Arsenal vs Bayern Munich - Wenger says reports of Sanchez bust-up with team-mates are 'false' - 7M sport

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich - Wenger says reports of Sanchez bust-up with team-mates are 'false'



Posted Tuesday, March 07, 2017 by PA

Arsene Wenger claimed reports of a bust-up between Alexis Sanchez and his team-mates were "completely false" as he again defended the decision to drop him against Liverpool.

The Chile forward was surprisingly named as a substitute for Saturday's 3-1 Premier League defeat at Anfield.

Several newspapers claimed he was left out due to an incident with his team-mates before the match and he was said to have walked out in the middle of a training session last week after an argument.

Sanchez has cut an increasingly frustrated figure in recent games as Arsenal's trophy hopes have taken a hit.

The loss to Liverpool followed on from previous league defeats against Watford and Chelsea, while the Gunners face Bayern Munich in the second-leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday having lost 5-1 in Germany last month.

Wenger claimed after the game on Saturday that Sanchez, who came on to provide the assist for Danny Welbeck's consolation strike, had been left out for tactical reasons.

The 28-year-old trained with the squad as normal on the eve of the Bayern clash and shook hands with Wenger as he made his way onto the club's London Colney training pitch.

And, speaking to the media after the training session, Wenger insisted there are no issues with Sanchez - even if some of his behaviour can be "excessive" at times.

"I am not aware, nothing at all," he said. "I explained after the game I decided to go for a more direct option, that was the unique reason for my decision."

Asked directly if the reports were true, Wenger said: "Completely false. I understand you have to fill newspapers.

"All the rest, his attitude - he's a committed player and sometimes has excessive behaviours but you have that many times in the history of every squad.

"It's about the team performance, not individuals. It's a team sport and the most important thing is that we focus on our collective. Our game is built on collective expression.

"That is the most important thing, that we focus on what's important and not the individual. Alexis played in all the games and when we didn't perform away from home, we lost as well.

"We lost at Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea, and that's what I think is the most important thing, to focus and produce as a team."

Wenger described his relationship with Sanchez as "honest and normal, like with every single player."

Bayern manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted he is still haunted by previous slip-ups, such as the 2005 loss to Liverpool when in charge of AC Milan.

For that reason, Ancelotti is taking no liberties with a four-goal lead. "I want to forget but I'm not able to forget," he said of those previous losses.

"This is the beauty of football because in football you never know and I think that experience was good for me to avoid this kind of problem.

"Tomorrow could be a good moment to show we are focused from the beginning and that we want to win.

"We don't take into consideration the advantage we have, it is important but the most important thing is to play well for 90 minutes.

"We want to play a good game at our best, avoid problems and use our style, our identity, our quality to try to win."



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