Kevin Whitcher's Arsenal Blog

Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 0    Champions League Quarter Final, 2nd leg   Wednesday 17th April 2024  9pm (local time)     If you’d said at the start of the season that Arsenal would make the last eight of the Champions League on their return to the competition, and remembering the last time they managed that was 14 years ago, you’d have thought, fair enough. As it is, Arsenal join a quartet featuring Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City. So there is no disgrace in the exit to Bayern Munich, as these are exalted levels which the club have not really had any exposure to for longer than anyone could have foreseen in the days when Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin were still pulling on the red and white shirt.    However, some of the excellent football played since the turn of the year raised hopes that this could be a remarkable return to the top table, and with the final at Wembley, a place Arteta ha...

Arsenal 2 Bayern Munich 2    Champions League Quarter Final, 1st leg    Tuesday 9th April 2024  8pm     Although it’s been 14 years since Arsenal last experienced a Champions League quarter final, they’ve certainly met Bayern Munich a few times since then, normally in the last 16 of this competition, with subsequent elimination every time, often with a massive dose of humility. There was much greater hope that, given the respective form of the two teams, this time it would be different. Yet the sight of the German side scoring at the Emirates last night felt all too familiar.    There was no shortage of action at either end, and the complete absence of all but a handful of club picked Bayern supporters (who sat in the posh seats) meant that Arsenal’s home advantage had an extra edge. The crowd supported the team loudly, but in honestly, the opposition players didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest.    So y...