Audio By Carbonatix
Arjen Robben has defended himself against allegations that he spat at Bacary Sagna during Bayern Munich's 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The Dutch attacker, who appeared to have been caught on camera spitting on the Arsenal right back while the latter lay on the floor, claimed it was simply sweat dripping of his face - a theory which had already been doing the rounds on social media since the incident.
'I don't have much hair, and the sweat just dripped off,' said Robben.
Concern: Arjen Robben taps Bacary Sagna on the back
Falling down: The unidentified liquid leaves Robben and heads in Sagna's general direction
Speaking just before he boarded the plane back to Munich, the Bayern star also insisted that to spit was not in his character.
'I must make this clear: I did not spit. I would never do that in my life,' he said.
'If I ever did that, you could drag me off the pitch and ban me for 10 games. If I ever spat at an opponent, I'd never be able to show my face to my family ever again.'
Robben, who is not averse to theatrics, was also accused of play-acting by Arsene Wenger during the Arsenal game, but spitting would arguably be out of character for the usually cool-headed player.
In Germany, the incident has raised the memory of another spitting Dutch player. At the World Cup in 1990, Dutch international Frank Rijkaard was seen to launch a healthy globule of saliva into the perm of German striker Rudi Völler. The incident is still held up as the most vicious point of the famous German-Dutch rivalry.
Today in Bavaria, though, they can only hope that this particular Dutchman is innocent.
Eyes on the ball: Robben collects a high ball in the Gunners box as Szczesny stands his ground
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