Full-time: Bayern 5-1 Arsenal
That was a fearful pasting for Arsenal, who felt the full force of an outstanding Bayern team and a wretched injury list. Wenger’s side were actually good in patches, going forward at least, but they were nonplussed for long periods, especially in the first half, and can have no argument with the result. They need to win their final two matches and hope Olympiakos lose both if they are to progress. Or they could deliberately lose both their final games, avoid the Europa League and concentrate on the Premier League, where, once they get some players back, they could yet salvage glory from the season.
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90 min: Arsenal’s night just got worse: Olympiakos have scored to take a last-minute 2-1 lead over Zagreb. One more point for the Greeks in their last two games puts Arsenal out. Time for Wenger to start wondering whether it’d be better to finish bottom of this group and avoid the Europa League.
GOAL! Bayern 5-1 Arsenal (Müller 89)
Bayern hand Arsenal their joint-heaviest ever European defeat, and after a period of play in which Arsenal showed commendable spirit and menace. The visitors were caught with a devastating counter-attack led by the turbo-charged Costa, who presented the ball to Müller at the edge of the area. The forward took aim and stroked the ball clinically past Cech.
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87 min: Arsenal sub: Cazorla off, Chambers on.
85 min: Arsenal sub: Giroud off, 19-year-old Iwobi on for his Champions League debut. If you’re not familiar with the work of Iwobi’s uncle, Jay-Jay Okocha, get yourself on to YouTube now.
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83 min: Magnificent work by Debuchy! Thiago sprung Arsenal’s offside trap (or maybe the linesman got the decision wrong, it was hard to tell on first view) and Robben was left running clear on Cech. He jinked his way around the diving keeper but Debuchy got back to make a tremendous saving tackle, sliding the ball behind for a corner.
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81 min: Bayern demand a penalty after Vidal’s header from a Robben crosses catches Mertesacker on the arm. The ref rightly rules that it was unintentional and there was nothing the defender could do to get out of the way.
79 min: Mertesacker gets a weak header to a corner, then hauls down Robben as Bayern try to launch a counter-attack. “Re: 75 mins: We could say both, couldn’t we?” blurts Neb Altinis.
77 min: Great work by Coquelin, who surges into the box and pulled the ball back for Cazorla, who has an excellent chance to score from seven yards. But he skews the ball way over the bar and looks to the sky in despair!
76 min: We should also mention that one more goal would mean Arsenal would finish above Bayern on head-to-head in the event of them finishing level on points in this group. But that’s probably redundant.
75 min: There are two ways at looking at what has happened over the last 10 minutes or so: we can say that a depleted Arsenal have shown admirable character by rebelling, scoring and causing a lot of bother to Bayern; or we can say that, as too often in the past, Arsenal have turned it on when it’s too late and the pressure is off because the result has been decided.
73 min: Cech beats the ball away at the near post after Robben unleashed a shot from 10 yards.
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71 min: Bayern sub: Lewandowski off, Vidal on.
GOAL! Bayern 4-1 Arsenal (Giroud 69)
That’s a super goal and fair reward for Arsenal’s recent improvement. Ozil dinked a nice cross in from the right but there was plenty for Giroud to do and he did it with style, killing the ball on his chest before firing past Neuer with a scissors kick!
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68 min: Bayern sub: Boateng off, Benatia on.
67 min: Olympiakos have equalised against Zagreb - and have also missed a penalty. A winner for the Greeks would be bad news for Arsenal.
65 min: Having reminded themselves that Bayern are vulnerable at the back, Arsenal appear a little uplifted. They’re pinging together some decent moves now, playing with the zip and purpose that disappeared early in the first half.
63 min: Robben acrobatically clears the ball at the back post after Arsenal mounted another dangerous counter-attack. It was three-on-two at one point and the Dutchman had to strain to prevent Giroud’s cross from the right from reaching Gibbs.
61 min: Another dignified flourish from Arsenal, putting Bayern under pressure at the back. It comes to nothing but at least Arsenal seem intent on finishing this match on a respectable note, which is important, all things considered. “Neymar is wearing a hat while playing for Barcelona,” claims Ruth Purdue. “I didn’t think you were allowed to. It’ll be banned like those ridiculous snoods were.” Is this true? What type of hat? Please say it’s a deerstalker.
59 min: Arsenal sub: Campbell off, Gibbs on. Can he do a Robben? Send your answers on a £20 note to the Sports Department at Guardian HQ.
57 min: A shot on target by Arsenal! And at the end of a lovely move, to boot! But Neuer, the big spoilsport, produced a save on a par with the performance of his outfield team-mates, diving to turn away Cazorla’s shot.
GOAL! Bayern 4-0 Arsenal (Robben 55)
A sublime goal, scored by Robben with his first touch! Costa slid a dinky through-ball to Alaba, who had darted into the visiting box undetected by Any Arsenal defender. He pulled the ball back for Robben to stab into the roof of the nwt from six yards. Wonderful by Bayern, as Arsenal played the role of helpless bystanders to perfection.
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54 min: Bayern substitution: Coman off, and here comes Robben. Good luck Arsenal.
