Arsenal fans will have no rivals at the Emirates on Tuesday night(Picture: Getty Images)
Bayern Munich head to Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night, but they will do so without the support of their away fans.
It is the first leg of the huge last eight tie, with the Premier League leaders hoping to take advantage of Bayern’s surprisingly poor form.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have lost their last two Bundesliga matches and are a huge 16 points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen, with the decision already made that the former Chelsea boss will leave at the end of the season.
The Champions League is now their only realistic hope to salvage their season, so they will not be short of motivation, but they will be short of support in north London.
Why are there no away fans at the Arsenal vs Bayern Munich game tonight?
That is because Bayern fans threw fireworks onto the pitch during their 1-0 defeat to Lazio in Rome during the first leg of their last 16 tie in February.
The same offence had occurred during the trip to FC Copenhagen in October and bayern were given a suspended one-match ban and a £30,000 fine, so the second incident in Italy has led to fans being banned from the away trip to London.
The Mirror report that Arsenal have warned their own fans that selling tickets to away supporters will result in them being banned.
Bayern fans will not be bringing a fiery atmosphere to north London (Picture: Getty Images)
Bayern winger Leroy Sane, formally of Manchester City said of the situation: ‘Obviously it’s annoying, it’s frustrating. You want to to have your fans with you and give something back to them.
‘Tomorrow the situation is different, they’re not here but we still want to do our best, play well and give something back to the fans even though they’re not here.’
Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen. said: ‘We have to accept this punishment. Not only were pyrotechnics set off, but also fired deliberately onto the field, directly endangering bystanders.
Bayern would win the tie 3-1 against Lazio after losing the first leg 1-0 (Picture: Getty Images)
‘This was such an explicit violation of the conditions of probation that an appeal is unfortunately futile.
‘The fact we now have to play away without the support of our fans is a big blow.
‘A small group of individual offenders have done a disservice to all our supporters and the team.’
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