The German giants were beaten to the Bundesliga by Alonso and his Bayer Leverkusen team this season.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Arteta stated on Alonso: First of all, big congratulations to Xabi and Granit, because it was a big day for him as well, so I'm happy for them and very impressed with what they've done.
Yes, I congratulated him because we are good friends and because I'm really happy for him, but that's a different story.
We don't face this competition regularly, and it's a Champions League tie, so the game is very different."