Martin Odegaard says his Arsenal side should “respect but not fear” Harry Kane ahead of their Champions quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
Mikel Arteta’s side fended off a stern challenge from Porto in the previous round, progressing on penalties thanks to the heroics of David Raya.
Bayern on the other hand made light work of Lazio and the Champions League is Bayern’s last chance to earn some silverware this season, sitting 16 points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen and having been dumped out of the DFB Pokal by minnows Saarbrucken back in November.
The main bright spot in Bayern’s underwhelming season has been the form of Kane, who arrived from Tottenham in the summer. Despite Bayern’s dismal form, Kane has remained as prolific as ever, with 38 goals and 12 assists from just 37 appearances so far this season.
With 32 goals in the league, Kane is tumbling records for fun and is on course to break Robert Lewandowski’s record of 41 league goals in a single Bundesliga season.
“[He’s] a good player, of course, and I have played against him a few times and we know the quality he has in the box, and he is also good in the link up,” Odegaard said via the Daily Mail.
“We are facing a good team on Tuesday. I think we should respect him, but I don’t think we should fear anyone, and we should focus on ourselves and the quality we have in our team. And that is all.”
Bayern come into this fixture off the back of a disappointing 3-2 defeat to newly promoted Heidenheim on Saturday, after being beaten at home by Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker a week before, which was Dortmund’s first win in Munich for 10 years.
Whilst at Spurs, Kane played against Arsenal 19 times, scoring 14 goals and was on the winning side seven times. He is the top goal scorer in north London derbies and will certainly cause Arsenal more issues on Tuesday in the first leg at the Emirates.
