Bayern Munich v Arsenal: Bayern could 'panic' if Arsenal make quick start, says Aaron Ramsey
The Gunners need to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit at the Allianz Arena
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Your support makes all the difference.Aaron Ramsey is among the small but optimistic camp who still believe Arsenal can progress in the Champions League.
The Gunners are in action at the Allianz Arena tonight where they take on Bayern Munich needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.
Defending champions Bayern are overwhelming favourites to move into the quarter-final stage of this season's Champions League and boast an intimidating record of having lost just three of their last 24 home matches in Europe.
However, among those three defeats was a 2-0 loss to Arsenal at this stage of the competition last year. And Ramsey believes a repeat result is possible tonight.
“We have proven it before — everyone wrote us off when they beat us 3-1 at home and we got a couple of goals and they were nervous,” Ramsey told The Evening Standard in an exclusive interview.
“We had chances to score the third as well. Any side will panic if you put the pressure on them and Bayern are no different.
“They are a great side but I thought, in the first 15 minutes of the first leg, we were quite breathtaking at times and we had a few opportunities early on which you have to take against a team like that. Up until we missed the penalty, I thought we were the better side. Things happened then, like the sending off, that changed the game completely.
“Playing against Bayern Munich with a man down is tough — it is hard enough when you have 11 men on the pitch.”
Ramsey has pinpointed a fast start and Arsenal can take confidence from the way they began the first leg. The Gunners looked rampant at the Emirates and would have taken the lead had Mesut Ozil converted his penalty.
Instead, the Gunners went behind before conceding another after struggling to cope with the dismissal of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who is suspended for tonight's match.
“They used the extra man extremely well, kept their wide players very wide, which stretched us, and moved the ball well," added Ramsey.
“The second goal was disappointing in the end because if we had gone in 1-0 down, we would have been more than happy with that considering the circumstances but we have been there and won 2-0 before.
“We are confident, we will go into the game knowing anything can happen in football. We are looking forward to it.”
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