Lehmann hits all-time low with Bayern fans

ARSENAL goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has never been popular in Munich but on Tuesday his status dipped to an all-time low after an unsporting act in Germany’s 4-2 defeat by Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

The match celebrated Bayern’s first performance in their 340 million stadium, but Lehmann stole the headlines with a brutal bodycheck which sent Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger crashing into the advertising hoardings.

Schweinsteiger, an international team-mate of Lehmann, looked less than amused by the tackle as he hobbled back onto the pitch.

“The advertising boards are not a comfortable air bag,” said Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer. “That was unpleasant. Lehmann is not popular with the Bayern fans at the best of times.”

Lehmann’s long-running feud with Bayern goalkeeper Oliver Kahn prompted the bulk of the 66,000 fans to jeer his every touch and he was ridiculed for racing out of his goal to allow Sebastian Deisler to open the scoring.

Munich fans have clearly not forgotten Lehmann’s controversial quotes about Kahn.

When Lehmann was asked if he chatted to Kahn when on international duty, he replied: “What would we talk about? I haven’t got a 24-year-old girlfriend.”