Do Arsenal need to win their 2nd leg Champions League tie against Bayern Munich?

It is quite some testament to the work Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal that most of their fans walked away disappointed from their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

For if you had offered the opportunity, at the end of the 2021-22 season, to any Arsenal fan of being top of the Premier League with the chance of making it to the Champions League semi-finals in April of 2024, it is fair to assume nearly all of them would have bitten your hand off.

There was certainly a firm sense of opportunity amongst the Gunners faithful: Bayern Munich were there for the taking—16 points adrift in the Bundesliga, having suffered two successive league defeats. Arsenal had won 10 of 11 in the Premier League, having conceded only 4 goals in the process. For once in this fixture, they walked into the arena as favorites. And so, the two—rather rare for this season—defensive anomalies which allowed Bayern their goals were sucker punches to the gut.

Now, Arsenal have it all to do in Germany, at Bayern’s own home: the Allianz Arena. But is it impossible? It does not feel like it. Reproduce the performance from two weeks ago at the Etihad against Manchester City, and they might stand a fair chance. Through penalties, if they cannot snare a goal in regular time—but Bayern will chase the win at home, and thus allow spaces for Saka, Martinelli, Jesus, and Ødegaard to exploit.

Mikel Arteta definitely did not appear too disappointed in his post-match interview. In fact, he seemed rather positive, even confident, about his team’s chances in Munich:

“I am very proud, now I sense the belief there, we are going to go to Munich and have the chance to win it and we’re going to be better in certain areas and that’s how we are going to prepare it.”

Do Arsenal need to win their 2nd leg Champions League tie against Bayern Munich?

Still, what if Arsenal were to lose? Even if Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies will not be available for the return leg, Bayern are certainly no push-overs. Not at home, not with old foe Harry Kane leading their ranks. Would it be such a disaster, given everything they have achieved this season?

One has to remember the relative youth of this Arsenal squad, and their inexperience in this tournament. For most of them, this is their first season in the Champions League. You do not simply walk in, and win the biggest prize in European football. Ask Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. It took them seven long years. Ask Paris Saint-Germain, and how it still eludes them.

The onus then should be on learning and growing together as a team, and if the worst should happen in Munich, to then come back even stronger next time exactly as they have already done in the Premier League after last season’s heartbreak.