Another round-of-16 fixture for Arsenal, another crippling loss. Bayern Munich ran out comfortable winners, putting five goals past their opponents for the second season in a row to place one foot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Also Read: UEFA Champions League 2016/17: Bayern Munich 5-1 Arsenal, Player Ratings
The hosts scored through a goal each from Robben, Lewandowski, Muller and a brace from Thiago, while Alexis Sanchez was on target for the visitors. Arsenal next travel to Sutton United for their FA Cup game, which has now perhaps taken on bigger significance in Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal career.
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Here are the talking points from the game.
#5 Ospina and the Arsenal defence fail to live up to expectations
Arsene Wenger justified his selection of the Colombian goalkeeper, David Ospina, in goal ahead of Petr Cech by claiming that without Ospina, they might not even have made it to this stage of the competition. It was a fair claim to make as well, with the Colombian playing a key part in the Gunners making it through a tough list of group stage fixtures.
On the night, however, in spite of a handful of sharp saves, he didn’t quite manage to justify his place in the squad, being caught in two minds on more than one occasion and allowing the likes of Lewandowski to directly capitalise.
He didn’t get much help from his defence, which seemed even more vulnerable once Koscielny had to be taken off. Bayern were allowed to take aim from distance on several occasions, and a deflection from Xhaka saw Ospina wrong-footed for Thiago’s second goal of the night.
The same was the case with Bayern’s opening goal, which came from outside the box as well, and another error from Oxlade-Chamberlain led to the final goal – much to the disappointment of Wenger who would no doubt have stressed the need for defensive discipline in an away game of such importance.
#4 Arjen Robben shows he still has it at 33
While Bayern Munich as a whole had an absolute flier of a start to the game, the most effective contribution was provided by the Dutch winger who made Coquelin and Arsenal pay for the defensive error of allowing him time and space at the edge of the box with the ball at his left foot.
In the 11th minute, Arsenal saw their defence breached in the most elegant manner possible – with a curled shot aimed with pinpoint precision at the top right corner of Ospina’s goal, beyond the reach of his diving form at full stretch.
Robben continued to be a nuisance to Arsenal’s prospects in the second half as well, stretching their defence into making the mistakes that allowed his side to capitalise through the middle. Certainly at the top of his game, no matter his age.
#3 Arsenal get their penalty; Bayern aren’t so lucky
It’s perhaps unfair to call a side that scores five goals in a Champions League knockout fixture unlucky, but Bayern were denied two penalty claims – one in each half – when the ball struck the hands of both Arsenal full backs. It was Bellerin in the first half who managed to not concede a penalty, while the second half saw the ball strike Gibbs’ hand on its way to goal and yet only a corner was awarded.
In contrast, Arsenal were awarded a penalty when Koscielny nudged the ball away from Lewandowski midway through his clearance in the box and ended up being kicked in the shin by the Polish striker. Sanchez would see his initial effort saved, and miskick the rebound, but finally get it right on the third attempt to score his 20th goal of the season in all competitions.
#2 Lewandowski turns up the magic in the second half
With the sides emerging from the break at 1 – 1, it was a couple of decisive minutes involving the Bayern striker that sent them on their way to a comfortable win. Within the gap of three minutes, he first scored the goal that put them ahead in the fixture with a header into the bottom corner and then assisted Thiago with a no-look flick that made it a formality for the former Barcelona man to finish.
As the game progressed, he continued to drop deeper to support his midfielders – perhaps a tactical change from Ancelotti at half-time – and turned Arsenal’s pressing ineffective with midfield runners causing major problems that resulted in the final scoreline.
#1 Is it finally time for Wenger to move on from Arsenal?
For the sixth season in a row, Arsenal have lost the first leg of their round-of-16 fixture in the Champions League and are almost certain to crash out at this stage of the competition for the seventh season running. It’s almost as if Arsene Wenger’s tactics have been laid bare for everyone to see, and he refuses to change them or even accommodate alternatives available to him from among his squad.
While Bayern’s quality was unquestionable on the night, Arsenal looked clueless when hit with a storm in the second half – so did Wenger, who looked like he almost accepted defeat as his team’s fate.
A 5 – 1 thrashing at the hands of Bayern Munich for the second season in a row at the Allianz Arena will certainly has certain sections of the fans baying for his blood, but perhaps it’s better that he asks himself the question.
