Bayern Munich beat Arsenal five goals to one in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 round. Unless the unthinkable happens, Arsenal will be going out at the same stage of the Champions League campaign in each of the last 7 occasions.
Arsenal were dominated in every aspect of the game, including possession, Bayern had 75% of the ball throughout the game. Arjen Robben started the scoring, as he did is bread and butter move, cutting in on his left foot and finding the top corner.
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However, Arsenal got back into the game thanks to Alexis Sanchez, who kept his composure after missing the penalty to put a volley past Manuel Neuer after missing the initial penalty earned by Koscielny. Interestingly, though after Koscielny goes off in the second half, Arsenal concede three goals in the space of 15 minutes, via Lewandowski, Thiago (who score two).
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Whatever hope Arsenal had of coming back in the second half, was lost as Muller came on late and scored the fifth.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was visually disappointed with the performance of his players. Talking to BT Sports after the game, the Frenchman said, “I think the most important in the second half [was] we lost Koscielny very quickly”.
“And suddenly it looked like we collapsed. Mentally, we collapsed, and overall I must say they are a better team than us as well. They played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. And we were a bit unlucky as well, but overall, well done Bayern. They were better than us” he continued.
Arsene Wenger did complain about Bayern Munich’s second goal, where the referee had initially given a corner, but then changed his mind. “He referee gives a corner for us. And the ball is on the pitch, they play with the second ball," Wenger said. "Look, I do not look for excuses, I look for an explanation because we were quite solid defensively and after that, of course, it's very difficult. In these kinds of games, you need a bit of luck going in your side and you need to be focused for 90 minutes.”
Former Arsenal captain, Martin Keown was also disappointed and angry with the result, “"I feel for Arsene Wenger," former Arsenal defender said. "It's almost embarrassing. They were outclassed, outplayed.”
“Wenger has to be seriously considering his future now because it's embarrassing. I can't ever say I'd like to see him go, but this is his lowest point ever as Arsenal manager”, he added.
Ex-Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand was similarly critical, “The top teams are adaptable, they come up against certain opposition and they adapt their games to suit the game. Arsenal seem to play one particular way most of the time and can't change.”
Ex- Manchester United captain, Roy Keane said “I am not surprised, what did you expect?”, and then going on to add, “They've only got two decent players. The rest, average”
Arsenal Legend Iain Wright too weighed in with his opinion, he tweeted the following links during the game.
Onto the bright side of things, and Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti was happy with his team’s performance on the night. “We played fantastic football. It was a deserved victory, the balance was there and we were compact and quick. It was a very important result,” said Ancelotti, in his first season in charge.
“This result is very important but we still have a game in London where we have to show the same passion, post match” the Italian post-match press conference.
Bayern Munich captain Philip Lahm (who’s going to miss the return leg through suspension) spoke after the game too, he said, “We should score in London but it is a very, very good starting position, it should be enough for us to go through”
