Arsenal in danger of unravelling again as lack of rotation poses problem | OneFootball

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At full-time, many of the Arsenal players fell to the floor as the realisation hit home that their Champions League dream was over.

This was not a 5-1 thumping like the Gunners have experienced on their last two trips to the Allianz Arena, but it was just as painful.

In the end, it was Joshua Kimmich and not Harry Kane who downed them, and that only added to the hurt.

Arsenal kept Kane quiet but they switched off at a decisive moment as they were given a harsh lesson in what is required to go deep in the Champions League. The big question for Arsenal now is whether their season is unravelling again.

After a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday handed control in the title race to Manchester City, defeat last night leaves their campaign in danger of crumbling like it did last year. Mikel Arteta must lift his players for a difficult away trip to Wolves on Saturday.

It is hard to escape the feeling that their season is on the line at Molineux. A win will move them back to the top of the league, with Manchester City facing Chelsea in the FA Cup this weekend and reeling themselves after their hopes of a double-treble were ended by Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

But defeat would leave Arsenal’s season in ruins ahead of two tough derbies next week, against Chelsea and Tottenham.

Walking wounded: Martin Odegaard played with his ankle heavily strapped in Munich

REUTERS

The concern for Arteta is his faltering side looked spent towards the end on Wednesday night, and there is a worry that his lack of rotation is catching up with them. Bukayo Saka does not look fully fit and captain Martin Odegaard played with his ankle heavily strapped.

“What they need is that we stand right next to them, give them our support, our love, and I will have to pick it up, because on Saturday we have a big, big, big game,” said Arteta.

“We are still playing for a Premier League and I really want it. We have to show now that we are capable of turning this around.”

Arteta will be confident that Arsenal will be better next season for this experience, but learning how to win in the Champions League is not easy. Just ask City, who needed 12 campaigns before finally lifting the trophy last season.

As much as Arsenal did not look out of place, they lacked the nous Bayern Munich showed over the two legs. This was a game of fine margins, and very early on it felt like one goal would win it. The frustration for Arsenal will be that they created very little.

Other than a good chance for Gabriel Martinelli in the first half, they were unable to conjure any real openings and they left with a nagging feeling of this being a missed opportunity against a Bayern team who have struggled this season.

“We have to learn from it,” said Arteta. “When you look historically, all the clubs to get to certain stages, it took them seven, eight, some of them 10 years to do it.”

This quarter-final was defined by moments — and the big ones did not go Arsenal’s way.

They will look back ruefully on the first leg at Emirates Stadium last week, on Ben White’s missed chance at 1-0, on Saka’s late penalty shout and the sloppy goals they conceded.

On Wednesday night, Arsenal were punished for one defensive lapse in the 63rd minute, as Kimmich ghosted into the box unmarked to head home.

Before that, the Gunners had looked reasonably solid and composed. But, after Bayern scored, they could not find any answers. Some credit must go to Bayern and their manager Thomas Tuchel, who got all his big calls right.

The former Chelsea manager has now reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with a third team, with Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea beforehand. Jose Mourinho is the only manager who can better that.

Tuchel’s decision to start two left-backs in Raphael Guerreiro and Noussair Mazraoui paid off as they kept Arsenal’s right side quiet. Saka could not make an impact and it was Guerreiro, pushed forward to left wing, who crossed for Kimmich to score.

Once that goal went in, Tuchel shut the game down and Bayern finished with four centre-backs on the pitch, after Dayot Upamecano and Kim Min-jae were brought on.