It was a case of déjà vu for the hapless Arsenal outfit, who endured another wretched night against a marauding Bayern Munich, capitulating to a 1-5 humiliation at the Emirates on Tuesday.
The Bavarian giants stormed into the quarter-finals with a 10-2 aggregate in the tie. The Gunners were marginally the better side in the first half and led through Theo Walcott’s strike.
However, any hopes of an improbable comeback from the first leg, where they had lost 1-5, were dashed around the hour mark. Defender Laurent Koscielny was sent off for shoving Robert Lewandowski in the box. The Pole stepped up to score the resulting penalty.
A nightmarish 15 minutes followed for Arsene Wenger’s side from there, much like the earlier meeting between the two teams. A Douglas Costa brace and goals from Arjen Robben and Arturo Vidal piled on the misery for Arsenal.
Walcott’s powerful strike certainly gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope, especially given how lackluster Bayern were in the first half. Carlo Ancelotti’s side, though, came out strongly in the second half and Lewandowski was culpable of missing a regulation chance from close range.
After consulting with the touchline official, the referee brandished a red card to Koscienly for denying Lewandowski a goalscoring opportunity. Arsenal surrendered meekly from there, and gifted two sloppy goals to Robben and Vidal. Costa’s first goal came through a curler from the edge of the box. The Brazilian added a second and his team’s fifth five minutes from time.
This is the seventh consecutive time the North London side have been dumped out of the Champions League at the round of 16, and have gone down to Bayern with a 1-5 scoreline in the last three of their meetings.
Real Madrid stage a comeback win
Defending champions Real Madrid also won with an identical scoreline from their first leg against Napoli, 3-1. The visitors were outplayed in the first half and were trailing at half-time.
The Italians were put in the lead through Dries Mertens’ strike. Two powerful headers in the space of seven minutes in the second half by Sergio Ramos turned the tide in Real’s favour. In the final minute, Alvaro Morata added a third confirming his side’s place in the last eight. The tie ended 6-2 in favour of Real on aggregate.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post after rounding keeper Pepe Reina early in the first half. The Napoli attack kept prodding at the Real defence, which was cut open by Marek Hamsik’s incisive pass. The in-form Mertens made no mistake. Napoli nearly got the lead in the tie but the Belgian playmaker crisp shot only found the post.
Madrid, seeking inspiration were back on level terms through Ramos’ header from a Toni Kroos corner. The Spanish World Cup winner would repeat the feat minutes later although it was recorded as an own goal. Morata latched onto a rebound from Ronaldo’s shot to add gloss on the scoreline for Real.
Brief scores:
- Arsenal 1 (Theo Walcott) lose to Bayern Munich 5 (Douglas Costa x 2, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Arturo Vidal [Bayern progress with 10-2 aggregate]
- Napoli 1 (Dries Mertens) lose to Real Madrid 3 (Sergio Ramos, Dries Mertens o.g, Alvaro Morata) [Real progress 6-2 on aggregate]
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