Joshua Kimmich’s goal just past the hour mark proved to be the difference as Bayern Munich held out to win the contest 1-0 and the Champions League tie 3-2.
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Arsenal’s promising run in the Champions League has come to a sad end after being knocked out of the tournament by German giants Bayern Munich. The action-packed contest in the first leg finished 2-2, setting the stage for the second leg of the quarter-final. Despite Bayern’s below-par domestic campaign this season, they were always expected to make lives difficult for any side in their own backyard.
The second leg was a game of few chances with both sides nullifying the threat of the other. In the end, Joshua Kimmich’s goal just past the hour mark proved to be the difference as Bayern Munich held out to win the contest 1-0 and the Champions League tie 3-2. It has been a while since Arsenal have reached this far in the competition, hence, they can take plenty of positives from their campaign despite their exit.
After the match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta stated that this was a fixture of “small margins” and he referred to a couple of “very poor goals” they conceded in the first leg as a big reason for their exit. “Obviously very sad and disappointed with the final result. It was a tie of very small margins – in the first leg, we conceded two very poor goals and that has a big effect in the tie,” Arteta, quoted on Arsenal.com, said after the match.
He added: “We were still alive, came here and I’m really proud of the players, how they stood up, the way they tried to play, what they tried to do, especially in the first half. It was a game that you could see either an error or an individual or magic moment that would decide the tie. The margins are so small. We didn’t defend our box well at all in that action and we ended up throwing everything and trying everything, not having enough to score a goal and have an option to go through the tie.”
Arteta also gave credit to Bayern Munich for the win but stated that he will be by his players’ side during this period. “Credit to the opponent as well, it’s very difficult to break opponents down, especially when they play the manner that they play which they never do. But we had our moments, especially in the first half. In the second half, we struggled a little bit more to keep that rhythm, that momentum. With the changes we tried, in a different way. They are never games with big, big chances, very rare to see that at this stage of the Champions League, but it’s the moment to be next to our players, to be thankful of the journey that we’ve been involved with together. Unfortunately, at the end of today, it is painful but we have to learn from it,” he explained.
Arsenal’s Champions League run might be over but they still have a very good chance of lifting the Premier League title. “I wish I had today the right words for the players to make them feel better. What I’m going to do for sure, all the staff, all the coaching staff, is be close to the players. I feel so grateful to be their coach and to work with them every single day. And 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. We’re still playing for a Premier League and I would really want it. We have to show now that we are capable of turning this around,” he elaborated.
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