JUST PLAY YOUR OWEN GAME
European champ Hargreaves tells Celtic kid Tiernan not to worry about Bayern stars like Robben
OWEN HARGREAVES was a Bayern Munich rookie when he picked the pocket of the world’s most expensive player.
And he has told Celtic starlet Kieran Tierney, 20, to impose his game on Arjen Robben rather than worrying about what the Dutchman can do to him.
The 20-year-old Hargreaves feared the worst when he came up against Real Madrid’s Luis Figo in the second leg of the 2001 Champions League semi-final in Munich.
But he played a key role in sealing a 3-1 aggregate win and went on to lift the trophy.
The BT Sport pundit wants Tierney (right) to make a name for himself when he takes on his old club in the Allianz Arena tonight by putting the shackles on danger man Robben.
He said: “These are the games that take your reputation to a higher level on the European stage.
“You grow up watching these guys on television and then suddenly you are out on the pitch playing against them.
“When I look back to when I played against Luis Figo for the first time, he was the most expensive player in the world and I remember thinking, ‘I hope he doesn’t destroy me here’.
“But the game started and I nicked the ball off Figo and ran past Roberto Carlos. At that point I had an awakening on the pitch, thinking, ‘These guys have got two legs, just like me. Now I need to find a way to impose myself on them’.
“For Kieran Tierney in particular, rather than be daunted by the prospect of facing Arjen Robben, he has to be excited and see it as a challenge.
“Robben should be the one coming off the pitch saying, ‘Who the hell was that guy? Who was that guy?’ Tierney should be using that opportunity to show he belongs on this stage.”
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