Kahn has recently maintained his silence, while Lehmann insisted: “It is a competitive relationship, but it is not a war or anything poisonous like that.”

Wenger, meanwhile, who only recalled Lehmann to the Arsenal side earlier this month, believes his goalkeeper will use the pressure to his advantage.

“If players are special, they can deal with pressure. It can actually help them perform. They find it harder to play without any pressure on them.

“This is Arsenal against Bayern Munich, not Jens Lehmann against Oliver Kahn.

“Jens has played for 12 or 13 years in Germany so I do not think he will be judged on one game, no matter how well he plays. But he is a winner and he will be happy if Arsenal win.”

Lehmann is used to receiving hostile receptions in Munich from his time in the Bundesliga and he is expecting more of the same this evening.

“Whenever I went there with Schalke or Dortmund, the welcome was never particularly warm. But this does not bother me,” he insisted.

“In fact, I expect it and I am looking forward to it. A player likes to go back to his home country and especially with Arsenal.

“We have a fantastic team here and we attract people to us because people love watching us, whatever the result will be.”

He told the club’s official programme: “We give the fans a lot of pleasure and I am very proud that I am playing for Arsenal and I want to perform very well when I go back to Germany.”

Bayern coach Felix Magath nevertheless believes Kahn, who has often kept Lehmann out of the Germany team, can again underline his number one position ahead of the 2006 World Cup finals.

“I think it is excellent the way that Oliver Kahn has restrained himself and let his performances speak for themselves,” he said.

“I am sure he will try to keep another clean sheet. His performances up to now have been fantastic and there is no competition [for the Germany number one shirt], whether it be in Germany or in England.”

Lehmann, meanwhile, has the added problem of playing behind a relatively inexperienced Arsenal defence, with Sol Campbell ruled out through a twisted ankle.

Ashley Cole is also doubtful after being confined to bed last week with a virus and Wenger was leaving a decision on his left-back until later today.

“Ashley has not fully recovered. He should be fine for the weekend but we are not yet completely confident that he can play in a Champions League game,” he admitted.

“We will assess him again in the morning and then take a decision.”

Edu is at least back after a hamstring problem, but Wenger’s other worry is the freezing conditions in snowbound Munich.

“It is a concern. If the pitch is frozen then it would be a problem for us as we are not used to it. But there is under-soil heating so it should hopefully be a normal pitch,” he said.