Goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer, returning from injury, leads a Bayern Munich team without his Frenchmen Dayot Upamecano and Kingsley Coman, Tuesday (9:00 p.m.) in London for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Arsenal. The 38-year-old captain missed the German club’s last two matches due to injury but that did not prevent coach Thomas Tuchel from starting him for the poster against the leader of the English championship.
He leads a defense which does not include Dayot Upamecano, who has recently been in difficulty with the Bavarian club. The Englishman Eric Dier and the Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt form the central hinge. Kingsley Coman also starts on the substitutes’ bench after missing the 3-2 Bundesliga match against Heidenheim on Saturday.
Bayern’s attack includes Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane, a former striker for Arsenal’s rivals Tottenham. The captain of the England team has scored 38 goals in 37 matches in his new colors, including 6 in the Champions League.
The only Frenchman at kick-off will be defender William Saliba, Arsenal’s most used player this season by Mikel Arteta. The Spanish coach did not start Gabriel Jesus, despite being one of his most experienced players in the Champions League. He preferred to entrust the keys to the attack to Kai Havertz, with Bukayo Saka on the right and Gabriel Martinelli on the left.
Composition of the teams for the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League:
Arsenal: Raya – White, Lintasa, Gabriel, Kiwior – Odegaard (cap.), Jorginho, Rice – Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
Bayern Munich: Neuer (cap.) – Kimmich, Dier, De Ligt, Davies – Goretzka, Laimer – Sané, Musiala, Gnabry – Kane