Arsenal are set to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, and they will be hoping for revenge after what happened the last time the two teams met.
Arsenal’s last Champions League campaign came in the 2016-17 season, and although they finished top of their group, they were drawn against Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern Munich.
Arsene Wenger’s side had been dumped out of the Champions League in the round of 16 for six consecutive seasons heading into the tie, but this would become seven, as they were beaten 5-1 away, then even more shockingly, 5-1 at home.
It was a disastrous night for Arsenal, but they may fancy their chances more against the German giants now, given Bayern’s poor campaign, and how good Mikel Arteta’s side are defensively.
Arsenal’s starting lineup from the second 5-1 defeat seven years ago was a bizarre one, with Wenger clearly thinking the tie was gone after the first leg, whilst the Gunners were also struggling domestically in that period.
Arsenal’s XI from Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich in 2017
Colombia international David Ospina was in goal, replacing first-choice option Petr Cech, and he faced a nightmare as the visitors fired in shot after shot at him.
Hector Bellerin was at right-back, and whilst he had impressed against Bayern in a win in 2015, he was struggling for form at this time, and could not cope with Franck Ribery and Douglas Costa.
Centre-backs Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny had a difficult night. Mustafi dropped a disasterclass against his countrymen, whilst Koscielny was given a controversial red card, which ultimately led to the heavy defeat.
Nacho Monreal was at left-back, and was given the impossible task of defending against Arjen Robben for 90 minutes.
Granit Xhaka was in his first season at Arsenal, and was at the base of midfield before dropping next to Mustafi following Koscielny’s red card. This was always destined to be a disaster, and he could not cope in the back line against a clinical Bayern attack.
Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain formed the rest of the midfield, with Mesut Ozil surprisingly left on the bench, and Ramsey was eventually replaced by Francis Coquelin as a form of damage limitation.
A front three of Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez looked threatening in the first half, with Walcott opening the scoring on the night, but uncertainty surrounding Sanchez’s future, coupled with the heavy defeat, meant it was a difficult evening for the Chilean.
Ozil and Lucas Perez replaced Giroud and Alexis in the last 20 minutes to no avail, and Bayern ran rampant in what was a disastrous game at the Emirates Stadium.
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