Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud scored a brace on Saturday (Picture REUTERS/Darren Staples)

Former Arsenal boss George Graham has urged Arsene Wenger to play a weakened team for the second leg of their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on March 11.

Arsenal head to Germany trailing 2-0 from the first encounter at the Emirates Stadium and Graham believes they are incapable of overcoming that deficit against the defending champions.

Arsenal got back to winning ways on Saturday, with a 4-1 home victory over Sunderland.

The recalled Olivier Giroud netted twice, with Tomas Rosicky – replacing Mesut Ozil, who had a dead leg – and Laurent Koscielny sealing the win.


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Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil suffered a miserable night against Bayern Munich (Picture Eddie Keogh/Reuters)

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Graham said: ‘One of the questions facing Arsene is whether they play their best team and try to win the tie, which is near impossible, or concentrate on the league.

‘Personally I’d play a weakened team because I think the second half of the first leg was like a practice match for Bayern.

‘It took a lot out of Arsenal and they have some very tough games coming up. They need fresh legs and fresh minds.’

As for playmaker Ozil, who missed a penalty against Bayern, Graham added: ‘The pace and intensity of the English game have caught up with him.

‘He looks sad now and mentally he needs to come back.’