Edu backs Arsenal to beat Bayern Munich in Champions League

Following a 1-1 aggregate draw against Portuguese giants Porto in the last 16, Mikel Arteta's men advanced to the quarter-finals thanks to a nail-biting 4-2 penalty-shootout success at the Emirates in the second leg.

Courtesy of David Raya's stops from Wendell and Galeno, alongside successful spot kicks from Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, Arsenal ended 14 years of last-16 hurt in the Champions League, where they had not reached the quarters since the 2009-10 season.

After Barcelona dumped them out of the tournament that year, Arsenal suffered seven straight last-16 eliminations from Europe's top competition, three of which came at the hands of Bayern Munich in the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2016-17 editions.

The latter campaign saw the perennial German champions humiliate the Gunners in a 10-2 aggregate obliteration thanks to a pair of 5-1 victories, and they also trounced Arsene Wenger's team by the same scoreline in the 2015-16 group stage.

Prior to their Emirates embarrassment against Bayern, Arsenal were also dumped out of the 2004-05 Champions League last 16 by the Bavarians, who have only lost three of their 12 competitive games against their English foes.

Furthermore, even if Arsenal are able to avenge their recent eliminations to the Bundesliga champions, they must best either reigning champions Manchester City or 14-time winners Real Madrid for the chance to meet Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona or Paris Saint-Germain in the final.

However, speaking to the media after Friday's draw ceremony in Switzerland, Edu - who played in the first leg of Arsenal's 2004-05 exit to Bayern - affirmed that there is no reason why the Gunners cannot dream of finally achieving European stardom at Wembley in June.

"Why not? We have to dream because of the way we are playing and the momentum we have," the Daily Mail quotes the 45-year-old as saying. "This is the position we have to always be in because of the size of the club. We're back where we belong."

When Arsenal and Bayern last crossed paths over seven years ago, the Germans were the perpetual champions of the Bundesliga, but a troubled season under Thomas Tuchel leaves them at risk of ending the 2023-24 campaign without a single major trophy.

With nine games to go in the Bundesliga season, Bayern are 10 points behind Xabi Alonso's unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the table and need a minor miracle if they are to clinch their 12th successive top-flight crown.

Furthermore, Tuchel's side suffered a DFB-Pokal giant killing at the hands of third-tier Saarbrucken - who have since advanced to the semi-finals - and lost the German Super Cup 3-0 to RB Leipzig.

When Bayern's difficult campaign draws to a close, Tuchel will step down from his position, just over a year since being hired as Julian Nagelsmann's successor after his compatriot's shock sacking.

However, the ex-Chelsea boss oversaw a successful comeback against Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League, where the Bavarians lost 1-0 in the first leg but triumphed 3-0 at the Allianz Arena, and they followed that up with an 8-1 destruction of Mainz in the Bundesliga.

Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in that top-flight affair - moving onto a staggering 36 goals for the season - and the ex-Tottenham Hotspur man returns to North London next month boasting 14 goals from his previous 19 matches against Arsenal.