Former Tottenham star Eric Dier is relishing the challenge of facing Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
Bayern Munich defender Eric Dier says he is ‘really excited’ for the side’s Champions League semi-final with Arsenal, joking he ‘wasn’t ready to come back to England so soon’ when the draw was made.
Dier went to war against Arsenal on countless occasions during his nine-and-a-half year spell with the club’s bitter rivals, Tottenham, and the 30-year-old is preparing to renew that rivalry again when the two teams lock horns.
Bayern first travel to the Emirates this evening before welcoming the Gunners to the Allianz Arena in just over a week’s time, with Real Madrid and Manchester City colliding in this year’s other semi-final.
Struggling for regular minutes under Ange Postecoglou and seeking a fresh challenge away from Spurs, Dier completed a January switch the Bayern and has since made 11 appearances in all competitions for the Bundesliga champions.
The England international played the full 90 minutes as Bayern overturned a first-leg deficit to overcome Lazio in the quarter-finals last time out and will no doubt be desperate for a place in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI tonight.
The Champions League represents Bayern’s last realistic shot at silverware in what has been a desperately disappointing season for the team, with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen sitting 16 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga table.
‘What are the chances? I wasn’t ready to come back to England so soon!’ Dier told Gary Neville while giving his thoughts on the tie on the latest episode of The Overlap.
Tuchel’s Bayern have endured an immensely difficult campaign (Picture: Getty)
‘Obviously, I’m really excited. For me, personally, in all honesty, when I was at Spurs at the beginning of this season and I didn’t know if I was going to play in the Champions League again.
‘That was genuinely a worry of mine, you know? So yeah, it gives me goosebumps knowing that I’ve played against Lazio here. It was one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever played in. It was just an incredible, incredible experience for me.
‘Just to play the Champions League makes me a little emotional.’
Dier has been impressed by Arsenal’s resilience this season (Picture: Getty)
According to Dier, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are ‘a bit more gritty’ and ‘a bit less naive’ compared to last season when they finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League.
Asked whether he watched Arsenal’s goalless draw with City at the Etihad at the end of last month, Dier replied: ‘Yeah, I watched it. I think everyone was a bit disappointed with the way the game went.
‘I think they [Arsenal] are a very different team to last season. I think last season they played a lot nicer football than this season, but this season they seem to be a lot more result-driven, a bit more gritty, a bit less naive, I’d say probably.
‘I think maybe they would have tried to play a bit more toe to toe with City last year, even at the Etihad, and this year they seem like: “Okay, we’re going to come here, defend well and move on.”‘
The unwavering confidence inside Bayern’s camp that the side would bounce back from their opening defeat to Lazio to progress through to the semi-finals was something Dier had ‘never really experienced’.
‘It’s a funny feeling for me. When we lost to Lazio, I was on the bench, and after the game I remember a lot of things were said in the dressing room and it was sort of a calm dressing room: “It’s okay, they’ve gotta come here now, they’ve gotta come to the Allianz”,’ he explained.
‘And I’d never really experienced that before, that feeling of confidence. It made me think a little bit of what Liverpool must feel like a lot of the time when they go: “Okay, now they’ve got to come and play at Anfield”.
‘Thomas Muller said it after the Lazio game. Obviously he’s got all the experience in the world and just said, “It’s only 1-0 and now they’ve got to come here”.
‘It was a nice moment to be a part of and see that from a player like him.’
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