Eric Dier gives his thoughts.
Bayern Munich defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinal second leg of the 2023-24 season at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, at 4:00 a.m. ET on Sunday. The winners advance to the quarterfinals to face Real Madrid.
Munich drew 2-2 away to Arsenal in the first leg. They returned home with a lighter heart after equalizing with a draw away from home, and Joshua Kimmich's goal gave them the win. In the 28th minute, the Arsenal defense failed to contain Kimmich as he ran in from the back from a cross. Kimmich immediately connected with a header to score the winner.
Munich defended Kimmich's goal well. In the 31st minute of the second half, they brought on Kim Min-Jae for Nusair Mazroui to mark Xhaka, and in the 44th minute, they took off Leroy Sane and brought on Dayo Upamecano to solidify the lead. The Bavarians held off a late onslaught from Arsenal to punch their ticket to the last four.
The defense was outstanding in holding Arsenal to a clean sheet. Dier deserves a lot of credit for starting. Dyer played the full 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet for Munich. He also set up the likes of Kim Min-Jae in defensive positions on set pieces. In short, Dyer led the team's defense as a whole.
Dyer's performance was also reflected in the numbers. Fotmob, a soccer statistics site, gave him a rating of 7.7. Dyer 바카라 attempted 77 passes, completing 71 of them. He also won six out of eight contested situations. Soccer stats site Sofascore gives Dyer a 7.4 rating. This is the second highest rating in the team, behind Kimmich, who scored the goal.
Dyer was happy after the game. "It was good to beat Arsenal to be honest," he said when asked if the game against the Gunners was particularly motivating, according to the UK's Daily Mail.
Dier was at Tottenham before joining Munich. Spurs are bitter rivals with fellow Londoners Arsenal. During his time at Spurs, Dyer played a lot of games against Arsenal. He moved on, but he never forgot about Arsenal. It's safe to say he has some Tottenham DNA in him.
In recent years, Dier has become a regular starter for Munich. Since joining on loan in the winter transfer window, he has formed a good partnership with Matthijs de Ligt and has been a regular starter. He started against Arsenal in the first leg of the quarterfinals and also started against Cologne in their most recent league game.
Munich will now host Real Madrid in the UCL quarterfinal first leg on May 1 at home.
