Arsene Wenger punished Alexis Sanchez for last week’s training ground row by dropping the Chilean for Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool, according to Robert Pires.
Wenger, who claimed on Monday that reports surrounding Sanchez’s unrest were ‘completely false’, explained before Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Anfield that his leading goalscorer started the game as a substitute due to tactical reasons.
But after Arsenal’s 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich on Tuesday evening which sent the club crashing out of the Champions League, Pires, who often takes part in first-team training sessions, revealed that Sanchez was involved in a confrontation with team- mates after being on the receiving end of a heavy tackle.
Pires admitted that Sanchez walked away from the training session and was spoken to by Laurent Koscielny after the incident.
‘Unfortunately, Arsene Wenger made the decision to sanction Sanchez in relation to this behavior, putting him on the bench against Liverpool,’ Pires told beIN Sports.
‘Unfortunately, it went wrong. The fans have to understand that if this was the case, it was because something happened.
‘It was not something serious, but it was a disciplinary penalty, quite simply.’
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