Arsenal have to play to strengths against Bayern Munich says Eidevall | OneFootball

Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall says that his side need to mitigate their weaknesses and play to their strengths when they face Bayern Munich in their opening UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixture.

The Gunners kick-off their latest group stage campaign at the FC Bayern Campus Platz 1 on Wednesday evening.

Arsenal’s latest European opponents have featured in the last-16 of the UEFA Women’s Champions League in each of the last seven seasons and head coach Eidevall knows that his side will have to be on top form to get a result.

“They’re really strong in the counter-attacking game,” Eidevall said when discussing Bayern Munich’s qualities in the pre-match press conference. “They move with a lot of pace once they’re facing forward and that part you have to look out for when you’re playing against them.

“I think they’ve been looking really strong on their set pieces so far this season, really good deliveries on both corners and free-kicks, so that’s another part you need to watch out for.

“They’re well organised, a good team, but so are we and while they have strengths, they’ll also have weaknesses and we need to exploit them. We need to mitigate our weaknesses and play to our strengths and that’s going to be the tactical battle here tomorrow night.”

Arsenal narrowly defeated Bayern Munich 2-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals in 2022/2023. Eidevall went on to highlight the importance of strong away form and a quick start in this season’s group stage.

He said “I think we were playing in a similar group two seasons ago, when we had Lyon, Juventus and FC Zürich. Both Lyon and Juventus were top teams in that group and the first game, we started away against Lyon and we managed to win 5-1. It really set us up nicely and then we won the group, which is a great way to go into the quarter-finals. I think it’s really important to get off to a good start, not only results-wise, but also performance-wise.

“We turned around that quarter-final against Bayern Munich at home. I think we had a second half in that away game that really showed a nice performance where we were really brave and qualitative in a way that we played. I think that filled us with a lot of belief for what we needed to do and what we needed to turn around at Emirates.

“We know it’s going to be a difficult game tomorrow, but we need to trust in the way that we play; we need to be a brave football team that trusts our strengths. If we can do that, I know we’re going to be proud of our performance.”

Arsenal remain the only English team to have been European champions in the past. Regaining their European crown is a huge priority for The Gunners but Eidevall says that domestic success is equally as important.

He said “The Champions League for me is very special. It’s with the best teams, it’s the one competition where you’re competing outside of your own country.

“We’re in four competitions. The Champions League and the league will always be very special to me and to the team. Right now, we’re in a situation where we need to go full throttle in both of them.”

Arsenal’s UEFA Women’s Champions League group stage fixture at Bayern Munich kicks-off at 5.45pm on Wednesday evening.