Bayern Munich have condemned Arsenal to their equal heaviest European defeat in the club’s history, with a crushing 5-1 win at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.
The home side were irresistible in attack and had the game virtually won at half time with goals from Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller and a stunning long range strike from defender David Alaba.
Just as you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Gunners, Arjen Robben was introduced and scored within seconds of entering the fray rounding off a superb team move.
Olivier Giroud finally gave the travelling fans something to cheer about by scoring a wonderful acrobatic volley, before Thomas Muller rounded off proceedings by cooling slotting home Bayern’s fifth to put the visitors out of their misery.
It was a five-star performance from the Bundesliga champions who took another huge step towards qualification for the knockout phase and emphatically bounced back from their defeat at the Emirates Stadium two weeks earlier.
Arsenal’s hopes of progressing are in serious jeopardy, needing to win their final two games including having to get past Olympiacos in the final group game by two clear goals, and rely on Bayern Munich winning their two games against Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos.
Arsenal have no answers to Bayern’s press and ball movement
The game was virtually played in Arsenal’s own half, as the home side continually harassed and enforced the visitors into coughing up possession enabling them to start their own swift forays forward.
Despite defending so deeply, Bayern were able to penetrate the Arsenal defence with ease, unleashing a staggering 12 shots on target in the first half alone.
When the Gunners were able to win back possession they were simply swarmed and other than Olivier Giroud had no attacking outlets to cause Bayern any problems on the counter attack as they did in their previous encounter.
Thiago Alcantara and Xabi Alonso did as they pleased in the centre of midfield and used their vast array of passing to link up with the likes of Douglas Costa, Kingsley Coman and Thomas Muller, who all terrorised the under-fire Arsenal full backs with their speed and nous.
Thiago completed a whopping 125 passes, more than eight Arsenal players combined, demonstrating his ability to pull the strings for Pepe Guardiola’s side.
Injuries continue to cripple Arsenal
For games of this magnitude, it was crucial that Arsenal were close to full strength to have any chance of competing with their more fancied opponents.
However, there were a five changes from the lineup from when the Gunners last played Bayern, and that was evident as reserve defenders Mathieu Debuchy and Gabriel Paulista, who deputised for Laurent Koscielny and Hector Bellerin both had poor games in what was a disjointed defensive performance.
Gabriel was at fault for the first goal by not stepping up and crucially playing Lewandowski onside while Debuchy was given a torrid time by the menacing Costa and Arjen Robben, as he looks a shadow of the player who represented France at the World Cup just last year.
With Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both sidelined, Joel Campbell continued to plug the gap on Arsenal’s right-hand side of midfield but was largely anonymous throughout and along with Alexis Sanchez continued to leave the Arsenal full backs exposed to the enormous threat that Bayern posed on the flanks.
In total, Arsenal’s injury now stands at a staggering ten players, with a large portion of them regular first team members.
Once again, Arsene Wenger’s resources are being stretched to the absolute limit, and with the North London derby looming large, this latest injury crisis has the potential to derail the club’s promising start to the campaign.
David Alaba underlines his class
The Austrian lined up in his natural position at left back, but seemed to bob up all over the pitch, as he and Costa ran riot down Arsenal’s right-hand side.
Alaba had a superb game that included four interceptions, four crosses, one assist, completed 91% of his passes, and capped off a brilliant individual display with a stunning strike from distance, his third from outside the area since 2013/14, only Lionel Messi and Hulk have more.
One of Alaba’s great assets is his versatility. He can play anywhere across the back and be deployed anywhere across the midfield, proving his one of the most valuable players in world football.
His adaptability means Guardiola can be extremely flexible with his tactics and formations, knowing he can perform well in whatever position he is asked of to fulfil.
The scary thing is Alaba is just 23 years of age and still has a considerable amount of growth left. Guardiola described him as the team’s ‘god’, and with sparkling performances like these, it is understandable why the Spaniard holds him in such high regard.
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