Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Arsene Wenger to stick with David Ospina in Europe and drop Petr Cech
The Colombian has played all six Champions League matches this season and will return to the starting line-up for Arsenal's biggest game of the season so far
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsene Wenger will risk opening his selection policy up for criticism by sticking with his decision to play back-up goalkeeper David Ospina in Arsenal's Champions League against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, dropping regular starter Petr Cech in the process.
28-year-old goalkeeper Ospina has started all six of Arsenal’s Champions League matches this season, and has impressed Wenger enough to earn a starting place in the side that travels to Munich this week.
Arsenal face Bayern for the fourth Champions League campign in five seasons, and have to date failed to come out on top against the German heavyweights despite beating them on occasion – in last season’s group stage and the 2012/13 last-16 second leg.
The two-leg affair could go a long way to deciding Wenger’s future at Arsenal, given he is yet to accept a two-year contract extension offer from the club as he weighs up his future. But despite the importance of the game to Arsenal’s season, Wenger is ready to drop Ospina for the first leg at the Allianz Arena.
The decision could backfire massively on Wenger, as while Ospina has justified his selection this season with a string of strong performances in Europe, he came up with costly errors last season in the defeats by Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb.
One positive for the Colombian though is that Cech has not lived up the high standards he he has set over the last decade in the Premier League, having faced criticism this season during Arsenal’s run of poor form. He managed to keep a clean sheet in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Hull at the weekend, but Wenger is ready to replace the Czec h and will stick with Opina for the weekend FA Cup trip to Sutton United in the FA Cup.
Wenger faced criticism last season when he elected to start Ospina in Europe ahead of Cech, but it’s believed that a summer agreement was reached where Wenger promised to rotate Cech and Ospina between the Premier League and Champions League in order to keep the Colombian at the club.
Arsenal also have Granit Xhaka available again, with the Swiss international missing their last four domestic matches after serving a ban for his red card against Burnley last month. Xhaka could return to the starting line-up given that Wenger has had to patch together his midfield with Francis Coquelin partnering Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, due to the injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla, while Mesut Özil is proving cause for concern due to his recent run of poor form.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments