Kevin Whitcher
It was a strange game against Bayern Munich last night. The home side had most of the possession and far more attempts, but Arsenal were the team that converted more chances, just not enough. It is difficult to really weigh up the quality of the performance given the circumstances, but there is no disputing the achievement of the result. Wenger’s team can often be described as the nearly men in Europe in recent seasons. They nearly beat Liverpool in 2008, Barcelona in 2011, Milan in 2012 and now Bayern. They nearly won the final in 2006.
The defence certainly performed more creditably than the last outing at Spurs. Koscielny and Gibbs replaced Vermaelen and Monreal, whilst in goal, Lukasz Fabianski surprised many with a solid display. It will be interesting to see if he starts against Swansea at the weekend.
The early Gunners goal was the dream start they had been hoping for, but then it was a long wait until the second. In between, there were cards aplenty, with a Bayern side whose fluency and authority from the first leg had gone AWOL. Arsenal threatened occasionally, but rarely genuinely threatened the home side’s goal. A key moment was a horrendous offside decision given against Theo Walcott after the interval. He was clean through with an excellent chance to score as the linesman’s flag incorrectly went up. The other real moment of hope before the goal was Gervinho’s well crafted chance. Aside from that, there was little to report.
The second goal, shortly before injury time, raised hopes. But at this point Arsenal played into Bayern’s hands, lacking the knowhow to keep the game moving. Arteta, supposedly one of the team’s most experienced players, was highly culpable of allowing Bayern to run down the clock with a poorly taken set piece and the concession of at least two needless fouls that brought the German team 30 seconds on each occasion. The other thing that is slightly ridiculous is the mad scramble to get the ball after a goal has been scored, as if it is going to make the opposition restart the game any quicker. The ensuing melee always means the delay in getting going again is invariably longer than if they had just retreated and made any attempt at timewasting before kicking off blatantly obvious.
What this second leg can give the team is confidence. In isolation, it is a huge result. Proof that these players are capable of winning against anyone anywhere. Bayern rarely concede at home, let alone lose. In terms of the Champions League, it is meaningless. Arsenal are out, as expected after the first leg. Whether it has a positive knock on effect for their remaining Premier League matches remains to be seen. However, if they can win in Munich, there is no reason they cannot gain three points at Swansea this weekend.
Before the game, Graeme Souness gave the view that “Arsenal are drifting”, a reference to the gradual erosion of the club being serious challengers for the big prizes. Failure to repeat results like that in the Allianz Arena between now and May will mean they will drift out of this competition.
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