Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola: Arsenal's injury problems helped us

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Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola believes
Arsenal's injury problems made it easier for
his side in their 5-1 Champions League win
on Wednesday.
Bayern ran riot against the Gunners at the
Allianz Arena and were widely praised for
their display, with German media commenting
that the Bavarians are currently playing in "a
world of their own."
However, speaking at a news conference prior
to Bayern's Bundesliga clash against
Stuttgart on Saturday, Guardiola said the
display against Arsenal was not quite a
Champions League-winning performance.
"We played really, really well against Arsenal
in the first 35 minutes," said Guardiola, who
again refused to talk about his future. "That's
not enough to win the Champions League."
"We should not forget that Arsenal fielded a
side similar to that of ours last season,"
Guardiola added, referring to Bayern's
struggles with injury towards the end of last
term.
The Bavarians were without key players
including Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and
David Alaba as they crashed out of the
Champions League and DFB Pokal semifinals.
"Arsenal were without several injured players,"
Guardiola said, before running through
Arsene Wenger's absentees.
Guardiola added: "We need to continue to
work hard, we are still developing. We need
to pass the ball, and play the vertical ball at
exactly the right time. We have to continue to
get better. We need more control. We have to
avoid the counter-attacks."
Last Friday, Bayern dropped their first points
of the season in the Bundesliga with a 0-0
draw against an Eintracht Frankfurt side who
defended deep in their own half.
Guardiola, however, expects things to be
different for the game against Stuttgart on
Saturday.
"We will see a good match tomorrow," he
said. "Both team attack and play attractive
football. Stuttgart create many chances."
Stuttgart have created 91 chances, just five
fewer than Bayern, but only scored 17 goals
to the Bavarians' 33.
To help stop Stuttgart, Guardiola could make
use of Holger Badstuber again, with the
defender having returned to the squad from
injury for the first time since April.
"I like Badstuber," Guardiola said. "He's got a
great quality in his build-up play and he's a
great personality."

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