Wojciech Szczesny claims Arsenal are not afraid of Bayern Munich and insists the German side are not favourites to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Bayern are 15 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and have won all five matches without conceding a goal this year following their winter break.
By contrast, the Gunners are reeling from Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at home to Championship side Blackburn Rovers with manager Arsene Wenger under greater pressure than ever from an increasingly irate fanbase.
But Szczesny (above), whose form has been criticised after several errors including a mistake to gift Blackburn the only goal at the weekend, insists there is no gulf in class between Arsenal and Bayern.
“I don’t know why they should be favourites,” the goalkeeper said. “I wouldn’t bet money on this one.
“I really wanted to avoid Barcelona. I would take any other team because I believe Barca are the best in the world. You want to avoid them because your chances are very small of beating them. Bayern is a very tough draw but it is a very exciting one.
“Bayern are flying in the Bundesliga. They have fantastic individual players like [Arjen] Robben, [Franck] Ribery and [Manuel] Neuer in goal. They are very strong but we won’t be scared.”
Szczesny believes a first-leg lead will be vital to their prospects and is targeting a sizeable advantage akin to AC Milan’s 4-0 first-leg success against Arsenal at the same stage last season. Milan won the 4-3 on aggregate.
“Ideally you would like to play the first leg away but we may get a decent advantage like AC Milan did,” he told the official Arsenal website. “Hopefully, we can take a lead to their place, because it will be very tough at the Allianz Arena.
“Arsenal supporters are always fantastic, especially on Champions League nights. It is always a bit more exciting and if we can match the atmosphere with the performance then we will have a good chance of getting a result.”
