BEVERLY HILLS, February 15, (THEWILL) – Arsenal’s Champions League hopes lie in tatters at the last-16 stage following a 5-1 first-leg humiliation at Bayern Munich.
The Gunners, who have been eliminated in the first knockout round of the competition in each of the last six seasons, twice by Bayern, not only conceded five goals but over 75% possession in Germany.
Arsenal lost Laurent Koscielny to injury early in the second half, giving Bayern the upper hand as they ran riot in the second half after a 1-1 tie in the first half.
It leaves Arsenal with a near impossible task in the second leg and heaps more pressure on manager Arsene Wenger, who now only has the FA Cup as a realistic source of silverware in what will go down as another failed season.
For the first time in five seasons, the Gunners claimed top spot in their group (ahead of PSG, who made this achievement even more impressive with their demolition of Barcelona on Tuesday) but nonetheless they were drawn against the Germans – their last-16 conquerors in both 2012-13 and 2013-14.
Their fears were fully realised on a chastening night in Munich, which further highlighted just how far behind Europe’s leading lights they have fallen and how little progress has been made since their visit here last season, which also ended in a 5-1 hammering.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, speaking to BT Sport: “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.
“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.”
Bayern Munich have won their last 16 home Champions League games, the longest winning run in the history of the competition while Arsenal conceded five goals in a game for the first time since November 2015 – their last clash with Bayern (1-5).
This is the first time that Arsenal have conceded five goals in a first leg of Champions League knockout match but have conceded 3+ goals in four of their last six first-leg matches in the last 16 of the Champions League.
It’s also the first time that Arsenal have conceded four goals in a single half since facing Chelsea in March 2014.
Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in 33 goals in his last 31 games in all comps (20 goals, 13 assists); Robert Lewandowski has scored 15 goals in his last 13 Champions League games at the Allianz Arena and Arjen Robben has now scored in back-to-back Champions League appearances against Arsenal.
In the other game of the night, Real Madrid came from a goal down to beat Italian giants, Napoli, 3-1 in Spain.
