Arsenal star sends one-word message to Bayern Munich ace Jamal Musiala amid Champions League exit

Jamal Musiala has celebrated Bayern Munich's Champions League victory on social media with an Arsenal star praising his display in the comments. In a game where fine margins decided the winner, Musiala stepped up to the occasion giving Declan Rice and Jorginho minimal joy in the midfield battle.

The Gunners entered the second leg of their quarter-final tie against the Bavarians at a stalemate following a thrilling four-goal thriller at Emirates Stadium the previous week. Because of that, neither side truly let the handbrake off in the opening 45 minutes despite Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard and Musiala all going close to scoring.

Instead though, it was Joshua Kimmich from right-back who opened the scoring as he ghosted into the box to powerfully head home a Raphael Guerreiro cross. Arsenal pushed to find an equaliser but came up short with Bayern sealing a spot in the semi-finals where they will face Real Madrid after they knocked out holders Manchester City on penalties.

In the wake of the clash, Musiala was among the Bayern players to pen a message on Instagram. Alongside a combination of photos, he captioned the post: "#UCL semis, here we go [fist clenched emoji]." Arsenal transfer target and former Bayern star Joshua Zirkzee was among the big names in the comments along with a contracted Arsenal player.

Striker Mika Biereth simply wrote, "top", in reply to the post as the Sturm Graz loanee prepares for two huge play-off games in the Austrian Bundesliga against Rapid Wien.

The 21-year-old spent the first half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Motherwell where he scored six goals in 15 games. However that was cut short with the Denmark international signing for Sturm Graz in January where he has netted a further eight goals in 15 appearances.

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Despite the fact he has not featured for Arsenal, Biereth commenting on the social media post of a player who just knocked his parent club out of the Champions League seems strange. However, Musiala and Biereth often comment on each others achievements as they have been close friends since they were kids.

“Jamal Musiala is my best friend," he told Danish outlet Tipsbladet in March 2024. "We grew up together and went to school together. I played with him at Chelsea. He is truly like a brother to me, and we are in contact every single day.

“In fact, I spoke with him ten minutes before this interview. I congratulated him on playing as No.10 for Germany in the Euros. Our relationship isn’t so much about football. Of course, we talk about football and support each other, but most of the time we talk about all sorts of other things.

"As I said, we rarely talk about football, and I actually think it helps keep us sharp. Often, you get deeply sucked into all this football stuff, and it’s nice to have someone you can talk about anything else with.”