ROBBEN – HISTORY MEANS NOTHING
Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben revealed to ESPN FC that history does not hold sway against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Bayern have been the better side in the previous encounters against the Gunners, having knocked them out in 2013 and 2014 seasons respectively, and thumped them 5-1 in the 2015 group stage meeting.
After the Monday draws indicate that the pair were drawn together again in the round of 16, Dutch winger, Robben says the German champions will not underrate Arsene Wenger’s men when they meet in February.
“It’s Arsenal, again. We were expecting a new opponent, someone whom we haven’t played against before,” he informed ESPN FC’s Raphael Honigstein. “But got we are paired with Arsenal again.”
“We have happy memories of past meetings but happy memories don’t take you to the next round. They are a very strong team, even stronger than they were last year. They’re doing very well in the Premier League at the moment.”
In all, Arsenal has won just three of their last ten matches against the Bavarians in the Champions League, the last one being the 2-0 triumph in the first leg of the group stage meetings last season while Bayern have won five. However, Robben insists they must not be complacent as the pressure is still very much on.
He emphasized that Bayern has frequently been the victor in their meetings over the last few years but that should give room to slacking against the London firepower. “We always got through to the next round, but maybe this one will be the toughest one so far,” he said.
The pressure will be on both teams since it is imperative for the German team to be at 100 percent performance after the winter break when they face the Gunners while Arsenal must do everything possible to make it to the quarterfinal stage for the first time in many years.
“Our target is always the final. But this draw doesn’t make it easy for either team,” Robben said.
Posted: January 11th, 2017 under Arjen Robben.