Arsenal legend Martin Keown urges Mesut Ozil to prove his quality against Bayern Munich
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Mesut Ozil has been urged to step up to the plate and fire Arsenal to the brink of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Martin Keown wants to see the playmaker deliver a big-game performance against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, with Arsenal the overwhelming underdogs against their German opponents.
There is a perception that Ozil tends to go missing for the Gunners when the going gets tough, but Keown knows Arsenal's record signing must be at his brilliant best if Arsene Wenger and co are to return from Bavaria with a positive result.
"This is the perfect chance for Mesut Ozil to demonstrate his desire," Keown wrote in his Daily Mail column . "He is going back to Germany where he is an iconic figure: a World Cup winner.
"I don't know whether responsibility sits well on his shoulders. Ozil looks as if he does not want to be burdened with the expectation of running and winning a game. Wenger needs to challenge his leading playmaker to step up.
(Photo: Arsenal FC via Getty)
(Photo: Getty)
"He has delayed signing a new contract and there is talk he may leave but he has an opportunity to achieve something, now."
Arsenal boss Wenger is optimistic ahead of the two-legged last-16 encounter - despite seeing his side eliminated at the same stage by Bayern twice in the last four seasons.
Wenger said at Tuesday's pre-match press conference: “I feel we have experience. We play against a Bayern side who, every year, [always] have the same task, which is to win the Champions League.
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“When you look at their record, they are always basically in the last four. So it is a massive challenge, but we are capable of dealing with it.
“We have an advantage to play the second game at home. But we know every minute of tomorrow’s game will have a big influence on our chances at home to knock them out.
“We had very difficult teams in our group stage – we had Paris Saint-Germain, who are one of the favourites as well, and we could deal with them [Arsenal did not beat PSG, both games were drawn, but did win the group].
(Photo: Alexander Hassenstein)
(Photo: Bongarts/Getty)
"Let’s focus on what we want to do and not too much on what people say and think. It is really down to our performance.
“Thank you for reminding me of the bad history, but let’s focus on the future.
"We just have to focus on the performance. We know we play against Bayern, who basically listening to you, is favourite. That means we have to be very positive and be on the fighting front and the playing front at the level that is requested tomorrow.”