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Arsenal’s 2023/2024 Champions League campaign is over after losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, resulting in a 3-2 aggregate defeat over two legs. Any exit during the latter stages of Europe’s premier club competition is naturally hard to take but for Arsenal, there is the added disappointment of knowing that this last-eight tie was there to be won.
A missed opportunity?
The reality is that this Bayern team have struggled domestically and are a shadow of some of the great Bavarian sides that have been so formidable in European competition. Still, they are the team preparing for a blockbuster semi-final with Real Madrid and not Arsenal. Why?
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Defeat always brings with it lessons on how to avoid it in the future. In Arsenal’s case, the game plan of trying to play as far up the field as possible – like the Gunners do in the Premier League, played into the hands of Bayern who were out to make the second leg a war of attrition.
Indeed, Thomas Tuchel’s men started the game happy to give Arsenal the ball while they defended deep in their own half.
Granted, it was said more than once in the German commentary box during the opening exchanges that this cautious approach was ‘not the Bayern way’ but the truth that this Bavarian XI battles to control a game when playing an expansive front-foot style.
Surrendering the Bundesliga title for the first time in 11 years to Bayer Leverkusen with five games to go of the regular season was further evidence of Bayern’s limitations when trying to take the game to the opposition which there is always pressure to do domestically.
Substance over style
However, the Champions League afforded Tuchel the rare luxury of focusing on results and not style. In the end, it worked as Arteta’s philosophy of trying to ‘suffocate the opposition’ by having all of the ball gave Bayern the ideal platform to counterpunch when the opportunity arrived – so long as they kept that line of five defenders working in unison.
A clean sheet attests to the effectiveness of what some might call a bland or even unambitious strategy.
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The answer is that it was perhaps more streetwise from Bayern than anything else which is a trait if adopted by Arsenal, will serve the club well going forward on these tense European nights.
Give less to get more
In other words, if you box smart, you don’t have to part with a lot to win.
A helpful analogy away from the football pitch to help better understand this theory is to use this list of the best £10 bonuses which presents the epitome of winning without having to overextend yourself.
For instance, you can put an opening deposit of £10 down and earn £100 in bonuses, as is the case with providers such as Winomania and Fitzdares.
That is effectively what Bayern did in a footballing sense; lay down a modest foundation and then reap the rewards of being resourceful.
Munich pain will make Arsenal stronger
When all is said and done, Bayern have come through a quarter-final tie against a team that is, for all intents and purposes, better than them.
However, Tuchel knew that Arteta’s insatiable appetite for control could be used to his advantage and subsequently went about setting traps that would nullify the Gunner’s firepower.
As much as it hurts, it is a night that will make Arteta and this current Arsenal team much better equipped for the unique challenges on the continent.
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