0-1! Allianz has become a nightmare again, Arsenal has collapsed on both fronts, and Bayern Dort will meet in the semi-finals
The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals in midweek this week saw Arsenal, who had just dropped the top spot in the league, come to the Allianz Arena, the land of nightmares, to take on Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. The Gunners have lost 5-1 on the past two occasions, and whether they can achieve revenge has become the focus of fans. Goretzka's header hit the crossbar and Kimmich sealed the throat with a sword, and Bayern successfully defended their home stadium, eliminating the Gunners 3-2 on aggregate and meeting Dortmund in the semi-finals to continue their hopes of winning the title.
Led the team to the opposition's turf, Arteta continued to play in a 4-3-3 formation, Kai Havertz continued to play as a central striker, Martinelli and Bukayo Saka split the flanks, Rice, Jorginho and Odegaard sat in midfield, Tomiyasu returned to the starting line-up, forming a back four with Gabriel, Saliba and Ben White, and Raya still in the back of the net for Arsenal.
Thomas Tuchel was equally unapologetic with a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Manuel Neuer returning after a rest, while Kimmich remained at right-back, joining De Ligt, Dier and Mazraoui at the back, with Goretzka and Laimer in a back line-up, Leroy Sane, Musiala and Guerrero lined up, with Kane up front.
After the game started, the two sides opened up to form an attack. Just four minutes into the game, Sane broke through on the right and couldn't split the ball, Kimmich crossed from the right, and Kane's header went just wide. In the 8th minute, Martinelli cut inside from the left and fired his trademark shot into the far corner, which also failed to hit the goal.
In the 22nd minute, Bayern kicked the mercury in front of the field, Guerreiro advanced a direct pass from the left, Mazraoui set a cross, hit Ben White and refracted it, the ball slid past the goal, and Arsenal escaped. Two minutes later, Bayern continued to work hard, Musiala cut inside from the left and fired a brilliant save from Raya.
In the 29th minute, Saka advanced from the right, knocked back from the edge of the box, and Ode's high shot hit the Bayern defender, and Neuer saved the ball. After the first 45 minutes, the two teams were evenly matched, with a combined 10 shots on goal, but each did not achieve anything, and went into the dressing room with a 0-0 victory.
After returning to the field, Bayern almost broke the deadlock with lightning! In the 46th minute, Kimmich made a 45° cross from the right, Goretzka's header hit the crossbar and popped up, Guerreiro followed up with a follow-up shot, Raya pounced and hit the post! In the 57th minute, Guerreiro was diagonally blocked on the left, which was not a big threat, but Gabriel and Raya miscommunicated, and the return pass almost made an own goal.
In the 64th minute, Sane advanced the ball from the right and crossed, Guerreiro received another cross at the back point, Kimmich outflanked in the middle and flew into the net, Bayern finally broke the deadlock and led 1-0!
Arsenal trailed 2-3 on aggregate and Mikel Arteta had to make substitutions, with Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard coming on in the 68th minute to remove Jorginho and Martinelli. In the 78th minute, Musiala forced a breakthrough on the left flank, and his incisive shot was blocked out of the goal. Two minutes later, Rice crossed the penalty area diagonally on the right, and Jesus inserted a shot to push the goal!
In the rest of the time, Bayern withstood Arsenal's crazy counterattack, kept the score 1-0 to the end, eliminated Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate, and met Dort in the semi-finals.
The past week has been a nightmare for Arsenal, with a 2-0 defeat to Villa in the league that led to the loss of the top spot, and now the Champions League is out of the top eight, and it is likely that the big four will be empty.