Bayern Munich (0) 1 Arsenal (0) 0

Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg

Allianz Arena, Werner-Heisenberg-Allee 25, 80939 München, Germany

Wednesday, 17th April 2024. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Takehiro Tomiyasu; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko

Yellow Cards: Ben White, Gabriel Jesus

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 48%

Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)

Assistant Referees: Hessel Steegstra (Netherlands), Jan de Vries (Netherlands)

Fourth Official: Sander van der Eijk (Netherlands)

UEFA Referee Observer: Domenico Messina (Italy)

UEFA VAR Team in Geneva: VAR Rob Dieperink (Netherlands) AVAR, Clay Ruperti (Netherlands)

Attendance: c.75,000

Our captain Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka will be assessed before tonight’s match, and it looks like that there is no other further reported injuries. As they all are now, this is an important game for everyone associated with the club, and nothing but a win will do this evening, of course.

The home side started the match tonight in a jam-packed, white hot (but misty) Allianz Arena, and in the early stages, we were stroking the ball around between our players well, it has to be said. England captain Harry Kane had the first shot of the match with a side footed effort for Bayern, which went just wide of the post, thankfully. Both teams were looking rather nervous, with nobody wanting to make a mistake, being extremely careful both on and off the ball. Gabriel Martinelli had a looping shot that went just wide of Manuel Neuer’s left-hand post, after which followed a period of good football from us. Bukayo Saka had a good chance to run at Noussair Mazraoui for the first time and managed to beat him but the cross was too high for Gabriel Martinelli to get to, unfortunately, and with the space in the midfield area at a premium, it appears that the wings are going to be where a lot of the action could be tonight. Leroy Sané got in behind Takehiro Tomiyasu but his cross was cleared for a Bayern corner, which was cleared well by our defenders. Gabriel Martinelli showed some clever footwork nudging and jinking his way through the Bayern defence, but goalie Manuel Neuer was on hand to save the day for the home side. Konrad Laimer slipped the ball on his left to Noussair Mazraoui, whose pace was absolutely electric and he managed to beat our offside trap, but Ben White dived in to make a crucial block, deflecting Noussair Mazraoui’s shot beyond the far post. Bayern were pressurising our goal constantly, and somehow we managed to break out and cause their defence some major problems. There was a nice move, when Ben White was played in behind on the right wing but his chipped cross was too weak to reach Kai Havertz. Just after the half hour mark, a superb effort by Martin Ødegaard took a slight deflection from the edge of the penalty area and Manuel Neuer had to scramble quickly across to his right to keep it out, and then merely moments later, Kai Havertz sneaked in behind the Bayern defence and Manuel Neuer had to race off his line to close him down quickly; it made no difference, as the offside flag went up just afterwards. At the other end, Joshua Kimmich slipped the ball through to Jamal Musiala, who had got in behind Takehiro Tomiyasu but a decent tackle from William Saliba conceded a corner. Bukayo Saka went down with a ball in the face, but he recovered and the match continued, only for our captain to go down injured just outside the Bayern penalty area. A Declan Rice free kick found the head of Kai Havertz, but his header was easily plucked out of the air by Manuel Neuer, followed a minute or so later by a twenty-five yard shot by Ben White which simply flew over the Bayern crossbar. Although there was not that many chances created by both teams during the first half, it still finished honours even at the break.

We started the second half proceedings in this crucial match, and within a minute, a cross from Joshua Kimmich picked out Leon Goretzka, who headed the ball towards the far corner. David Raya was beaten but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced away from the goal, but the ball dropped to Raphaël Guerreiro on the rebound but William Saliba got a block in and deflected the ball onto the post as we miraculously survived! A long ball nearly caught Manuel Neuer out, but he managed to clear the ball, just as Gabriel Martinelli was coming in too fast. The match stopped briefly for Takehiro Tomiyasu to find his contact lens, and shortly afterwards Konrad Laimer received a deserved yellow card when he fouled our captain. Gabriel Martinelli did well down the left wing but Eric Dier came across to block Kai Havertz as he came flying in on goal. Just after the hour, the home side took the lead with a headed goal from Joshua Kimmich when he ran in to meet a cross from Raphaël Guerreiro which caught our defence cold. Mikel Arteta then made a double substitution when Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard replaced Jorginho and Leandro Trossard just after the hour in order to try and grab some goals. Joshua Kimmich whipped in a dangerous free-kick from the right but it was flicked wide by Matthijs de Ligt and the continual pressure from Bayern was starting to wear our defence down. We managed to break out and were awarded a corner, which was well taken by Bukayo Saka but it was easily dealt with by the Bayern defence. Yet again the home side came at us, and frustration was setting in. Martin Ødegaard took a superb free-kick but nobody was on the end of it, and it bounced out of play harmlessly for a Bayern goal kick. Declan Rice won the ball and he had Gabriel Jesus up front in support and the Brazilian pointed to where he wanted the ball, so Declan Rice obliged but Gabriel Jesus could not find the goal as he blasted the ball high and wide of the target; it mattered not, as he was adjudged to be offside. Ben White received a yellow card for a tackle on Raphaël Guerreiro and then Takehiro Tomiyasu was replaced by Eddie Nketiah, as we are going for broke with the clock running down. A shot from our captain came off both a defender and Manuel Neuer and the officials gave a goal kick which was a total disgrace. The match officials gave four minutes injury time, and Bukayo Saka got to the ball at the back post and knocked it back into the danger area, Kai Havertz tried to get on the end of it but the linesman’s flag went up for offside. With just a minute of time to go, Bukayo Saka won a free-kick in a really promising position, so we took it quickly and Ben White almost got to it, but a tackle came in and we won a corner, which was easily dealt with by the Bayern defence. The referee Danny Makkelie blew the final whistle and our European campaign was brought to an end.

Such a terrible shame, really. Very disappointing overall. On the night, it was a silly moment when the defence went to sleep as the goal was scored, and after that, we never really regained our previous composure. Bayern simply wore us down, and shut up shop. The harder we tried to score, the more they defended and kept us out, sadly. In many ways, our inexperience showed at the Allianz Arena, but perhaps the quarter-final was lost in the first leg at the Emirates when we let them off the hook. Who knows? But the positives here tonight were that this was our first Champions League quarter-final in fifteen years, which for a team growing under our young manager Mikel Arteta and to produce two mainly toe-to-toe performances against a team such as Bayern Munich is really quite some achievement. Maybe next time.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday, 20th April at 7.30pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon

Sunday was tough. There’s no denying that. But long term readers of the blog will know I not dwell on the past. They will also know I don’t overact to poor results.

We lost. It was our first league deader of 2024. It’s football. It happens. We move on. If you are not onboard with my philosophy then you only have yourself to blame for your unhappiness.

Football is a tough game: you will have more disappointments than you will have success. And if after every disappointment you throw your toys out the pram and go into a state of depression then you are in for a long life of being a football fan.

I write this as I am on the Elizabeth Line to Heathrow. I am buzzing my tits off for Munich. Cannot wait to get there, to have a few beers, a good nights sleep and then the game tomorrow. And that is why I won’t dwell on the past.

I have probably spent over £100,000 on The Arsenal. I am 39. My money could be spent on other things – holidays, mortgage, etc. But I would not change a single penny that I’ve spent. And that is what it means following your club up and down a country.

If you want a happy ending everytime, go Thailand. Football is not for you. Me? I take the rough with the smooth. And tomorrow we go again.

UTA

Keenos