Robben and Ribery’s ‘real attacking quality’

“I play by intuition,” Arjen Robben recently told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “I never know where it will end. If I’m dribbling, it’s often the defender who determines what happens.” So was the defining moment of the Champions League meeting between Fiorentina and Bayern all just a fluke?

Out by the right touchline, Robben controlled a pass from Mark van Bommel, shimmied past defender Felipe, and cut inside at pace. Robben’s run was almost parallel to the goal-line. Four defenders massed around him, but the Dutchman was not deterred. Just as he seemed to run out of space, he let fly. The ball ripped into the top right corner of the net, and 25 relatively controlled minutes later, Bayern were through to the quarter-finals.

This trademark Robben run and shot was of course no fluke. “It’s what I was always doing as a kid. I wanted the ball, then I’d head straight for goal and score,” the player revealed. “It used to be a bit easier getting round four or five opponents, but it’s when I learned it all.” Which is why is all comes intuitively to Robben now.