Football
ESPN staff 7y

Arjen Robben: History means nothing for Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal

Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben has told ESPN FC that history counts for nothing against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Bayern have had the better of previous meetings against the Gunners -- having knocked them out in 2013 and 2014, and beaten them 5-1 in the 2015 group stage -- and, after the pair were drawn together again in the round of 16, Robben says that the German champions will not take Arsene Wenger's men lightly.

"It's Arsenal, again. We were hoping for a new opponent, someone we hadn't played against before," he told ESPN FC's Raphael Honigstein. "But got we got Arsenal again.

"We have happy memories [from past meetings] but happy memories don't take you to the next round. They are a very strong team. Even stronger than last year. They're doing very well in the Premier League."

In total, Arsenal have won just three of their 10 meetings with Bayern in the Champions League, while Bayern have won five. But Robben insists that the pressure is still on.

"We've played them a few times over the last few years and always won -- we always got through to the next round -- but maybe this one will be the toughest one so far," he said.

"For us, it's very important that we're at a 100 percent after the winter break when we play them. For them, the pressure is to make it to the quarterfinal for the first time in many years. Our target is always the final. But this draw doesn't make it easy [for either team.]"

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