LONDON — Arsenal will be out to show it has learnt the lessons of last season's painful home defeat by Bayern Munich when the sides meet again in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in London Wednesday. Holder Bayern was utterly dominant in 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium, and although Arsenal went on to salvage pride with a 2-0 win in Munich in the return leg, it was not enough to prevent the Gunners going out of the competition in the round of 16 for the third consecutive season. It faces a daunting task to avoid making it four years in a row, however, with the Bayern juggernaut showing little sign of slowing under Pep Guardiola, who led Barcelona to victory over Arsenal at this stage in the 2010-11 season. Despite recent wobbles, Arsenal is a sterner proposition this time as it mounts its first serious Premier League challenge for years, and should be boosted by a 2-1 FA Cup victory over Liverpool, eight days after the same opponent thrashed it 5-1. German defender Per Mertesacker acknowledged that it would take “two perfect games” for Arsenal to progress, but that it was important not to show Bayern too much respect. Midfielder Mikel Arteta is suspended after being sent off in the group stage loss to Napoli, while Jack Wilshere and Bacary Sagna, who remained on the bench against Liverpool, Kieran Gibbs and Santi Cazorla, who were second half substitutes and Tomas Rosicky, who was rested, were expected to return. Bayern's domestic dominance shows no sign of slowing, with Saturday's 4-0 win over Freiburg coming despite Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Thiago and Mario Goetze being rested. Its Bundesliga winning streak is 13 matches and victory extended its unbeaten run to 46. Its only loss in this season's Champions League group stage came at home to Manchester City, with qualification already assured. It will be without France winger Franck Ribery, who is suffering with a buttock injury, and his potential replacement Xherdan Shaqiri, who scored twice against Freiburg, is also out with a thigh strain. Seedorf looking to lift Milan Clarence Seedorf will need to tap into all the experience he gained as the only player to win the Champions League with three different clubs if his AC Milan side is to get past Atletico Madrid into the quarterfinals in the night's other game. Milan hosts the Spanish club, which is riding high in La Liga, for its last 16, first leg, when Seedorf will make his coaching debut in Europe's elite club competition after taking over last month from Massimiliano Allegri. The 37-year-old former Netherlands midfielder won the Champions League once with Ajax Amsterdam and once with Real Madrid before a decade playing at Milan yielded two more continental titles. However, the seven-time European champion has fallen on hard times and sits ninth in Serie A, 31 points behind leader Juventus, and Seedorf has taken on the task of lifting it out of its slump and reviving past glories. The return leg is at Atletico's Calderon stadium on March 11. — Agencies
