Three days after losing ground in the Premier League title race, Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League by a rejuvenated Bayern Munich.
Mikel Arteta’s side lost to a Joshua Kimmich goal in the second half of a match that was closer for large parts than the first leg which ended 2-2 at the Emirates.
Bayern’s domestic season under Thomas Tuchel has been a disaster, with Bayer Leverkusen crowned Bundesliga champions this weekend, but in Europe it’s a different story.
Tuchel will leave his post at the end of this season, but he could walk away with the Champions League trophy he won with Chelsea in 2021.
Our writers break down all the action.
What happened with Bayern’s goal?
Bayern’s goal came from the flank around which Arsenal had so diligently built their game plan. It’s just not the one they thought would cause the damage.
For 63 minutes, Arsenal’s left flank coped quite well with the threat of Leroy Sané. He was Bayern’s main attacking threat at the Emirates and Arteta selected Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Martinelli to counter that – despite the former having not started since December and the latter having only started two of the last 10 games.
The Brazilian winger repeatedly passed Sane, who had only moved behind Tomiyasu once as he followed him inside on his stronger right foot.
But the goal came from Sane who reached the touchline and crossed despite Arsenal having a two-on-one against him.
Ben White was not aggressive in closing down the resulting cross, but Martinelli was caught looking at the ball, checking his right shoulder for Sane and forgetting that Kimmich was attacking the through ball.
The German got the better of him and it proved a costly lapse in concentration. Arsenal’s left flank has been shaken up in terms of attack.
Jordan Campbell
How was Saka stifled for cautious Arsenal?
In both matches, Arsenal did their best when they drew Bayern into their press and then pounced.
Tuchel’s side coughed up the opportunity they wanted in the first half, the best being when Declan Rice robbed Konrad Laimer, but Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz chose the wrong option and the attack failed.
It was a recurring theme of poor decision-making when there was space to attack, but Bayern looked comfortable defending Arsenal when they controlled possession.
Arteta’s side were too cautious with the ball, with few players ahead of the game and even fewer runs in behind to give Bayern something to think about.
Bukayo Saka was pinned throughout the match and this allowed the unknown duo of Noussair Mazraoui and Raphael Guerreiro to outnumber him, with Ben White returning to the more conservative role he played in the first half of the season.
It was similar to the problems they faced at Porto when much of their possession was stale and limited to the first two thirds of the pitch.
After Odegaard’s shot 12 seconds into the second half, they had to wait until just before 90 seconds to get another one. It’s not ambitious enough to win in Munich.
Jordan Campbell
Why is Bayern better in Europe than in the Bundesliga?
Tuchel replicated the approach that paid off in London. Bayern sat relatively deep, gave away far more possession than they would have in the Bundesliga and were happy to counter-attack.
Before halftime, the German commentators were not impressed. “It’s supposed to be a home game,” one of the summarizers said, bitingly.
But perhaps that’s why Bayern found the Champions League easier. Freed from the obligation to be dominant, as they are domestically, and with expectations around this team as low as they have been in recent memory, they were able to play the role of underdog.
Their main weakness – a vulnerability to counterattacks and transitions when losing possession – was actually irrelevant in Arsenal’s two games, as they made little attempt to control possession high up the pitch.
Does this make them better in Europe? Better might not be the right word, but the simplicity of playing unambitiously, in a relatively simple system, certainly seems to suit them and has eased some of their neuroses.
Seb Stafford Bloor
How have Arteta’s replacements performed?
Arteta was remarkably quick to make his substitutes after Kimmich headed in for the opener. It wasn’t as early as his first-leg changes when he introduced Oleksandr Zinchenko at half-time, but an obvious caution from a head coach who cares so much about control.
Leandro Trossard replaced Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing, who had struggled one-on-one against Kimmich despite not being nominally a right-back. Gabriel Jesus replaced Jorginho, adding an extra body to the forward line and moving Kai Havertz to No.10. The problem was losing a midfielder, clearly a necessary evil for Arteta, as Arsenal lost a player under construction. -against an increasingly deep and compact Bayern block.
It did not change the game or revitalize a tired Arsenal, shaken by the goal. The passes did not work and White’s yellow card for a foul stopping a counter-attack summed up Arsenal’s problems in attack. After avoiding defeat (two draws, one win) in the first three games of the season in which they fell behind, Arsenal have now lost eight times in a row after going down 1-0 in all competitions.
Liam Tharme
What did Mikel Arteta say?
We’ll bring you the Arsenal manager’s latest thoughts once he speaks at his post-match press conference.
What did Thomas Tuchel say?
We’ll bring you the Bayern coach’s latest thoughts once he speaks at his post-match press conference.
What future for Arsenal?
Saturday April 20: Wolves (A), Premier League, 7:30 p.m. UK, 2:30 p.m. ET
What future for Bayern Munich?
Saturday April 20: Union Berlin (A), Bundesliga, 5:30 p.m. UK, 12:30 p.m. ET
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(Top photo: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)