- Arsenal are out of the UEFA Champions League after losing 3-2 on aggregate to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich
- Mikel Arteta’s side exiting the Champions League led to them missing out on the inaugural expanded Club World Cup which is set to take place next year
Arsenal are out of the UEFA Champions League after losing last night’s Bayern vs Arsenal clash 1-0 at Allianz Arena. German midfielder Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the match shortly after the hour mark, sending his team to the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
Arsenal held Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw last week in London but failed to find the back of the net in Munich last night, losing 3-2 on aggregate.
Joshua Kimmich runs to celebrate after scoring the only goal of the Bayern vs Arsenal match played last night. Photo/ Tribuna.com.
“We tried against a team who has a lot of experience and through the tie the margins have been very small. There were moments where we were better…We were better than them then and today we had a lot of moments of dominance, but that spark around the box is what you need in these ties to get a victory. Arteta said after the Bayern vs Arsenal match last night, according to Sky Sports.
Bayern have had a disappointing domestic season losing the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen and faced Arsenal without key players such as Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, something which gave the Gunners confidence that they could win. However, it was the wounded lion that triumphed and reached the Champions League semis for the 13th time, with only Real Madrid reaching more.
Next up for Thomas Tuchel’s side in the semi-finals is Real Madrid, who knocked defending champions Manchester City out of the competition last night.
Bayern Vs Arsenal
Aiming to reach a first UEFA Champions League semi-final since 2009, Arsenal started the game well in Munich by dominating possession. However, they did nothing meaningful with the ball in front of goal and would have conceded first as soon as Bayern found rhythm.
Harry Kane looked dangerous as he searched for the goal that would make him surpass former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney as the all-time top scorer against Arsenal.
With 20 minutes played, Ben White made a crucial clearance to stop Noussair Mazraoui’s dangerous cross from finding the intended target in the box. Jamal Musiala then unleashed a strike from long range, which forced David Raya to make a brilliant save to stop the ball from going in.
The biggest chance of the first half fell to Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli who directed his effort directly to Manuel Neuer’s path after connecting with Martin Odegaard’s cross.
Bayern Munich came back stronger after the break and hid the woodwork twice before the goal they were looking for eventually arrived in the 63rd minute. Raphael Guerreiro collected Leroy Sane’s loose cross and then found Kimmich whose bullet header beat goalkeeper Raya.
Arsenal failed to regain the momentum they had in the opening stages of this clash and the game eventually went Bayern Munich’s way.
Bayern Munich are through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the 13th time in history. Photo/ TNT Sports.
Arsenal Misses Out in Club World Cup
Mikel Arteta’s side losing the Bayern vs Arsenal match played last night did not only lead to them being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League but also missing out on the inaugural expanded Club World Cup.
Arsenal would have qualified for the competition, which is set to take place next year, if they would have won this season’s Champions League title. A total of twelve spots were allocated for European teams but the final spot will now go to RB Salzburg.
The Austrian side profited from a rule that only two teams per country can qualify for the World Cup unless a country had three different Champions League winners in the last four years.
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