Numbers don’t lie: Stats support Bayern brilliance, awful Arsenal

Numbers don’t lie: Stats support Bayern brilliance, awful Arsenal

It’s becoming all too predictable for Arsenal.

Mired in an erratic league campaign that has seen yet another title chase shift from a realistic goal to a pipe dream, the Gunners and embattled manager Arsene Wenger headed to Bavaria and got their asses kicked.

The eye test says Arsenal is a side lacking a spine and the courage to see out a result, while the numbers support just how one-sided Bayern Munich’s 5-1 bludgeoning of Wenger’s docile bunch was.

Here’s a look at a collection of statistics that describe how brilliant Bayern was, and how insipid Arsenal was as it heads back to north London embarrassed and with more questions than answers:

6: For the sixth consecutive season, Arsenal has lost the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tilt.

16: Bayern Munich becomes the first club in Champions League history to win 16 consecutive home matches.

200: Arsenal is the first English side to concede 200 Champions League goals. Congrats.

9: Nine of Bayern’s 11 players were involved in Robben’s opener.

(Courtesy: @OptaJoe)

3+: Arsenal has conceded three or more goals in four of its last six first-leg matches in the Champions League last-16.

21.2 percent: Arsenal’s possession in the opening half.

18-4: The Bundesliga behemoth created 18 chances to Arsenal’s four.

0: In 77 minutes played, Francis Coquelin failed to win a single tackle.

1: The number of Arsenal players (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) to applaud the away fans for making the trip to Germany.

12: The number of passes completed by Alex Iwobi to go with zero shots on target, zero chances created, zero crosses, zero take-ons, zero tackles, and zero aerial duels.

24: Bayern took 24 shots, eight of which landed on target.

5-1: Bayern’s last two home fixtures against Arsenal ended in 5-1 victories for the Bavarians.

10: Minutes it took to send Arsenal packing from the group stage for a seventh season on the bounce after a Thiago Alcantara brace and Robert Lewandowski’s header made a mockery of Wenger’s side.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had a pointed response when probed about his side’s capitulation Wednesday against Bayern Munich, saying, simply, that his men fell apart after the interval.

Related – Numbers don’t lie: Stats support Bayern brilliance, awful Arsenal

Bayern scored four goals in a second half that seemed to be played on a slanted pitch, leaving the Gunners on the wrong end of a 5-1 battering for the second consecutive trip to the Allianz Arena.

“It is difficult to explain,” Wenger told BT Sport after the match, as quoted by ESPN FC. “I felt we had two good chances to score just before half-time.

“I felt we were unlucky for the second goal, the referee gave a corner for us at first. Then we concede the second goal and then the most important was that we lost Koscielny. We collapsed.

“Overall I must say they are a better team than us, they played very well in the second half and we dropped our level. We were a bit unlucky, we dropped our level and they were better than us.”

The Frenchman added: “The last 25 minutes were a nightmare for us. We didn’t have an answer.”

Related – Watch: Arsenal collapses as Bayern scores 3 goals in 10 minutes

It’s little more than a formality now, but the return leg is slated for March 7 at the Emirates.

It was a gutless display, but nobody was surprised.

On Wednesday, Arsenal was thrashed 5-1 at the Allianz Arena for the second time in two visits, putting the Gunners on the verge of exiting the Champions League in the Round of 16 for the seventh year running. Arsene Wenger’s side was torn apart by Bayern Munich in the second half, conceding three goals in a 10-minute assault and exhibiting its lack of heart and spine.

Seasoned supporters of Arsenal were injected with a disheartening sense of deja vu, as the four-goal loss matched the Gunners’ worst defeat in European competition and echoed their recent escapades in the Champions League.

Here are two of Arsenal’s other vulnerable nights in European football:

Bayern Munich 5-1 Arsenal, November 2015

In a trip to the Allianz Arena that looked just like Wednesday’s, Arsenal felt the full force of Bayern during the 2014-15 Champions League’s group stage. The Gunners travelled with a harsh injury list, as Laurent Koscielny was unable to play due to a bothersome hip and Hector Bellerin had an ailment of his own. But the wounds were no excuse for such an emphatic deficit.

Bayern scored three times in the first half, playing irresistible football to make Petr Cech’s night a living hell. Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Muller, and David Alaba all found the back of the net before the interval, and the drubbing only got worse from there.

Since Arsenal was taking on Bayern in the group stage, however, the beating didn’t eliminate the Gunners or put them on the brink of elimination. Instead, it meant Wenger’s side had to win its final two matches and hope Olympiacos lost its two games in order to progress. And that’s exactly what happened.

AC Milan 4-0 Arsenal, February 2012

Prior to kick-off, Arsenal’s supporters piled litter in front of the Duomo di Milano in Milan, Italy. The Gunners’ players then piled garbage on the pitch at the San Siro.

In the 2011-12 Champions League’s Round of 16, Arsenal was hammered 4-0 by AC Milan and lucky not to lose by six, seven, or more. The Rossoneri were excellent, but the Gunners’ performance came under immense criticism. After Koscielny was lost in the 44th minute due to a knee injury, the back four of Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Johan Djourou, and Kieran Gibbs couldn’t hold a line and gifted Massimiliano Allegri’s side with acres of space.

By the final whistle, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had put the tie out of reach. A 3-0 victory for Arsenal in the second leg just felt cruel.