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Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has stated that his side will have ‘nothing to fear’ when they take on Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
United come into the match with a comprehensive 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League but have had to endure a torrid season with both the league title and 4th place well out of their reach.
In contrast, Robben’s Bayern have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title in record time and have their eyes set on retaining the Champions League trophy that they won at Wembley last May.
The Bundesliga champions have been practically unstoppable under new coach Pep Guardiola and Robben believes that Manchester United possess nothing that will scare them.
“Bayern have no fear of United at all,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
“Take our game against Schalke the other week. We played in such a high tempo, that we were 4-0 up within 30 minutes. We don’t let our opponents come up for air. That is the Bayern of Guardiola.”
Robben, who has 3 goals and 3 assists in this season’s Champions League so far, also heaped praise on Guardiola for the tactical nuances that he has brought to the team and said that the Bavarians are even more dangerous now than last season.
“Guardiola has turned us into the most dominant team in Europe. We have made another giant step as a team this season.
“We are more dominant than we have been. From the very first minute we put massive pressure on our opponents and are capable of keeping the ball and putting them under pressure for the full 90 minutes.
“Guardiola is very demanding. He asks a lot from his players. Every day it is so intense. But I love that. Our playing style is even more attacking than last year. Then we used to play compact, and we let the other team come into our half sometimes, so we could hit them with the counter-attack.
“But this manager is tactically so strong. He is always pointing out where we can find the space to get one-on-one situations. He teaches us to make quick sprints and runs without the ball.
“So it becomes a total clockwork. It is fascinating to play in that system. The chances of winning more trophies in the next few years are huge.”
The Dutch winger who scored the winning goal the last time these two sides met in the Champions League however chose to acknowledge that United are still a big team and said that he and his team-mates couldn’t wait for the clash to get underway.
“No team can have stroll to the final. We are facing Manchester United, a big name in world football. But we are razor sharp,” he said.
“Our football is phenomenal and we want to show that more than anywhere in the Champions League.
“Playing United is the sort of thing that really gets the best out of me. We won the German League last week. But we were not even bothered about that. Nobody in the dressing room was talking about it. We knew ages ago we would win the title.
“Beating every team in the Champions League is our big thing. The Champions League is what we want again, especially after winning it at Wembley last year.”
