ARJEN ROBBEN

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has said that he needs to have more game time before he can show his full potential. Arjen Robben was one of the reasons for Bayern Munich reaching the final of the Champions League few seasons ago but he has become slightly injury prone in the last few years. He had a groin surgery in October and recently played his first match after undergoing surgery. Since Bastian Schweinsteiger and other important players are also injured, Arjen Robben is expected to get some much-needed game time before he returns to full fitness, probably starting against Villiareal.

It is going to be an extremely important group stage match against Villarreal. Villarreal are all but finished in the group stages of the Champions League – their hopes of making it into the Europa League also lie pretty much in tatters due to the impressive form shown by Napoli. If they do not get anything out of the Bayern Munich match, then Villarreal will not be able to make it into the Europa League. The biggest competition for Bayern Munich for topping the group comes from Manchester City. The club started their inaugural Champions League season rather poorly, but have since recovered to be considered as one of the cometition’s main contenders.

Bayern Munich currently lead the table by three points, but they need to maintain that advantage ahead of the return leg at Eastlands. Robben is expected to play a key part in the match against Villarreal. He said, “It was fantastic to be back on the training ground, and also back with the boys on the football pitch. It wasn’t an easy game to start in, and I started to get tired towards the end, but I thought I did enough to convince the coach to put me in for the next game. Playing matches is completely different from the usual training.”

Villarreal were defeated during the weekend in the la Liga.