Mikel Arteta revels in Arsenal’s win against ‘best team’ Bayern Munich

LONDON – Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal players after they outplayed Europe’s “best team” Bayern Munich 3-1 on Nov 26 to pull clear at the top of the Champions League table.

The Gunners dominated the second half against the six-time European champions at the Emirates Stadium to finish as worthy winners.

Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl cancelled out Jurrien Timber’s opener late in the first half.

But Noni Madueke restored Arsenal’s lead with his first goal for the club and fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli took advantage of a huge blunder from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The Gunners now have five wins out of five in the Champions League and are well on course to qualify automatically for the last 16.

They are three points clear of a clutch of teams, including Bundesliga leaders Bayern, who travelled to London with four wins out of four in the Champions League.

“I have to praise our players because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe,” said a delighted Arsenal manager Arteta.

“Individually, we were immense to resolve all the challenges that this team brings to the table.

“We know that the margins are super small. We started the week really well against Spurs, winning here at home (a 4-1 victory).

“Today is another massive victory, but that’s it.

“Now go home, have a nice dinner, and tomorrow morning we’ll start to prepare for Stamford Bridge (against Chelsea on Nov 30).”

He also said it would be useful to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League quickly, but warned there were tough challenges ahead.

“The energy that we created in the stadium, what the team transmits, the energy that we bring, the quality that we play with, it’s incredible... we have to maintain that because it’s still very early,” Arteta said.

There is a growing sense that Arsenal could be on the brink of something special after coming up short in the past few seasons, with three consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League.

The strength of the squad is shown by the fact that two of the goals came from substitutes, Madueke and Martinelli.

The Gunners are also missing a host of senior players, including Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.

“I look at the players and they are coming in and they can change the game, so that’s what you’re required to do,” added Arteta.

“At this level, we certainly have improved that, not only with the quality but as well with the mindset of the players coming in and that’s something that is making a huge difference for us.”

Bayern striker Harry Kane, meanwhile, said there would be no panic despite the defeat and predicted that the two sides could well clash again at the business end of the tournament in the spring.

“It was a tough game which is kind of what we expected,” said the England captain, who has bagged 29 goals in all competitions for club and country this season.

“Second half we didn’t quite have the same energy or intensity and we lost too many duels.

“It’s our first loss of the season. We don’t want to panic too much about it. But we will learn about it for sure.” AFP, REUTERS