Arsenal travelled to Germany this week ahead of their Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The German media has been running a big build-up before the game and part of that has been the close relationship between Arsenal goalkeeper Bern Leno and Eintracht right-back Danny da Costa.
The pair have been close friends since their days together at Bayer Leverkusen, and at one point they even shared a house.
Bild has conducted a joint interview with Leno and Da Costa, and one of the questions was which club has the best fans in the stadium.
Frankfurt’s Da Costa went first, and is quoted as saying: “Without a doubt, it’s Eintracht. Anyone who has experienced our fans live – at least since the last season and appearances in the Europa League – knows they are unique.”
Leno wasn’t going to let his friend, and current rival, take the title so easily, and responded: “Eintracht has really enthusiastic fans. But Arsenal is an absolutely traditional club with the most fans in London. I can only recommend everyone to come once for the derby against Tottenham, because the air is burning. It’s great when two clubs meet with such great fans.”
Ok, we’ll call that a draw.
The goalkeeper likes sticking up for the Gunners support, earlier this month he was asked by SportBild to compare Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal, and replied: “You can’t compare that, of course Arsenal is a world club, THE club here in London. Not Chelsea, not Tottenham – Arsenal is the club here with fans around the world. No matter where we are, also in the USA or in Asia, there are many fans of Arsenal everywhere.”