Thursday 26 April 2012

Robben Reckons Bayern Better



Arjen Robben believes Bayern Munich deserved to reach the UEFA Champions League final after keeping their composure to defeat Real Madrid.

The German giants will take on Chelsea at their own Allianz Arena on 19th May after a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out win over Real in the semi-finals.

Bayern had looked to be slipping out of the competition after falling two goals behind in just 14 minutes in the second leg at the Bernabeu following two goals, one a penalty, from Cristiano Ronaldo.

But Jupp Heynckes' team rallied and Robben's own first-half spot-kick took the tie to penalties, with a 3-3 aggregate scoreline, before Real crumbled in the shoot-out.

Robben told Sky Sports: "I am very proud of my team, because when you start a game like this and after 14 minutes you are 2-0 down, then you have to be mentally strong to cope with it and recover from it.

"I think, overall, the rest of the game, we played some really good football.

"In the end, I think we can say it is deserved."

Holland international Robben, who will now be reunited with Chelsea following his 2007 departure, added: "We were really hungry. Everybody was really aggressive."

Meanwhile, Bayern chief executive and club legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge believed the win over Real was the best thing he had seen in almost half a century.

"I have not witnessed something like that in 40 years of professional football," said Rummenigge.

"This tops everything we experienced in the 70s and 80s. I am very happy and very proud. That was top quality football."

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