GUTLESS GUNNERS CAVE IN
History repeats itself as Wenger’s men are humiliated by Bayern
ARSENE WENGER experienced a painful feeling of deja-vu after Arsenal were again left facing a Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Alexis Sanchez’s first-half goal cancelled out Arjen Robben’s opener and raised the Gunners’ hopes.
But a second-half collapse allowed Bayern to establish a four-goal advantage and leave the Gunners on the brink of going out in the last 16 for a seventh successive season – three times against the Germans.
ARSENE WENGER invited us to forget the “bad history” and focus on the future at Arsenal. Well, it appears that does not look too clever either.
Increasingly it looks less likely to involve the Frenchman after a dismal capitulation at the Allianz Arena showed that in recent years Arsenal have been left further behind Europe’s elite instead of getting any closer.
Because, whether or not the Emirates board need an indication of what a well-run club should aspire to on the pitch, Bayern Munich gave them one anyway.
Whether it was fate, the gods of football or some underhand form of as-yetundiscovered magnetism at work, as soon as these two balls came out of the knockout draw together on December 12, it was always going to be a defining moment in the future of Arsenal.
Of course, by the time February was to come around, Arsenal’s title hopes would be over. Sadly, these days, they usually are.
So after six years of going out of the Champions League at the first knockout stage, this tie – four months before his current contract expires – would be the acid test of whether or not Wenger is actually able to take the club back up to the next level.
If Arsenal fans wanted to see some signs of improvement, a glimmer of hope for the future, what better way to demonstrate that than to go again, against the team that had beaten them in 2013 and 2014.
Their one saving grace this season has been that Alexis Sanchez, at least, has shown the necessary resilience.
For half an hour he seemed like the only one in a yellow shirt interested in standing up to be counted as Bayern put on a masterclass.
Xabi Alonso was given space to pick out his full array of passes. Every time Arjen Robben cut inside on his left foot, Arsenal backed away.
It was on the second such occasion that the damage was done – the former Chelsea player’s shot curled into the top corner in the 11th minute.
Even then there was a sense it could be the first of many. Somehow, though, the two teams got to the break level.
Sanchez had been lucky to be awarded a foul on a rare break and Manuel Neuer spilled Mesut Ozil’s free-kick shot in a rare show of nerves. However, when the Chile international stood by the spot minutes later after referee Milorad Mazic awarded a foul after Robert Lewandowski, attempting to clear, clumsily fouled Laurent Koscielny, the Germany goalkeeper looked immense stood on the line.
Sure enough, Neuer stopped a relatively poor penalty kick. But at that moment Sanchez’s tenacity really kicked in.
He may have miscued his follow-up effort, but when the ball came to him yet again, eight yards from goal he made no mistake, drilling it in through a forest of legs. Arsenal could even have taken an outrageously flattering lead into the interval when Granit Xhaka forced Neuer to save or when Ozil burst through only to fluff his shot.
That said, two wayward headers from the unmarked Lewandowski that went over the bar would have been a better focus for the away dressing room at half-time. At least it was more of a contest.
Well, it was for three minutes of the second half when Koscielny limped off to be replaced by Gabriel. That meant that Shkodran Mustafi was marking Lewandowski when the ball was swung in by Philipp Lahm after 53 minutes and he was easily outjumped by a striker who had suddenly rediscovered his eye for goal. Then the simplest of flicks from the Poland striker wrong-footed Gabriel all too easily and Thiago stole in to make it three. It could have been four when David Ospina rushed needlessly from his goal, a combination of head and crossbar saving them.
But a clearance up in the air from the corner, a weak header straight to Thiago on the edge of the area and a couple of deflections later Arsenal were 4-1 down. This was becoming embarrassing. In the end it took the addition of sub Thomas Muller to add the fifth, waltzing through what was left of the Arsenal
defence. It was a disgraceful goal for them to concede and one which left Sanchez crouching disbelieving of his team-mates on the touchline.
Remember it is not only Wenger’s future currently hanging in the balance. BAYERN MUNICH (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Lahm, Hummels, Martinez, Alaba; Alonso, Vidal; Robben (Rafinha 88), Thiago, Costa (Kimmich 84); Lewandowski (Muller 86). Booked: Hummels, Lahm. Booked: Hummels. Goals: Robben 11, Lewandowski 53, Thiago 56, 63, Muller 88. ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): Ospina; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny (Gabriel 49), Gibbs; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin (Giroud 77), Xhaka, Iwobi (Walcott 66); Ozil; Sanchez. Booked: Mustafi, Sanchez, Xhaka. Goal: Sanchez 30. Referee: M Mazic (Serb).