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MOTD: Bayern Munich 5-1 Arsenal

By on November 4, 2015

What sets Arjen Robben apart? Blistering pace, excellent ball control, and an incredible first touch. In the sixty-fifth minute of Bayern Munich’s Champions League meeting with Arsenal, his first touch shielded a wayward clearance and brought the ball down. With three men around him, he dinked the ball over Olivier Giroud and quickly released it. Two minutes later, his first touch set up a nonchalant flick over the Arsenal defense to Robert Lewandowski down the right wing. In just twenty-five minutes on the pitch Munich, Robben would touch the ball thirty-eight more times, more than five Arsenal starters, per Whoscored data. He could also be found covering at the back with an acrobatic clearance from a dangerous Arsenal cross. Tonight, Robben’s first touch of the match also set Bayern running away with a rampant victory over their visitors at the Allianz Arena.

Robben came on for Kingsley Coman in the fifty-fourth minute to return from injury and thirty-seven seconds later, found the back of the net to capitalize on David Alaba’s low cut-back from the left. Although Alaba’s cross was slightly behind Robben, the Dutch international wrapped his foot around the ball with the most exquisite of touches to send the ball curling into the upper-ninety. Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech had come up big to make multiple saves throughout the match, but it wasn’t the first time that he was left hopelessly rooted in place on the night.

The goal was Bayern’s fourth of the night and even a brilliant consolation strike from Giroud could barely disrupt the Bavarian’s cruise control. The Gunners succumbed to a 5-1 defeat that leaves them bottom of Champions League Group F with just two games to go. They now need to beat Dynamo Zagreb and Olympiacos to maintain hope of a playoff berth, though injuries seem to be Arsenal’s biggest obstacle to a knockout round berth, with Laurent Koscienly ruled out just an hour-and-a-half before tonight’s match and Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also sidelined from injury in the Capital One Cup last week. This compiles on top of Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky’s long-term injuries.

Perhaps that’s why Arsenal kept one eye cast on a North London derby at the weekend. Although Arsene Wenger’s men showed some of the spark they exhibited in a surprise 2-0 win over Bayern last week early on, Mesut Ozil notably seeing a goal denied for hand-ball, Bayern’s dominance sucked the life out of their visitors. Alexis Sanchez was full of spark as always, but every time he vigorously chased down the ball, Bayern would make four or five passes out of danger until Sanchez was left in defeat with his hands on his thighs and pulling off his shinguards in trademark Alexis Sanchez fashion.

In the tenth minute, Robert Lewandowski, who peeled off the Arsenal back-line completely unmarked, gave Bayern the lead with a beautiful flicked header at the end of Thiago Alcantara’s far-post cross. If Wenger had planned a repeat of Arsenal’s counter-attacking flair in the opposite fixture, the Gunners had to chuck the tactics book out the window. Yet Arsenal were tentative to be drawn out too far in the fear of an embarrassment. Bayern had them were they wanted them.

Another defensive mix-up lead to Bayern’s second goal right before the half hour mark, with Jerome Boateng scuffing Phillip Lahm’s cross at the far post on the volley. The ball hit Thomas Muller, who had the time to stab a low effort into the bottom-left corner off the leg of Per Mertesacker.

On the brink of the half, David Alaba added to Bayern’s tally with a stunning effort that curling just past Cech’s fingertips and into the top right corner. Arsenal were pitifully short of inspiration on the bench, their substitutes including three youth-team players, but Pep Guardiola had both Arturo Vidal and Robben at his fingertips. Robben made it three on the other side of the half with his one-touch effort, although others didn’t even need to touch the ball to terrorize Arsenal with their movement. The heat maps tell the story to the extent that Arsenal lacked any sort of intensity.

With two minutes to go, Douglas Costa got a well-deserved assist at the end of a storming run down the heart of Arsenal’s midfield, having played the ball wide to Muller, who curled an inch-perfect effort around Cech and into the bottom corner at the near post.

The fifth goal made the match Arsenal’s equal heaviest defeat in European history and only the second time they’ve conceded five goals in a single game in Europe, the first being a 5-2 defeat to Spartak Moscow over thirty-five years ago. Now their record of seventeen consecutive berths in the Champions League knockout-stages is very much at stake. At least Arsenal can take consolation in the fact that this Bayern side should have no trouble easily winning their last two games of the group stages against their qualification rivals.

Homepage photo credit: Tsutomu Takasu, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.