It finished 1-5 on the night between Arsenal and Bayern Munich, a first-half Theo Walcott strike was cancelled out by a 55th-minute Robert Lewandowski penalty before Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal sealed an away win with their 68th, 78th, 80th and 85th-minute strikes at the Emirates Stadium.
It was always going to be difficult for the Gunners to progress to the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League, and it proved that way as the visitors emerged victorious 10-2 on aggregate, prompting plenty to add fuel to the speculatory fire that Arsene Wenger might well have taken charge of his final European game with the side from north London.
It was a night which saw both sets of fans involved in protests – that travelling contingent taking umbrage with ticket prices, while Arsenal supporters voiced their disapproval of their French boss still being in charge.
In the end, though, those complaints took a backseat as an intriguing encounter unfolded on the biggest club stage around. So, let’s take a look at the five biggest talking points.
#1 Arsenal showed fighting spirit...in vain
There can be little doubt that Arsenal would have pushed Bayern a lot closer had they started the first leg with as much spirit and passion as they did the second.
The players buzzed about the turf with energy and enthusiasm, particularly in the opening 45 minutes and worked much harder than Carlo Ancelotti’s players did. They were by far the better team as they got to loose balls, weren’t afraid to get stuck in to tackles and ran at the Bayern defence as often as they could.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was particularly impressive with his tenacity and will to work in the middle of the park and made it difficult for Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso to exert their usual dominance on proceedings, breaking up the play with well-timed interceptions and generally getting in their faces. It had a knock-on effect, too, as Alexis Sanchez, Walcott and Araon Ramsey all got involved.
Ultimately, the effort proved to be in vain as they lost all of that refreshing momentum following the restart, especially after Laurent Koscielny was dismissed from the field of play for a rash challenge on Lewandowski. Despite the improved performance early on, it was the same old Arsenal who revealed themselves when the going got tough, and it will be impossible for Wenger or the fans to put a positive spin on this, exiting at the last-16 hurdle once again.
#2 Walcott needed ball in behind more often
The Arsenal attacker was in a real mood to cause probems for Bayern, putting a lot of pressure on their left back David Alaba and left centre back Mats Hummels in particular with some driving surges.
He might have even been awarded a penalty early on had the referee been as careless with the decision as he had been with plenty of the other incidents around the park, such as when he cautioned Walcott and David Alaba for some handbags on the touchline a few minutes later. But it wasn’t to be, and justifiably so.
The first goal of the game saw Walcott exert his dominance, allowing him to use his pace and acceleration to free up space for the shot, but he wasn’t played in down that right-hand side often enough as the game edged on.
The great Shkodran Mustafi pass in the 34th minute that almost set Walcott in to replicate the match’s opener was about as close as they came to slipping through for a second on the night, but the final effort was smashed into the side-netting.
#3 Bayern remained competitive and did the necessary
In fairness to ‘FC Hollywood’, although they didn’t play much of the fixture in top gear, they still managed to remain competitive and recovered well from almost getting over-run in the first half hour, scoring an astonishing five goals in the second period
Vidal’s effort from range that sailed a comfortable distance over David Ospina’s goal was typical of Die Roten in the first half, but as they gradually got into their stride they began to cause the Gunners more and more problems. Koscielny’s sending off certainly made life easier for them, but they had been growing in confidence before that.
Following the hour mark, the visitors had two good chances in quick succession as, first, Javi Martinez found himself in space inside the Arsenal box only for his flicked header to loop over the bar, before Vidal played Lewandowski in with a neat pass to the right of the 18-yard box, but the Poland international could only sting Ospina’s fingertips. Then, the floodgates opened as Arsenal became stretched and they romped in to bag a handful of goals that left a sour taste in the home fans’ mouths.
If the first leg underlined how offensively fluid they could be, this match showed that even when playing off the boil they remain a superior team to the north Londoners.
#4 Lack of clinical finishing cost Arsenal
When Arsenal were still in the ascendancy, they could have gone 2-0 up and pushed on to make Bayern more jittery, but they allowed themselves to be their own worst enemies as they wasted a few key opportunities.
Alexis Sanchez, Nacho Monreal and Olivier Giroud linked up well to fashion a chance in the 37th minute that went amiss as well as Walcott blasting an effort wide, as mentioned above.
Giroud again came close with a header following that, but when he should have done better with time to aim towards Manuel Neuer’s back post, he directed the ball over the bar.
It might be a stretch to say they should have been ahead by a few clear goals by half time, but they certainly should have made more of the opportunities they did craft – they were always going to need to be within touching distance with an hour gone and they were nowhere near that.
#5 Lack of discipline cost the Gunners
Arsenal fans can throw daggers at the official behind the goals all week long, but the simple fact of the matter is that Koscielny made no attempt to play the ball and as a defender that should always be his main priority, especially when a world-class player of Lewandowski’s quality is bearing down on your goalkeeper.
The 31-year-old France international could, and should, have positioned himself better for a challenge, but opted instead to push his man out of the way in plain sight of the officials and there can be no argument that it was most definitely a penalty caused by poor discipline.
Koscielny wasn’t the only player guilty of losing his head, though, as Hector Bellerin’s passing was suspect at best on the night. On a number of occasions, the Spanish full-back made the wrong choice in possession, and that too often at crucial junctures of the contest.
However, it was definitely the defence which should hang their heads in shame after a result and performance of this embarrassing stature. Quite frankly, they gave up when the penalty flew in and played without heart, determination or pride after that because even with a single-player deficit they could have organised themselves better, made more of a contest out of proceedings and tried harder. But they didn’t and all but threw in the towel.
Without question, it’s the players, and not the scapegoated manager, who should be blamed for this exit and underwhelming showing.
