Champions League: Costa v Sanchez

Arsenal visit Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday (7.45pm kick-off) hoping to fare better than before against the German giants.

Arsene Wenger’s men have run into the Bundesliga champions at this stage in two of their past four European exploits, and also faced them in last year’s group stage campaign, losing 5-1 at the Allianz Arena.

However, the Gunners go into Wednesday’s clash off the back of a 2-0 victory over Hull on Saturday, and Wenger will once again be hoping that in-form forward Alexis Sanchez, the scorer of both goals against the Tigers, will continue to shine against the five-times European champions on Wednesday.

Yet, Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern have not lost at home at all this term, and that run actually dates back to last March, when Mainz produced a stunning 2-1 win at the Allianz Arena, although it didn’t derail their march to the Bundesliga title.

Of the three defeats they’ve suffered this season, two of them have come in the Champions League, but Ancelotti will hope that Douglas Costa, scorer of three goals in the league this term, is at his best to try and give Bayern a lead to take to the Emirates in three weeks’ time.

So, with these two key players set to head-to-head on Wednesday, here is how Costa and Sanchez match up in their respective leagues this season…