Frenchman prioritising Champions League qualification for next season over progression in this year’s competition.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger faces an angry backlash from Gunners supporters after deciding to rest a number of key players for the club’s second leg clash with Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night, reports the Daily Mail.
The North Londoners travel to the Allianz Arena to take on the runaway Bundesliga leaders having lost last month’s first leg at the Emirates stadium 3-1, with the visitors therefore knowing that they must score at least two goals in Bavaria to stand any chance of progressing to the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition.
However, despite the fact that more than 3,000 Arsenal fans have made the long trip from London to Munich in the hope of seeing their side pull off a miracle, the Frenchman has instead opted to field a severely weakened starting line-up against the in-form Germans.
“Swansea is a massive game this weekend and qualifying for the Champions League is massive,” explained Wenger in his pre-match press conference.
The Frenchman admitted that the 2-1 North London Derby defeat at White Hart Lane, on 3 March, had hurt more than just his team’s pride and could have a serious impact of the remainder of their season.
“We want to be in there and I don’t envisage anything else. That’s why it was so difficult for us to lose at Tottenham.
“It means more because it was Tottenham, but it was the impact for us in the league which was the worry for me.”
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