Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich: Match Thread And Viewing Options

Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich

UEFA Champions League

Wednesday, February 19 2014 | 2:45pm Eastern, 7:45pm London

Emirates Stadium, London, England

TV: Fox Sports 2 and Fox Soccer 2 Go

(For your NASCAR Truck Series Practice Day needs, tune to Fox Sports 1)

One time, a friend of mine and I played a round of golf.  On about the third hole, we decided to spend the rest of the front nine talking in specific ways - he referred to himself in the third person the whole way, and I spoke in nothing but sports cliches.  It was one of the most hysterical rounds of golf I ever played.

How does that relate to today's game?  Well, when thinking about how to write about something, there's a tendency to get lazy.  Especially in a game as big and seemingly lopsided as this one is - from an Arsenal perspective, this entire preview could be written using bad sports cliches about "giving 110 percent" and "taking it to the next level" and "we can only focus on what we can do" and "we gotta step up" and....ad nauseam.  Or there's the equally lazy, jokey way of doing it - pulling out quotes from one's favorite sports movies (or non-sports movies) as a cheap writing crutch.

It's super easy to do, and I try super hard not to do it very often, because it's lazy.  But faced with a game like today's, I struggle, because today's all about cliche.  Today's what sports are all about - the "underdog" (with a nine-figure bank account it's hard to be considered a plucky underdog) against the all-conquering overlord of the game.  David vs. Goliath.  The Bad News Bears (the good one, not the Billy Bob Thornton one) vs. the Yankees.  The US against the Russians in 1980...anyway, you get the picture.

This is a big match for Arsenal, and I can't decide whether to be excited or terrified, so I'm choosing to be excitified.  The thing is, Arsenal can win this game, if a lot of things go right.  Let's hope things go right.

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