52 min: Costa slaloms his way into the box past two Arsenal defenders before Coquelin gets a block on his shot. Corner to Bayern, which Giroud eventually whacks clear.
49 min: Cech takes as long as possible over a goal kick. They’re not holding on for 3-0, are they? “How are Arsenal so inconsistent, how can they perform so badly tonight after being so good for a lot of this season,” thunders Carl Barnes. It’s true their performance tonight has been quite lamentable so far but there are some mitigating factors, principally their hideous injury list and the supreme quality of Bayern.
47 min: Sanchez gets back to head the ball clear on the edge of his six-yard box as Müller prepared to pounce. The cross was once again from Thiago, who has been imperious throughout.
46 min: Both sides have come out for the second half. Thats one mental challenge vaulted by Arsenal.
From the answers below, see if you can guess what questions most readers have been emailing in with during the break:
Loughborough Town 8-0 Arsenal, 1896
AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal, 2012
And here are the biggest defeats under Wenger:
Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal, 2014
Manchester United 8-2 Arsenal, 2011
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“What matters now is that Olympiacos does not win,” says Scott Wedel. “ Hope is that Arsenal can win both remaining games and Bayern doesn’t lose either of their last two.” Well, Olympiacos are currently trailing 1-0 at home to Zagreb.
“The last 20 minutes of the first half was the most one-sided football match I’ve ever seen,” says Pjotr Van Rooijen before adding, confusingly. “It’s on a par with Germany - Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.”
Half-time: Bayern 3-0 Arsenal
Arsenal, wearing blue and waving a white flag, are beyond redemption here. Wenger looks furious but he must be tempted to just take off Ozil and Sanchez now and preserve them for Sunday’s north London derby. They could do with showing a bit of pride before then, mind, otherwise they risk being on the end of a humiliating and historic spanking.
GOAL! Bayern 3-0 Arsenal (Alaba 44)
No more than Bayern deserve. The wonderful Alaba harasses Cazorla into coughing up possession 20 yards from the Arsenal goal, and then the Austrian enflames it into the net! Get your abacuses out, stat fans, because this scoreline could become freakish.
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42 min: Superb save by Cech! Müller went to meet a Lahm cross with his head. It rebounded off Mertesacker and fell invitingly for the striker again, but Cech reacted brilliantly to tip his shot over the bar from seven yards.
40 min: Cech ends a sequence of about 200 Bayern passes by stopping a Müller shot from the right.
37 min: Bayern are absolutely lording it over Arsenal, looking several leagues above them. Shades of Sheffield Wednesday here.
34 min: Bayern have the ball and Arsenal don’t know what to do about it anymore. They’re pretty much just waiting in their box in the hope they’ll be able to get a last-ditch block on the inevitable cross or shot. With Arsenal seemingly gripped by such fatalism, and without much hope on the bench, a comeback would be nigh-on miraculous.
31 min: Costa flashes in a vicious cross-cum-shot. Lewandowski hurls himself at it but can’t connect ... and the ball flies just past the far post.
GOAL! Bayern 2-0 Arsenal (Müller 29)
That’s torn it for Arsenal. But it had been coming. A cross from the right caught Arsenal in disarray, although it took a slightly fortunate ricochet after a mis-hit by Coman for the ball to come to Müller, who swung his foot at the ball to send it beyond Cech from eight yards.
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27 min: They’re snazzy technicians, no doubt about it, but defending high balls seems to be beneath Bayern. Well-flighted crosses into the area are troubling them, and when the latest one flew over Giroud, Campbell should have threatened at the back post, but his improvised shot was way off target. “Coman the Bavarian!” booms Jeremy Sams. “Sorry, it just had to be said.” True enough, although Coman the Destroyer would work just as well on this evidence.
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25 min: Cazorla gets back to head clear from in front of his own goal as Arsenal are forced to retreat en masse again.
23 min: Campbell, who is being run fairly ragged, cops a yellow card for a clumsy trip on Coman. Campbell will do well to last the whole match.
21 min: Arsenal break out after several minutes just fending off Bayern. It’s a dainty move but Ozil, who has generally played very well so far, overhits an attempted cross from the lefet. Campbell does well to retrieve it. shunting Coman out of the way in the process, but then his cross is inaccurate, too.
18 min: Bayern Munich, the best team in Europe they say, and Xabi Alsono is their chief conductor ... which apparently doesn’t mean he’s above missing the ball while trying to take a corner kick and instead booting the flag! There’s hope yet for Arsenal!
16 min: To confirm: replays show that the decision to rule out Ozil “goal” was correct. And the way things are going, we will soon be seeing replays of another Bayern goal, because they’re well on top here and really stretching the visitors, who are looking very flustered.
14 min: Coman attempts to bend a shot into the net from the left-hand corner of the box. Cech saves.
NO GOAL!
12 min: Arsenal players were celebrating an immediate equaliser in the corner after Ozil guided a cross by the overlapping Monreal into the net from six yards ... but the referee orders them to stop because the goal won’t stand and Ozil will be booked instead for deliberate handball. The decision is correct: he played it, deftly in fairness, with his forearm.
