Kasper Hjulmand has confidence that his Bayer Leverkusen team can beat Arsenal, having already recorded impressive wins against similarly strong sides this season.
The Champions League knockouts are here, and it’s time for Arsenal to transfer their league phase form into the round of 16.
A trip to Leverkusen awaits the Gunners, who will face Bayer Leverkusen competitively for the first time since 2002.
Arsenal received an injury boost ahead of facing Leverkusen and will carry confidence into the tie, but their opponents are not to be underestimated.
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Bayer Leverkusen manager Kasper Hjulmand is confident ahead of facing Arsenal
Lukas Podolski gave Leverkusen some tips ahead of facing Arsenal, making a claim that the Gunners had perhaps not taken some teams ‘seriously’ this season.
Podolski was referring to the draws against Wolves and Brentford, but the former Gunner wasn’t the only one to make a comparison to other games when previewing the match.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Leverkusen boss Hjulmand shared that he has confidence that his team can beat Arsenal, given three other big games they’ve won this season.
“We’ve already shown this season against many big teams like Manchester City, Dortmund, and Leipzig that we can beat them, as we all know, anything is possible in football.”
Leverkusen beat Manchester City 2-0 in the league phase, showing no fear at the Etihad to stun Pep Guardiola’s side.
A German Cup win over Borussia Dortmund was another high, as was Leverkusen’s Bundesliga win over RB Leipzig.
Hjulmand calls Arsenal the best ahead of facing Bayer Leverkusen
It’s only right for Hjulmand to have confidence, as he said, anything can happen in football.
Fill in the blank: Arsenal’s best player in the league phase of the Champions League was ____________
It has to be said that Arsenal are the overwhelming favourites, which he also acknowledged, dubbing Mikel Arteta’s side the best in Europe right now.
“Arsenal are perhaps the best team in Europe at the moment, they finished first in the league phase of the Champions League and won all their games, scored the most goals and conceded the fewest.”
What we now need to see from the Gunners is taking the next step, as we saw last season, early form goes out of the window when the knockouts come around.
It’s set to be a thriller of a tie, with Bayer Leverkusen fully charged and ready to compete.
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