Wenger outlines Arsenal belief

Arsene Wenger is adamant Arsenal have what it takes to shock Bayern Munich on Tuesday and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

The holders recorded a 2-0 victory in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the Emirates Stadium last month, with Arsenal hampered by the dismissal of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Bayern are chasing back-to-back trebles, having won the Champions League, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal last term, and have displayed outstanding form under Pep Guardiola.

Yet Wenger believes his side are more than capable of repeating the 2-0 victory they secured at the Allianz Arena at the same stage of last season’s Champions League, which ultimately proved in vain as Bayern progressed on away goals.

“We are focused on putting in a great performance. The history of last year is important,” said Wenger.

“We know we can do it because we already did it last year. It is possible for us. My team has quality and ambition.

“With a top performance we can do it. It would be helpful to score early, but we don’t have to. We can score later on also. Bayern is the team of the continent at the moment. But I am confident.

“It is difficult to say if Bayern are better this year than last year. We will see. But of course they have the quality to be right at the top. It would be absolutely great to win.

“A big win like that would build lots of consistency for the last months of the season.

“Bayern is full of confidence. They are the big favourite in Europe. But we hope that we can show that we are a very good opponent.”