Ex-Arsenal star Francis Coquelin slams Bayern’s ‘arrogant attitude’ as he plots another Euro upset against Liverpool
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ARSENAL flop Francis Coquelin has slammed Bayern Munich’s “arrogant attitude” after he helped Villarreal dump them out of the Champions League.
The French midfielder, 30, and his team-mates caused one of the biggest shocks in this season’s competition when they overcame Juventus in the last-16.
But the LaLiga club went on to raise even more eyebrows in the quarter-finals as they overcame the six-time European champions to set-up a semi clash with Liverpool.
Now Coquelin, who spent a decade at Arsenal before leaving for Valencia in 2018, has revealed that the arrogance of the German giants led to their downfall.
He said: “Everyone in our dressing room had followed the slightly arrogant attitude of Bayern in the press.
“There was a bit of a lack of humility there, which I can understand to a point when you're the bigger team.
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“I don't think they’re doing it on purpose, maybe it's quite natural to act like that when you're playing against the supposedly weakest team in the quarter-finals.”
Bayern lost the first-leg 1-0 in Spain, but despite many expecting a major turnaround back at the Allianz Arena, Villarreal grabbed a late goal to earn a draw on the night and advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Coquelin said: “We could have scored three or four goals.
“We actually thought they had learned something in the second leg, but they made the same mistakes.”
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Villarreall, who are also managed by ex-Gunner Unai Emery, now face another huge task in their first-ever Champions League semi.
But the prospect of taking on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, also six-time kings of Europe, is not fazing them one bit.
Coquelin added: “Of course we knocked out Juventus and Bayern, we'll go to Liverpool full of self-confidence.”
The Reds travel to Spain tomorrow to take on Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica in the first-leg with the return tie at Anfield next Tuesday.
The victors will face the winners of the other semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid in Paris on May 28.
