Real in quarters with clinical 3-1 win over Napoli
For an hour Arsenal were at least salvaging some pride against Bayern Munich, then the ceiling came crashing down as they exited the Champions League last-16 on Tuesday with a matching pair of 5-1 defeats against the merciless Bundesliga giants.
A second-half capitulation after captain Laurent Koscielny was sent off resulted in Arsenal conceding five goals for the first time at their Emirates Stadium as they suffered their worst home defeat for 19 years.
Arsenal were attempting an unlikely comeback after their horror show in Munich last month and were making a decent fist of it when Theo Walcott smashed in after 20 minutes.
But from the moment Koscielny was red-carded and Lewandowski converted the resulting penalty in the 55th minute, Arsenal’s belief ebbed and Carlo Ancelotti’s side ran amok with Arjen Robben, Douglas Costa and Arturo Vidal piling on the agony.
By the end Bayern were threatening to surpass the 12-1 aggregate score they piled up against Sporting Lisbon in 2009 but had to be content with a 10-2 margin that sent an ominous warning to whoever they face in the quarter-finals. Before kickoff some Arsenal fans staged a small protest calling for manager Arsene Wenger to end his 21-year reign at the club.
Those calls will grow louder now after a seventh successive exit at the last-16 stage of the Champions League.
Yet Wenger was belligerent afterwards, blaming referee Tasos Sidiropoulos for killing off his side with the sending off of skipper Koscielny, whose injury shortly after half-time in Munich prompted a similar Gunners collapse. “I felt that we produced a performance with spirit and pride that we wanted and after that the story finished badly,” said Wenger. “The fact the end result will not highlight the quality of our performance is very disappointing.”
Ancelotti, bidding to win the Champions League with a third club after triumphs with AC Milan and Real Madrid, had some sympathy for Arsenal. “Until the penalty it was a difficult game and Arsenal played very well,” he said. “It was a strange game. The result doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch.”
With Alexis Sanchez restored to the starting lineup after being dropped by Wenger against Liverpool there was a verve about
Captain Sergio Ramos and Alvaro Morata struck one apiece as 11-time winners Real Madrid secured a seventh successive Champions League quarterfinal berth with a clinical 3-1 win over a spirited Napoli on Tuesday.
“We’re happy to have won,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane. “We suffered a lot in the opening half when they had us under a lot of pressure. But after a good talk about what we had to do in the second half, we were much better.”
Real, who took a commanding 3-1 first leg lead at the Santiago Bernabeu last month, looked to be facing a tough night in Naples after Dries Mertens finished off a great attacking move to give the hosts a 24th minute lead.
But Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri had warned of the threat from the “world’s richest club, with the best players” a day earlier. And Zidane’s ‘Galacticos’ emerged from the half-time interval in far more clinical fashion. Ramos rose to head Real level six minutes after the restart and a second header which deflected off Mertens at Pepe Reina’s near post gave Real a 2-1 lead by the 57th minute.
Napoli saw late claims for a penalty waved away when Mertens tumbled in the box and suffered more woe in the first minute of added-on time when ex-Juventus striker Alvaro Morata came off the bench to hit their third for a 6-2 aggregate score.
Napoli required nothing short of a miracle if they were to reach the last eight for the first time -although a bright opening reflected a growing belief in the football-mad southern city the Azzurri could cause an upset.
Maurizio Sarri’s men had 11 shots in the opening period, the most Real had seen in a Champions League game since facing 15 against Juventus in 2013.
But neither Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne or Hamsik got shots past Reina in a busy opening period.
On Real’s first real foray, Luka Modric outmanoeuvred Kalidou Koulibaly to deliver a back-post cross that Reina collected after a mix-up between Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
ARSENAL EXIT Champions League after Bundesliga giants hand Wenger’s team their worst home defeat in 19 years I felt that we produced a performance with spirit and pride that we wanted and after that the story finished badly.
Until the penalty it was a difficult game and Arsenal played very well. The result doesn’t reflect what happened on the pitch. NAPOLI REQUIRED NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE IF THEY WERE TO REACH THE LAST EIGHT FOR THE
FIRST TIME
Gareth Bale then escaped down the right to deliver a cross that Kroos, from the edge of the area, volleyed straight at Reina.
But Real were left ball-watching on 24 minutes after a slick passing move between Hamsik and Mertens that saw the Belgian run in to beat Keylor Navas at his bottom left corner.
The San Paolo erupted, but relief reigned moments later when Ronaldo rounded Reina to see his low drive come off the base of the post. Napoli could have had a second but Hamsik fired high and wide before seeing a shot from the right byeline blocked by Navas.
When Hamsik gave away possession minutes after the restart, Kroos’s dangerous cross to the back post was cleared by the head of Mertens.
The danger of Hamsik’s error became apparent when Ramos rose to meet Kroos’s corner to score.
After Allan was cautioned for a challenge on Casemiro, the Brazilian was replaced by Marko Rog. But Napoli’s dream died a minute later. Kroos delivered again from the corner flag and Ramos’s glancing header at the near post came off Mertens to leave Reina rooted to the spot.
Napoli hit back, Rog setting up Hamsik for a cross that Navas got down low to smother.
But as Napoli tired in the closing minutes, Morata ran in to meet the rebound after Reina spilled a Ronaldo strike.