‘Wonderful’ weekend puts Bayern in mood for Arsenal

BERLIN: B aye rn Munich chairman KarlHeinz Rummenigge says the Bavarian giants are relishing their next Champions League showdown with Arsenal, especially after a weekend where al l their main Bundesliga rivals lost ground.

Carlo Ancelot t i’s Bayern returned to the top of the table on Saturday with a 5- 0 rout of Wol fsburg after RB Leipzig, leaders for three weeks, suffered a shock 1- 0 defeat at Ingolstadt.

Apart from Bayern, none of the top seven teams in Germany won at the weekend with thirdplaced Hertha Berlin slumping to a 1- 0 defeat at home to strugglers Werder Bremen.

Then Bayern were paired with Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League and will resume their European bat t le with the Gunners on February 15 at the Allianz Arena and March 7 in London.

“Arsenal are a very good opponent and it will be two very exciting games which the fans can look forward to,” said Bayern defender Jerome Boateng after Monday’s draw.

“We have already had some experiences against Arsenal in the Champions League, most of which were positive, and it’s up to us to tie it up.”

Bayern and Arsenal know each other well in Europe.

The Germans have beaten Arsenal five times in their 10 Champions League meetings with two draws and three defeats.

“They are known for playing attacking and attractive football, which is the style of Arsene Wenger,” said Rummenigge.

“I can well remember that they played very defensively against us in the past. We have to make sure that we score one or two goals so we can head to London with a bit more calm.”

Rummenigge could barely contain his delight after Leipzig’s defeat allowed Bayern to go back to the top of the league on goal difference.

“Wonderful, we’ll enjoy that. It was an excellent round of matches for us, we went back to the top and Dortmund dropped two points,” he said, having promised to send beer and sausages to neighbours Ingolstadt for beating Leipzig. — AFP