Arsenal near UCL exit after Bayern thumping

Arsenal’s hopes of advancing from the last-16 stage of the UEFA Champions League has been diminished following a first-leg battering at Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

The Gunners, who have been eliminated at the same round of the competition in each of the last six seasons, twice by Bayern, not only conceded five goals but had only 25% possession of the ball in Germany.

A late strike from substitute Thomas Muller coupled with a brace from Thiago Alcantara and another strike from Robert Lewandowski restored a four-goal lead for the home team after Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez, on the half-hour mark, cancelled out Arjen Robben’s 11th minute opener.

Obviously, it was a stunning second-half performance by Carlo Ancelotti’s side, as they were able to net in three goals in 10 minutes after Arsenal lost Laurent Koscielny to injury early in the second half.

Read Also: Wenger denies having plans of leaving Arsenal this summer

“It is difficult to explain. I felt we had two good chances to score just before half time. I felt we were unlucky for the second goal the referee gave a corner for us at first. Then we concede the second goal and then the most important was that we lost Koscielny. We collapsed,” Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger said in a post-match conference.

The defeat leaves Arsene Wenger’s men with a near impossible task in the second leg and heaps more pressure on the Frenchman, who now has the FA Cup as the only realistic source of silverware this season.

“Overall I must say they are a better team than us, they played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. We were a bit unlucky we dropped our level and they were better than us,” Wenger added.

Sadly, however, it was a record-making evening for Arsenal. They now become the first English team with 200 conceded Champions League goals. Whereas, Bayern Munich triumph meant they’ve won their last 16 Champions League home games – the longest winning run in the history of the competition.

 

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