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Guardiola warns Bayern they still have work to do

FC Bayern München lead 2-0 but Josep Guardiola says Arsenal FC pose a real threat; indeed, for Arsène Wenger, his side are a "top performance" from the last eight.

Guardiola warns Bayern they still have work to do
Guardiola warns Bayern they still have work to do ©UEFA.com

FC Bayern München may go into the home second leg of their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie with Arsenal FC 2-0 up and on a superb domestic run, but Josep Guardiola thinks the Gunners still pose a real danger. The English team's 2-0 win in Munich at the same stage last year is still fresh in the memory, though Arsène Wenger believes his side can source hope from a deeper well than that.

Bayern
Josep Guardiola, coach
Well, of course 2-0 was a good result for us. Though it is dangerous, we have a good chance to go through. We have to bring our ideas to fruition. The Champions League is more important than the Bundesliga and we have to do our best.

The main thing for us is avoiding conceding a goal. We have to play with the mentality that we want to win the game. We will play in a way that makes sure that we want to win the game. They have very good midfielders and you really have to do well against them. We have to win this game, it doesn't matter what we did in the first leg. This is what we have to concentrate on.

Wenger is a coach with a lot of experience. He knows everything at Arsenal. He knows the players. Arsenal are always in the last 16 in Champions League. They buy very good players. He works with young guns and those players always get better and better. He is one of the best coaches in the world.

Arsenal built a new stadium, that is expensive and they always sold their best players. Even so the quality of the squad is very, very good. In the last minutes of the first leg they were much better then us. Probably the best opponents we had this year.

Tomorrow is just one game, like a final – and the players put everything on the field and I expect the best performance from my players and the best from Arsenal.

Weekend result
Saturday: VfL Wolfsburg 1-6 Bayern (Naldo 17; Shaqiri 26, Müller 63 78, Mandžukić 66 80, Ribéry 71)
Neuer; Rafinha, Boateng, Dante, Alaba; Lahm (Martínez 67); Robben, Kroos (Mandžukić 57), Shaqiri (Thiago 56), Ribéry; Müller.

• Bayern, 49 top-flight games unbeaten (the same as the English record set by Arsenal ten years ago), posted their 16th successive league win – a new Bundesliga record.

Team news
Bayern have a fully-fit squad other than Holger Badstuber, who has a knee injury.

Arsenal
Arsène Wenger, manager
We are focused on putting on a great performance. The history, with last year, is important. We know we can do it this time because we already did it last year. It is a possible task for us. My team has quality and ambition. With a top performance we can do it. It would be absolutely great to win. A big win would set us up for the last few months of the season.

Statistics are against us. But we have already won 5-1 against Milan. And we have won everywhere in Europe. We scored two goals in the last few minutes against Everton [on Saturday], so we can just focus on our game, without getting nervous. It would be helpful to score early, but we don't have to. We can score later on too.

Bayern are the best team on the continent at the moment, but I am confident. It is difficult to say if Bayern are better this year than last. We will see. But of course, they have the quality to be there right at the top. Performances win you games, not being favourites.

Tomorrow we will have four German players, [Serge] Gnabry included. [Lukas] Podolski is in good shape again, [Per] Mertesacker has become a great player in England and [Mesut] Özil is a great talent, as he will show tomorrow.

Weekend result
Saturday: Arsenal 4-1 Everton FC (Özil 7, Arteta 68pen, Giroud 83 85; Lukaku 32)
Fabianski; Sagna, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Gibbs (Jenkinson 78); Arteta, Flamini; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Rosický 78), Özil, Cazorla; Sanogo (Giroud 61).

• Özil scored his first goal since 8 December as Arsenal reached the FA Cup semi-finals, where they will play holders Wigan Athletic FC on 12 or 13 April.

Team news
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny is suspended after his first-leg red card, meaning a start for the player that replaced him three weeks ago, Łukasz Fabiański. Aaron Ramsey (thigh), Jack Wilshere (foot), Theo Walcott (knee), Abou Diaby (knee), Kim Källström (back), Kieran Gibbs (thigh) and Nacho Monreal (foot) are also out, while Laurent Koscielny faces a fitness test on his hamstring problem.

Match fact
• The Gunners have won on three of their last five visits to Germany, with the other two ending in draws. The 1-0 victory at Borussia Dortmund on matchday four extended Arsenal's record away to Bundesliga sides to W5 D4 L5; overall, home and away against German clubs, it is W14 D5 L10.

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