Arsenal are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2010 and will be up against a Bayern side that will include ex-Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who scored 14 goals in 19 games for Spurs against the Gunners.
However, Bayern’s Bundesliga dominance, after 11 successive titles, is set to end this year with the club second in the table, well behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern are managed by Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League winner with Chelsea in 2021, and they have beaten Arsenal 5-1 in each of their past three games, once in 2015 and twice in 2017.
Nevertheless, European football writer Julien Laurens, speaking on The Football News Show, believes there is a good chance of an all-English semi-final.
He said: “City are too strong for Real Madrid, even with [England midfielder] Jude Bellingham. I don’t see anything that has changed for Real Madrid compared to last season.
“They lost [Karim] Benzema and got Jude, but in the way they play they don’t press that much and [are] not that press-resistant either. So if you go to them like City did last season in the second leg and I suspect will do, they will do the same again this year.
“The first leg is in Spain and the second leg is at the Etihad, which is a huge advantage, even without away goals any more. I can’t see Real Madrid being able to beat City over two legs.
“Arsenal are at home in the first leg and go to Munich in the second game. Thomas Tuchel is coming back to England, but this Bayern team has been in crisis for much of this season because they are not going to win the league and got knocked out by a third division team in the [German] cup.
“They lost to Lazio in the first leg [of the last 16] and although they made it, it’s far from being perfect.
“They are still good because they have [Harry] Kane, [Jamal] Musiala and [Leroy] Sane, but defensively or even in midfield it’s not the team they used to be. Arsenal have a good chance to knock them out and in my opinion face City in the semi-finals.”
