21 February,2013 09:16 AM IST | | Agencies
Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes has claimed his team found it "easy" to play against Arsenal after they secured a 3-1 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Emirates Stadium.
The visitors raced into a 2-0 lead through Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller before Mario Mandzukic added a third after Lukas Podolski had temporarily given Arsenal hope.
Arsenal's Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Wojciech Szczesny, Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny show their dejection after conceding a goal against Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium. Pic/Getty Images
Heynckes, who will leave Bayern at the end of the season, praised the quality of his charges and their ruthless punishment of errors committed by the Gunners. "It was just easy for my team to play," Heynckes told reporters in his post-match press conference.
"We are currently in astonishing form. Our quality is that we can punish even the smallest mistakes of our opponents," he added.
The 67-year-old was pleased with his team's devastating start to the match and keen not to underestimate the difficulty of winning away against a Premier League club.
"When you win in England against an English team, this is a huge success," he added to Sky Deutschland.
"We made a superb start with those two goals and we had a good game. Afterwards, our opponent showed that they are Champions League material," he added.
Wenger accepts Bayern superiority
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side had been outclassed in their 3-1 loss to Bayern Munich and said it seemed "impossible" to turn the Champions League last 16 tie around. Eliminated from both domestic cup competitions and 21 points off the pace in the Premier League, Arsenal know the Champions League represents their only chance of picking up a first piece of silverware since 2005.
However, with Bayern in form that has seen them assemble a 15-point lead in the Bundesliga, it always seemed likely to prove a forlorn hope, and so it proved on a chastening Tuesday evening.
"Let's not hide the truth: it will be very difficult and we will try to make the impossible possible," Wenger told ITV.
"We will try to play like we do at home and try to change the score. The third goal makes it very difficult, but we will try," he added. u00a0
