German Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich visited a Spanish La Liga side Villarreal on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, and Villarreal’s winger, Arnaut Danjuma stunned the visitors.
Ahead of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg game, bookmakers believed that it would be a straight win for Bayern due to the form, the depth of the club’s squad, and the club’s antecedent. But the reverse was the case.
Thirty-two years old Spanish midfielder, Dani Parejo provided an assist for Arnaut Danjuma which put the hosts ahead as early as the 8th minute of the match.
After Danjuma’s early goal, Bayern Munich stepped up their game and began to search for an equalizer which did not happen despite having more possession of the ball (62 percent).
At the end of 90 minutes, Bayern Munich’s 565 passes with 85 percent pass accuracy amounted to nothing. To show how much the visitors tried to get back to the game, Bayern Munich recorded 22 shots, four of which were on target but could not make any difference.
To the dismay of football enthusiasts, it was Villarreal that had 38 percent of the ball possession, made 349 passes, and with 78 percent pass accuracy that got the win. Villarreal won Bayern Munich with just 12 shots, one of which was on target.
As it stands, Villarreal have an advantage over Bayern ahead of the second leg of the tie which will take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. The kick-off time is 20:00.
In the second tie, the coach of Villarreal, Unai Emery would hope that his players could repeat the show they put up on Wednesday. The Spanish tactician would bank on Arnaut Danjuma to pull another stun away from home.
Better still, the coach might want to execute defensive tactics to make it difficult for Bayern Munich to get close to Villarreal’s goalpost just like they did in most parts of the first leg. If that works, Bayern Munich’s exit from the Champions League in the quarter-final stage will be inevitable.
Interestingly, a draw or a victory is enough for Villarreal to qualify for the semi-final stage of the tournament. While Bayern Munich need at least a 2-0 victory to survive the scare.
What are the stats and contract of Arnaut Danjuma
Arnaut Danjuma was born in Lagos, Nigeria to a Dutch father and a Nigerian mother before he moved to the Netherlands. When it was time for him to play international football, he chose the Dutch national team over the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
Danjuma made his international debut on October 13, 2018, against Germany. He scored his first international goal on October 16, 2018, against Belgium.
Since then, the 25-year-old left-winger has played 6 times for the Dutch team in which he scored two goals in all competitions.
As for the club side, Danjuma is a product of the PSV youth system. But he started his professional football career with Dutch side NEC Nijmegen on July 1, 2016.
From there, he joined Club Brugge for a transfer fee worth €2.80 million. On August 1, 2019, Arnaut Danjuma joined Bournemouth for €16.46 million. While on August 19, 2021, the Dutch footballer joined Villarreal for a transfer fee worth €23.50 million.
Since the Dutch player joined the Spanish side, Danjuma has scored 14 goals and provided four assists in 29 games in all competitions.
Based on the contract he signed with Villarreal in 2021, Danjuma currently earns £25,000 per week which amounts to £1,300,000 per year at the Spanish club. The contract will expire on June 30, 2026.
Arnaut @Danjuma = Villarreal's all-time top scorer in the Champions League 👏
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 6, 2022
#UCL pic.twitter.com/eEIocvCxwj
