, a team that knew how to defend and keep possession.
Hitzfeld will be planning to do just enough to prevent Arsenal winning.And if the game is handed to him, fine. But it won’t be handed to him.Even if Arsenal were to go 2-0 down this match will not be over, as it was at Wembley when they went 2-0 down to Barcelona.
Highbury will be a big factor.Bayern have played all over the world. But the tight confines of Highbury, with the steep crowd so close to the pitch, is totally different from their stadium, a vast shallow bowl with an athletics track.
Effenberg, Scholl and the Brazilians will enjoy Steve Braddock’s perfect lawn, but not the ferociously high-tempo I expect Arsenal to set.
Maybe I should give Bayern more respect. Their European record over the decades is far better than Arsenal’s.Maybe they should be the favourites to win. But somehow I just don’t fancy them to contain the Gunners in this game.
I was far more apprehensive about Deportivo La Coruna last season.
Can’t wait for kick-off !
4th December 2000.