But Arsene Wenger's disapproval of arduous car journeys has prevented Bergkamp playing in several away games on the Continent this season, and has again ruled the striker out of his plans.

Fellow striker Kanu, though, will be travelling with the party following fears that he might not be back in time from international duty with Nigeria.

Wenger was considering a U-turn on Bergkamp if Kanu picked up an injury while playing for his country but, ironically, a hamstring twinge for the former Holland striker against Blackburn has all but forced his hand.

The Arsenal squad fly out to Bavaria early on Tuesday morning needing a victory to make sure of their place in the quarter-finals, although matching or bettering Lyon's result against Spartak Moscow would also guarantee their passage.

Kanu faces an exhausting trip back from Africa, with the prospect of changing planes three times before he reaches Munich.

Freezing temperatures in Moscow, where Arsenal were hammered 4-1 by the Russians, have put the Russians' game against Lyon in jeopardy.

Moscovites have been wading through a metre of snow in the last few days and should the weather force the match to be called off, the Bayern-Arsenal encounter could also be scrubbed.

To ensure against any collusion and the advantage of knowing the other result, Uefa have ruled that both games must kick off at the same time which, to cover the time-zone difference in Moscow, means a 5.55pm GMT start in Munich.

Therefore one match cannot realistically go ahead without the other and a Uefa spokesman said: "At the moment there are no changes and both games will go ahead as scheduled.

"But with this group still to be decided there is a need to play the games simultaneously and if the Spartak game was cancelled it would be up to the cup competition committee to decide on what should happen."