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Arsenal take on Bayern Munich tonight, needing to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit.
Few are giving the Gunners any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. However, stranger things have happened.
So here, we take a look at 10 reasons why perhaps not all is lost for Arsene Wenger and his team and they could spring a surprise at the Allianz Arena.
Check out our guide below...
Show all 10 1 /10Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 1. The popular myth that lightning doesn't strike twice is actually a lie - just ask Manchester City Just like most popular myths, the one that goes: "Lightning never strikes twice in the same place" is actually a lie, on both a meteorological and footballing scale. Geologists from all corners of the globe deny the phrase has any truth to it, and Wigan Athletic recently threw their hat into the ring of debate when they secured back-to-back FA Cup victories over mega-rich Manchester City. After Arsenal's 2-0 victory in Munich at this stage last year, there's hope yet that that feat may well be repeated.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 2. The Gunners have their record signing back to his brilliant best It took Mesut Ozil just seven minutes to remind the fans inside Emirates Stadium just why Arsene Wenger broke his own transfer policy by spending £42.5m on the Turkish-born German international. His calm finish not only showed he had recovered from his first-half penalty miss in the first-leg against Bayern, but also reminded everyone watching of the cool nature of his temperament on a football pitch. His superb assist for Olivier Giroud in the dying minutes capped a fine individual display, and the former Real Madrid man has proven time and time again he can consistently produce the goods. He's due a big performance in a crucial encounter. Gooners' will be hoping that time is now.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 3. 2-0 is a dangerous scoreline, according to Pep Guardiola (and most managers in world football, actually) The Spanish Bayern Munich boss said on Monday that 2-0 is a dangerous scoreline and that his side must be wary of that going into Tuesday's second-leg. Perhaps the exploits of Manchester City in this year's group phase against his team are the reasons behind his caution, for they only needed 45 minutes to turn a 2-0 scoreline on its head in Bayern's backyard. Arsenal will have double that amount of time to do the same.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 4. Germany may have the beating of England, but Bayern have struggled in recent times at home to English opponents The 3-2 victory for Manuel Pellegrini's City in the group phase was the third time in succession the German champions have failed to beat an English side on home soil. Arsenal, of course, beat them their last year - albeit in vain, and they also drew with Chelsea before famously losing the Champions League final at the Allianz Arena on penalties. The mental scars from that defeat may have since healed at Wembley last year, but with the 2013/14 squad being relatively similar to the one that lost to the Blues, there are chinks in their armoury. Arsenal just have to find them.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 5. Transfer speculation surrounding Toni Kroos won't go away. Could it affect his performance? After his influential display at Emirates Stadium three weeks ago, the straight answer to this question would appear to be 'no'. However, with the play-making midfielder refusing to rule out a move to Manchester United or any other Premier League club, his mind may begin to wander at certain points of the second-leg. Realistically, it probably won't - but any transfer speculation surrounding a player can be labelled disruptive, regardless of their professionalism.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 6. Arsenal love Germany Germany holds fond recent memories for the Gunners' travelling support capped by this year's victory at the Westfalenstadion against Borussia Dortmund in the competition's group phase. Although they'll be without their match winner that day, Aaron Ramsey, this type of statistic should give Arsenal fans hope on Tuesday night. Their 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena will be etched in their memory, and with Mesut Ozil now part of their squad, they're a much stronger outfit than the one that triumphed last year.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 7. It took Manchester United less than a minute to turn things around against Munich 15 years ago While nearly all of the players that featured in arguably the most famous Champions League final of all time have retired now, Arsenal need to look no further than Manchester United's successful 1999 European campaign for inspiration on how quickly things can change against Bayern Munich. Two goals in a minute turned Sir Alex Ferguson's men's hopes on their head, and despair turned to joy in a matter of seconds.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 8. Wenger's men know how to win 2-0 - they've done it 10 times this year 2-0 may be a dangerous scoreline, but it's also Arsenal's most popular this year. They've won by that scoreline 10 times in total, with three of those victories occurring in Europe against Fenerbahce, Napoli and Marseille. While that scoreline this time around may only be good enough for extra-time, if you offered that score to Wenger and his team right now, they'd bite both your hands off.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 9. Nine years of hurt looks set to end After Wigan's Etihad heroics on Sunday, the door swung widely open on Arsenal's hopes of securing a first major trophy in almost a decade. Their progression to the FA Cup semi-final has certainly given them a timely confidence boost ahead of this week's European encounter, especially when the other three teams left in the oldest competition in the world is taken into account. Hull, Sheffield United and Wigan are certainly no Bayern Munich, so we may see Arsenal play with extra freedom on Tuesday knowing their season will still be very much alive even if they do exit the Champions League.
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Bayern Munich v Arsenal: 10 reasons for Arsenal to be optimistic of Champions League progress 10. It's simply about time someone knocked Bayern Munich off their pedestal A 49-game unbeaten run in the Bundesliga has led to some critics arguing that Bayern's dominance domestically is killing the German league. They're 23 points clear of second-placed Dortmund, the same difference between first-placed Chelsea and eighth-placed Newcastle in the Premier League. Now, a victory for Arsenal will certainly not stop last year's treble winners stretching that sequence to 50 and undoubtedly beyond, but it's fair to say there may be more German's rooting for Arsenal than Bayern when they visit on Tuesday.
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Arsenal take on Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening, with our live blog of the Champions League match beginning at 7pm.
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