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GOAL! Bayern 1-0 Arsenal (Lewandowski 10)
Wenger is digusted! That seemed so, so easy. Arsenal watched Bayern tip-tap the ball around before Thiago clipped a cross from the left over the dozing Gabriel - and Lewandowski pounced, heading past Cech from eight yards. That’s where Koscielny is missed.
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7 min: With every Arsenal player filing back behind the ball as Bayern probe, Alaba tries a direct approach, sending a swirling shot goalward from 25 yards. Cech keeps good track of it and saves comfortably.
5 min: It’s been an encouraging start by Arsenal. They’re breaking up Bayern’s play well and showing dangerous intent when they retrieve the ball. They should have put together a better attack a moment ago after Giroud came back to nick the ball off Alonso in midfield, but then Campbell’s attempted through-ball went way awry.
3 min: Arsenal launch another counter after a bout of Bayern possession. But Giroud’s pass into the channels demands too much of Campbell, who doesn’t have Walcott’s pace and probably wouldn’t have reached it even if he did.
1 min: Arsenal kick-off and complete five passes - in your face, Bayern! And then they launch it forward towards Giroud. Bayern don’t deal with it especially well, which is no doubt why Guardiola tried to psych Arsenal out of using it. Giroud snapshot from 20 yards fails to find the target.
Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty Images
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Not saying Arsenal are already beaten in their heads ... but they’ve come out on to the pitch all black (shorts and socks) and blue (shirts). Mind you, Bayern are covered torso to toe in blood red. And now both sets of players prepare to stand with all due solemnity to the Champions League anthem, the most important song since the Go Compare jingle.
Young Kingsley Coman will be well worth watching tonight. Just 19-years-old and he’s drafted into the starting line-up here in place of Arturo Vidal. He’s done well on the handful of starts he has made since September - scoring two goals on top of fine performances. A heck of a way to vindicate his decision to turn down a contract offer from the club that reared him, Paris Saint-Germain, because he felt they wouldn’t give him enough first-team action. What an array of midfielders France have at the moment, eh?
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Jens Lehmann speaking to BT says: “Of course Arsenal can do it but their chances are not too high because Bayern are highly motivated.” On Ozil: “He has become a better professional since he’s been in England, he has put on some muscle and resilience.” Lehmann’s prediction? “A boring 1-1”. Arsenal would settle for that.
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Plenty to ponder in those line-ups: Robben only makes the bench - ready to be unleashed if need be -, while Badstuber is also back, in line to make his first appearance since April. But more intriguing, surely, is that Arsenal defence: Koscielny’s bothersome hip means Gabriel starts instead, while Debuchy replaces the injured Bellerin. So Arsene Wenger will be relying on Joel Campbell performing on the right flank even better than he did at Swansea. Dicey. And if Arsenal fall behind, injuries means there doesn’t appear to be much on the bench with which to stage a fightback.
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Teams:
Bayern: Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Martinez, Alaba; Alonso; Costa, Thiago, Müller, Coman; Lewandowski
Subs: Ulreich, Benatia, Robben, Rafinha, Vidal, Badstuber, Kimmich
Arsenal: Cech; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Monreal; Cazorla, Coquelin; Campbell, Ozil, Alexis; Giroud
Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Koscielny, Chambers, Flamini, Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide
Ref: G Rocchi (Italy)
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Preamble:
As a famous philosopher - or was it a fridge magnet? - once said: ‘judge a man not by his mistakes but by how he makes up for them’. Well the same goes for teams, and Arsenal have made a pretty decent fist of atoning for the goofiness they showed in the first two matches of this Champions League campaign. But now comes the hardest part: they must get at least a point, ideally three, at the home of Bayern Munich, who are smarting from their defeat at the Emirates and need the points themselves, as an Arsenal win would enable Arsene Wenger’s team to leapfrog the serial German champions, leaving the Mr Meisters with broken wings in Group F. What’s more, Arsenal are ravaged by injuries while Bayern are bolstered by reinforcements from the last duel between the sides, with Arjen Robben back in contention for a starting place. Arsenal, you sense, are going to have to spend much of the evening defending like lions, chasing like wolves and yanking off metaphorical windscreen wipers like Longleat monkeys.
Hanging on by their gegenhairs, to use the technical jargon. And they’re capable of it – they showed that in the first leg and, indeed, they’ve been the Premier League’s best defence in 2015, with Petr Cech augmenting it this season and Laurent Koscielny emerging as the best centreback playing in England.
Amid all the defending, of course, Arsenal will have to find the wherewithal to tear forward and get a goal or two – maybe via the long ball, as Pep Guardiola suggested with the same air of moral disappointment that Wenger has sometimes invoked himself, or maybe with some inadvertent help from Manuel Neuer, though the chances of him committing another blunder like the one he made at the Emirates seem remote. All in all, this could be the most difficult European challenge Arsenal have faced since the quarter-final draw of their very first appearance in the continent’s elite competition pitted them against Johan Cruyff and Ruud Krol’s Ajax. You might remember how that went. If you don’t, and even if you do, it’s well worth going to 16:30 in the clip below to see George Graham sensationally sending a 20-yard header into the net ...
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