Mikel Arteta had plenty of praise for Arsenal’s performance against Bayern Munich, with Declan Rice admitting it was a major tactical battle for the team.
Arsenal came out 3-1 winners against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, with a particularly dominant second-half performance in which the team absolutely earned their winning goals.
But the Gunners had to deal with having less of the ball than they’re used to, and in the first half Bayern did a great job of limiting their opponents to set-piece opportunities.
It shouldn’t have been any surprise that the visitors were capable of that kind of performance, considering they were on an 18-game unbeaten run and top of the Champions League table.
But that made Mikel Arteta all the more pleased his team managed to step things up in the second half and win the game.
“I have to praise our players because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe,” Arteta said.
“Individually, we were immense to resolve all the challenges that these teams bring to the table. After, yes, they know how hard we worked to prepare for every single game.
“We made changes, and whoever it is, with all the injuries that we still have, [they] perform in an incredible way. So I’m so pleased.
“I know the difficulty of the match that we played, and how much they demand in each action. And I thought we were excellent.”
Player of the Match Declan Rice echoed that same sentiment, admitting Bayern gave Arsenal a very tough tactical battle. But again, he praised his team for overcoming those difficulties to take all three points.
“I think if you look at Bayern Munich this season, they’ve been the best team in Europe,” Rice told TNT Sports. “They games they’ve won tell you that.
“We knew tonight what kind of game we were in for. Probably the toughest game tactically we’ve played all season. The way they move, the way they drag you around. It takes a lot of communication and a lot of thinking.
“It was an all-around great performance, because it is Bayern Munich, you know? They’ve been unbelievable this year and I thought tonight we were outstanding.”