Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that his side have the quality to overturn their first-leg deficit and beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16.
The Gunners go into tomorrow's second leg 2-0 down on aggregate having lost at the Emirates last month, while they will also be without first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who was sent off in that game.
Wenger acknowledged that his side would have to be at their best to get the required result, but pointed to their 2-0 win over Bayern at the Allianz Arena at the same stage of the tournament last season as proof that they can pull off an unlikely comeback.
"History is important in your belief. We have done it before, so we know we can do it because we have done it. It is a possible task, that is the most important for us. I believe my team has quality and ambition, and I believe do we produce a top level performance, then we can do it," Wenger is quoted as saying by PA.
"Our way to do it is to produce a top level performance and we will focus on that. We must turn up with quality and with belief and that is what we will do. Bayern at the moment are the team of course who are full of confidence because they are doing well, but we have a great opportunity to do it.
"I am absolutely confident that mentally we will be ready to play at our best. The statistics are against us, but we have also won 5-1 at Inter Milan, we have won everywhere in Europe. If we are winning 1-0 for example, then it makes the [final] result absolutely possible, so that is what we try to do. We do not have to be nervous and impatient, just to focus on the performance of our game."
In addition to Szczesny's absence, Wenger will also be without Kieran Gibbs, who has been ruled out with a calf injury.
Barney Corkhill
