Arsenal fans will be fearing that history is repeating itself again!
When it comes to the Champions League, and especially facing Bayern Munich, that is the case and has been for the past 20 years.
It has been a fair few years since Arsenal returned to Europe’s elite competition, yet they can’t seem to get away from Bayern and constantly getting knocked out by them.
That’s the fifth time the German club have booted out their English opponents, with Mikel Arteta now tasting this defeat as a manager.
Many would argue that, from Arsenal’s perspective, they lost the game in the first leg when they failed to beat their opponents.
That allowed Thomas Tuchel’s men to take it to their yard and get the valuable goal needed to progress to the semi-finals.
Many players are taking verbal hits for their performances, including Thierry Henry raging, but Gabriel Martinelli was also getting heavily criticised for not preventing Joshua Kimmich from scoring a header in the second half.
Jamie Carragher thinks the 22-year-old ’switched off’ when the cross was delivered by Raphaël Guerreiro, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (17/04/24 at 11:20 pm).
The 2005 Champions League winner then added that the £180k-a-week forward ‘gets caught’ and was punished for the smallest of mistakes which simply can’t happen at this level.
Gabriel Martinelli for Joshua Kimmich’s goal
“They (Bayern) do really well, this cross is absolutely fantastic,” said Carragher.
“Guerreiro and Kimmich. We just highlight him here now. Kimmich is actually a player who wants to play in midfield, but he has been playing right-back under Thomas Tuchel. He finds himself in an attacking position and it’s a bullet header. He just switches off at the back post, Martinellii.
“He actually goes initially with Leroy Sane, so he does his job. Just keep an eye on him, there is the goalscorer Kimmich. He just switches off for a second here, a great ball from Guerreiro on that side and he knows in that position. He has done his job defensively (at first), he has helped the fullback. You have to talk about the quality as well, Guerreiro was absolutely fantastic and then Kimmich just gets across him. This is what you talk about the fine details at this type of level and if you get caught out, then you are going to get punished.”
Arsenal’s Premier League title charge
It’s all that is left for this young Arsenal side. Only one more trophy on offer and it’s the one all the fans wanted at the start of the campaign.
The issue is that it’s now in Manchester City’s hands, with six games to go, and that’s the last thing you would have wanted to do.
But at the end of the day, you can only do your own job and allow pressure to take over.
If Arsenal beat Wolves at the weekend, then they will go top because Manchester City are in FA Cup semi-final action.
Yes, they would have that game in hand to play, but points on the board are points on the board!
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