The Gunners boss calls on his squad to prove their worth in the Champions League last-16 first leg after FA Cup defeat by Blackburn
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has called on his squad to “show some response” in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich following their shock FA Cup exit.
A second-half strike from Colin Kazim-Richards handed Championship side Blackburn a 1-0 win at the Emirates on Saturday after Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla were rested with the European last-16 first leg in mind.
And Wenger has called on his team to show their worth against the Bundesliga giants after another avenue of possible silverware was closed.
“The Bayern game is an opportunity to show we have character and that we are men who can fight for each other,” he told reporters.
“The season is not over, not for me anyway. We have a massive game on Tuesday and we have to show some response.”
Wenger also stressed that this was Arsenal’s first-ever FA Cup exit to lower-league opposition during his reign, although he did acknowledge ruefully that they had also fallen to League Two side Bradford City in the Capital One Cup earlier in the season.
“But 16 years without losing to lower-league sides in the FA Cup, nobody had done that,” he continued.
“It’s disappointing it’s happened twice this season, but I prepared for the games in exactly the same way I had in the previous years. I’m very unhappy as well, don’t worry.”