Serge Gnabry says he relishes playing in London after Chelsea brace

‘I’ve got a lot of friends here… it seems like they’re giving me some kind of power. I always enjoy coming back’: Ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry takes tally in London this season to SIX after brace against Chelsea followed quadruple at Tottenham

Serge Gnabry was at the double for Bayern against Chelsea in their 3-0 win
It takes his London tally to six this season after netting four against Tottenham
The midfielder said he enjoys playing in the capital after another starring display

Bayern Munich midfielder Serge Gnabry joked he has a special ‘power’ when he plays in London after netting his sixth goal of the season in the capital with a double against Chelsea.

The former Arsenal star, who spent five years in London with the Gunners, had already netted four times away at Tottenham in the Champions League group stage this term before his brace at Stamford Bridge.

Gnabry is proving himself to be more clinical than ever in his career, with 17 goals for the Bavarian side this season, and he admitted his friends in London might be giving him ‘some kind of power’ when he returns.

Gnabry gave Bayern Munich the lead early in the first half in the Champions League last 16 tie

The former Arsenal star added his second goal just minutes later as Chelsea began to fall apart

‘I’ve got a lot of friends here,’ he told BT Sport after the game.

‘A lot of them were in the stands tonight, and it seems like they’re giving me some kind of power. I always enjoy coming back.’

The German international scored twice in three minutes shortly after half time to get Bayern up and running, before Robert Lewandowski added the third to give Chelsea an uphill task at the Allianz for the return leg.

Gnabry said the lead gave his team-mates confidence, but warned against complacency and said the players must put on a professional performance.

Gnabry blitzed Tottenham with four goals in October and has six goals in the capital this term

His Bayern Munich team-mates mob him after putting the German side in cruise control

‘It certainly does (give us an advantage). We’re three goals ahead and it gives us a lot of confidence but we need to be prepared for the second leg and we know we need to take it seriously. So it’s still open but I think we’ve got a good advantage.

With the scores level at the interval, Bayern were looking frustrated by Chelsea after missing a couple of good chances to take the lead, but the 24-year-old insisted the squad had faith in their ability and knew the goals would come.

‘We knew we had to be patient,’ he added. ‘We had the game under control in the first half, we had a couple of chances with (Robert) Lewandowski and Thomas (Muller) and didn’t take them.

Robert Lewandowski scored the third goal of the night to give Chelsea a daunting task

‘But we knew we had to be patient and we would get our chances and in the end we took them.’

If Chelsea manage to rescue the tie in Munich, it would come as a huge shock and would require some doing, and while Gnabry said it wasn’t impossible – pointing to the miracle of Liverpool against Barcelona last season – Bayern were confident of seeing it out.

‘We saw last year with Liverpool beating Barcelona after a 3-0 advantage. So we have to be careful, we have to go into the second leg with all our focus and try to win that one as well.’