Eric Dier has revealed that Bayern Munich will remain confident regardless of the result in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The Bayern defender, who joined on loan from Tottenham in January, warned Arsenal of the challenge they will face in the second leg of their European tie, live on talkSPORT, when they travel to the Allianz Arena.
The German giants have endured a disappointing campaign so far, having effectively surrendered the Bundesliga title to leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who they trail by 16 points.
This means that the Bavarian outfit’s hopes of silverware this season now rest entirely on European success, and they will certainly have their work cut out as they prepare to face Premier League leaders Arsenal at the Emirates.
But Dier has revealed that Bayern will be unfazed even if they fail to secure a result in north London, as the Gunners will then have to contend with their home advantage in the return leg, which he likened to Liverpool’s famous Anfield atmosphere.
Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast, the 30-year-old pointed to his side’s victory over Lazio in the competition’s previous round.
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On the match, which saw them win 3-0 in Munich after losing the first leg 1-0, Dier said: “It’s a funny feeling for me. When we lost to Lazio, I was on the bench, and after the game I remember a lot of things were said in the dressing room.
“And it was sort of a calm dressing room: [it was like] ‘It’s okay, they’ve got to come here now, they’ve got to come to the Allianz.’
“I’d never really experienced that before, that feeling of confidence.
He then explained: “It made me think a little bit of what Liverpool must feel like a lot of the time when they go, ‘Okay, now they’ve got to come and play at Anfield’.”
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Despite his huge faith in Bayern’s home advantage, however, Dier admitted that he was aware of the huge threat that Arsenal will pose, who he feels are a far tougher side this season than in the past.
He said of his former north London rivals: “I think they [Arsenal] are a very different team to last season.
“I think last season they played a lot nicer football than this season, but this season they seem to be a lot more result-driven, a bit more gritty, a bit less naive, I’d say probably.”
The Englishman also highlighted the attacking prowess of Mikel Arteta’s team, who boast his England teammate Bukayo Saka among their impressive forward line.
On Arsenal’s counter-attacking threat, he said: “Obviously that’s something that we’ll have to be extremely cautious of.
“I know Bukayo very well and [Gabriel] Martinelli, and they’ve got great pace on the wings.
“Leandro Trossard has proved a really really good player there as well. So that’s something obviously we’ll have to pay a lot of attention to.”
Nonetheless Dier admitted that he was relishing the opportunity to face off against the Gunners again, describing the match-up against his parent club’s arch enemies as ‘beautiful’.
He explained: “Football is beautiful in this way. Football always seems to give you these storylines.
Admitting that the tie would carry added importance for him and teammate Harry Kane, who left Spurs for Bayern in 2023, he backed the striker to have a huge say in the clash, saying: “Harry can have more of an impact on it than me.”
News Summary:
- Eric Dier understands Anfield mentality now he’s at Bayern Munich as he warns Arsenal ahead of Champions League clash
- Check all news and articles from the latest Football updates.