Match date: 19 February 2014

Arsenal and Bayern Munich met at this exact stage of the Champions League last year, with the first leg ending in a 3-1 win for Bayern at the Emirates. There have been significant changes to both sides since that meeting; Bayern have Pep Guardiola at the helm and bought the likes of Mario Götze and Thiago, both starters in the match. Arsenal spent roughly £42.5m on Mesut Özil and have, for the large majority of the season, led the Premier League.

Arsene Wenger set his side out in its usual 4-2-3-1, but with a surprising selection of Yaya Sanogo in the centre forward position as opposed to Giroud. Jack Wilshere and Flamini played as the two holding midfielders, with Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Özil behind Sanogo.

Guardiola, as he did with Barcelona in many of their away ties in the Champions League, opted for a more conservative team selection that saw Lahm move to right back to help solidify the back line and Javi Martinez in the holding midfield role.

Arsenal On the Front Foot

The opening 10 minutes of the match saw Arsenal play with pace and directness, almost replicating the start that they had to endure against Liverpool just a few weeks ago at Anfield. Bayern looked to press the Arsenal players when they had the ball, but Arsenal’s pace in their passing saw them easily get by the pressure and expose Bayern’s weak back line, which is Bayern’s biggest weakness.

Within the opening few minutes, Wilshere, Sanogo, and Oxlade-Chamberlain all looked to dribble at the Bayern defense, while Cazorla, Sanogo, and Özil made good runs into the channels. Sanogo forced Neuer into a good save before Cazorla was able to get in behind the Bayern defense after a Sagna flick on from a Szczesny clearance/pass, only for Neuer to save again.

Arsenal’s quick play was rewarded in the 7th minute of play, however, when Wilshere was able to take a good, quick touch around Javi Martinez at half line and dribble at the Bayern defense, with Özil making a run between Lahm and Boateng only for Boateng to bring him down inside the area. This move captured Arsenal’s bright start perfectly; Wilshere was able to bypass the Bayern pressure and break the lines by dribbling and Özil’s direct run was found by a good ball by Wilshere. Below, you can see just how much space Wilshere has after beating Martinez on the dribble and you can see each of the Bayern defenders backing off to cover the runs of Özil and Sanogo rather than one stepping to Wilshere with the midfield not recovering quick enough.

Bayern Possess

Following the penalty miss by Özil, Bayern began to start controlling the ball and the tempo of the match. Following the red card for Szczesny after he took down Robben, Bayern were able to dominate. A big part of this was because of the passing and movement of Toni Kroos and Thiago. Toni Kroos was able to break the lines of Arsenal’s defense with intelligent passes forward throughout the match when he dropped deep to pick the ball up from the Bayern centre backs. Of his 147 completed passes in open play, 98 were forward passes. When he moved forward, he was able to find space between the Arsenal back line and midfield, and was able to turn easily. His goal, early in the second half, saw him all alone on the edge of the Arsenal area, but demonstrated his ability to find space. Below you can see how much space he is in in front of Arsenal’s back four.

While Kroos controlled the match with his forward passing, Thiago’s role in Bayern’s possession was more amount quick movements on the ball and opening up spaces for others with quick one-twos and beating a first defender. As the second half moved on, he was consistently providing width down the left side of Bayern’s attack so that Robben could play on the right.

Bayern Attack Down the Right

Bayern were able to attack Arsenal on the right side of their attack throughout the entirety of the match for a few different reasons. At the start of the match, Mario Götze started on the right side of Bayern’s attack, but tucked inside a good amount to allow overlapping runs by Philipp Lahm, who was played at right back for the first half. Santi Cazorla was deployed on the left side for Arsenal and so, tactically, had the responsibility to track Philipp Lahm’s runs when the German was playing right back, but Cazorla was ineffective in doing so and Wenger moved Özil to the left, only for him to struggle as well. This essentially meant that Gibbs, and later Monreal, was up against both Götze and Lahm and, as Bayern grew into the match, Robben.

It would be interesting to hear Pep’s conversation with Robben prior to the match and at half time as the player seemed to have a free role for much of the first half and in the second half, saw him on the touchline on the right side of Bayern’s attack. His free role and width in the second half allowed Bayern to cause a number of 3 v 1 and 4 v 2 situations on the right side of their attack, especially in the second half when Rafinha was brought on at right back and Lahm moved back into his central midfield role, though still drifting to the right to help cause the overload.

It is of little surprise Bayern’s opening goal was the result of possession on the right. The build up saw Lahm, Robben, and Kroos touch the ball, but an overlapping run from Rafinha took the attention of Özil off of Lahm, allowing the Bayern captain to come back inside and play the ball to an open Kroos, who was only really open because the movement of Götze inside the Arsenal penalty area drew the attention of Flamini who was slow to get out and close down Kroos.

Özil

Özil was able to find space early on because of Javi Martinez’s lack of discipline in staying in front of the back four. Prior to Arsenal’s penalty, Martinez got very tight to Wilshere at the halfway line only for the Arsenal midfielder to quick dribble around him. Without Martinez in front of the back four, Özil was able to make a straight run at the Bayern back four unmarked. Up until his missed penalty, Özil was finding space and receiving and passing the ball in advanced areas of the pitch, where Arsenal want to see him and where he is most effective. However, after he missed the penalty, he seemed to retreat deep into midfield and was not as influential.

Early on, Wenger switched Özil with Cazorla as the Spaniard struggled in helping Gibbs deal with the runs of Lahm. Özil was just an ineffective in doing so. After Arsenal went down to ten men, they played in a 4-4-1, with Özil permanently on the left and responsible for more defensive play as Bayern dominated possession, but was ineffectual both defensively and when Arsenal were able to gain possession of the ball.

Changes

After the red card, Bayern dominated the match. Wenger was forced to bring off Cazorla for Fabianski for his second substitution having already used one to bring on Monreal for the injured Gibbs. Wenger’s final change was partially correct. He was certainly right to bring on Rosicky, but his decision to bring of Oxlade-Chamberlain rather than Özil was puzzling. The German international had struggled to perform his defensive responsibilities on the left side of Arsenal’s midfield and he had no impact the few times Arsenal were able to move the ball forward. It seemed, with the way the match was going, that any Arsenal goal would be through a quick counter attack, with Oxlade-Chamberlain a better option for a quick outlet than Özil.

Guardiola’s changes were more calculated. At halftime, he brought off Boateng, who was on a yellow card, for Rafinha. This meant that Lahm moved back into his central holding midfield role and that Martinez would move to centre back alongside Dante. Guardiola’s next two moves saw him pushing for a second away goal. Thomas Müller was brought on for Mandzukic in the 64th minute and in the 79th minute, Thiago was brought off for Pizarro and Bayern looked more like a 4-4-2. The presence of two forwards in Arsenal’s penalty area soon allowed Müller to find space and head in Bayern’s second.

Conclusion

This game could have taken a few different paths. Kroos had an excellent effort saved by Szczesny in the third minute, Özil could have scored his penalty, and Alaba could have scored his which would have given Bayern more time to search for a second and third goal.

Guardiola was clearly delighted by the second goal and, unless Arsenal play as well as they did in the second leg of this tie last year, Bayern are through to the next round. Wenger’s big decision, not just for the second leg, but for the next few weeks is what to do with Özil. He seemed jaded and void of confidence, especially after he missed his penalty, but a player of his quality (when he is at his best) is needed for Arsenal to progress in the Champions League and continue their title bid in the Premier League.

Interestingly, in this week of the Champions League, all of the away teams not only won, but also shutout the home team.