15 March 2024 , 13:40
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Arsenal face a fixture headache after being drawn against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Their game against Aston Villa between the two Bayern legs will be moved to Sunday afternoon as a result of Unai Emery’s side being in the last eight of the Europa Conference League.
And that means Mikel Arteta’s side will have at least 24 hours less rest than the Bavarian side ahead of the second leg - with Thomas Tuchel planning for a Bundesliga meeting against Cologne on Saturday lunchtime.
Dates for the quarter-finals will be confirmed later on Friday but the first leg will be held at the Emirates Stadium before a return fixture at the Allianz Arena the following week - almost certainly on Wednesday night.
Arsenal face Brighton the week before initially meeting Bayern - however the Villa issue sort of mirrors last season when Arteta aired his grievances with the Premier League ’s scheduling.
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On that occasion the Gunners had only 63 hours rest between facing Manchester City on a Wednesday night and taking on Villa the following Saturday lunchtime.
This time around there will be an uncomfortably tight turnaround - though the Premier League cannot be blamed.
Last weekend Arteta said it was frustrating that the Premier League did not stage their game against Brentford on Friday instead of Saturday night to mirror Porto.
Mikel Arteta embraces David Raya after Arsenal knocked Porto out of the Champions League on penalties.And Arsenal’s strength of feeling may be strengthened by a quirk of the schedule meaning that after Tuesday’s penalty shootout win against Porto they do not play again until facing Manchester City away on Easter Sunday.
That is a result of them being knocked out of the FA Cup with the league meeting against Chelsea being postponed and the upcoming international break - but it could be seen as a momentum breaker following a rampant run in 2024.
On a positive note the Gunners are unbeaten in 21 domestic matches immediately following a European tie and Arteta said last month: “It shows how much we want it. Credit to the staff as well for making all the effort they do to recover the players.”
The winners of Arsenal v Bayern will face defending champions Manchester City or Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The other side of the draw features Atletico Madrid against Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona taking on Paris Saint-Germain. Meanwhile, high-flying Villa will face French outfit Lille in the quarter-finals of the Conference League.
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