Managers usually do not reveal their team news ahead of any game. And certainly no body has seen Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to do it in his long serving career at Arsenal.
The Gunners will face Turkish giants Galatasaray on Wednesday night in the Champions League final group game, where they would be hoping to progress to the knock out rounds as Group winners.
Ahead of the match, Arsenal boss has taken an usual step in announcing the team line-up well in advance of the game.
According to David Hytner of The Guardian, Wenger has confirmed his starting eleven, where he claimed right back Mathieu Debuchy is set to return from his injury.
The French defender, who joined the club in summer from Newcastle, injured his ankle while playing for Manchester City in September, and his return to full fitness should be a welcome relief in the Arsenal camp.
From his update, we also get the news that Santi Cazorla, Danny Welbeck and Kieran Gibbs are also left out of the clash, while Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny were rested.
Yaya Sanogo is likely to return while fringe players like Joel Campbell and Lukas Podolski will be given a chance to prove their worth.
This is indeed a strange approach from Wenger, who has come under lot of pressure, this season from the fans, following Arsenal’s stuttering start to the new campaign.
The Frenchman, however, has asked everyone, to judge him after the end of the season, and not after every weeks.
This typical style of announcing your team ahead of the match resembles to what Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho did during his first spell in charge. (From 4.40 onwards)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSJE9K1Hi_o
Ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League away trip to Barcelona in the knockout phase, Mourinho famously predicted the starting XI of Barcelona’s lineup and also gave Chelsea’s lineup as well.
Arsenal have already qualified, therefore, the game doesn’t hold enough significance, still it was a strange move from Wenger never-the-less.
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