Main weapon missing from Arsenal

Main weapon missing from Arsenal
Reuters

LONDON, March 13: Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp will not travel by car to Munich for Arsenal’s crunch Champions League decider with German champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Bergkamp has missed several of the English Premier League side’s European matches because of a fear of flying but was keen to drive to Germany for a game Arsenal must win to be sure of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

But the club confirmed on their official website on Monday that the 31-year-old Bergkamp would not make the trip after suffering a slight hamstring strain in their 3-0 FA Cup victory over First Division Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Nigerian striker Kanu, though, has returned from international duty in time to fly out with the team on Tuesday.

Kanu may have to be content with a place on the bench however, after French striker Sylvain Wiltord hit the opener against Blackburn. Wiltord has now scored in every round of the FA Cup and finally seems to have settled at the Higbury Club since his œ13 million ($16.11 million) arrival in the summer from Bordeaux. He has scored 12 times for Arsenal this season.

“Wiltord looked very sharp on Saturday,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the club website. “He is scoring goals but also playing for the team. What I like about him is he gives so much in a game and is not just a goal scorer.

“For our third goal against Blackburn he gave a great pass to Robert Pires. He has been compared to Ian Wright but he is not so obsessed with scoring. Wrighty would have tried to shoot himself.

“Sylvain’s done really well and we are going to need everybody on form in Munich, a third match in eight days.”

Arsenal could qualify if they match or better French side Lyon’s result against Spartak Moscow in Russia.

But that game is in doubt due to freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in Moscow in the last few days. Any postponement would also mean calling off the Arsenal fixture because UEFA rules aimed at preventing collusion between clubs state both games must kick off simultaneously. Arsenal’s game is set to start at 5.55 GMT in line with the kick off in the Russian capital.

Bayern top Group C with 10 points from their five games, with Arsenal second on eight points and Lyon third on seven.