Arsenal drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals and lost 2-0 to Aston Villa at home. Naturally, Bayern wore their away kit against the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. Neither result is good for the Gunners, but the loss to Villa is potentially disastrous. Manchester City is now two points ahead of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League. Let’s dive deeper into these games.
Arsenal 2024 Part 41: Arsenal’s Defense Was Poor Against Bayern Munich and Aston Villa
The Gunners’ defense is excellent according to every metric. However, it’d be difficult to know that if you only watched how the defense performed against Bayern Munich and Aston Villa. The occasion of the Champions League match against Bayern seemed to get to the whole team and make them overly excited.
In terms of the defense specifically, this meant that Bayern Munich were able to capitalize on poor Arsenal defending several times. It was far too easy for Serge Gnabry to score the equalizing goal. Additionally, William Saliba made an uncharacteristically poor challenge that led to a Bayern Munich penalty. Naturally, Harry Kane stepped up and scored the penalty to make it 2-1 Bayern at halftime.
Arsenal’s defense was poor once more against Aston Villa, at least in the second half. Villa had numerous chances in the second half and eventually scored two goals. The entire defense deserves blame for this, but Zinchenko was particularly poor against Villa. It is difficult to see why Arteta started Zinchenko against Villa, given Zinchenko’s well-known defensive liabilities. These liabilities are even more evident in a game like this that was decided mostly in transition opportunities.
Arsenal will have to defend much better in both competitions to have any chance of winning either one of them.
The Midfield Didn’t Provide Enough Protection Against Bayern and Fared Even Worse Against Aston Villa
The Gunners’ midfield is elite at its best, but it wasn’t even close to being at its best against either Bayern Munich or Aston Villa. The midfield trio of Odegaard, Jorginho, and Rice created a good amount of chances against Bayern. However, this midfield didn’t give the defense nearly enough protection.
As a result, Bayern were able to create several good chances and score twice. The Arsenal midfield deserves even more criticism for its performance against Aston Villa. Odegaard is the only Arsenal midfielder who played well overall against Villa. Rice was mediocre and Havertz clearly belongs in the attack, not the midfield.
Starting Havertz in midfield against Aston Villa is another puzzling decision from Arteta. It didn’t work out and the entire midfield underperformed in both of these games.
The Attack Was Decent Against Bayern But Awful Against Aston Villa
Arsenal’s attack performed fairly well against Bayern Munich. Arsenal created a number of good chances and scored two goals. Saka was dangerous down the right and scored Arsenal’s first goal against Bayern. Trossard continues to cause opposing defenses problems in the Champions League. Trossard capped off his performance against Bayern with a late goal to ensure that Arsenal would head into the second leg with a 2-2 aggregate score.
However, the Gunners’ attack sputtered against Aston Villa. Arsenal failed to score and had a hard time getting shots on target. Arsenal wasted many chances in the first half and didn’t have that many chances in the second half. The entire team deserves blame for the Villa defeat, but the attack earns some particular criticism.
Gabriel Jesus was particularly wasteful (yet again), but Havertz and Saka also missed some chances, as well.
It is no exaggeration to say that Arsenal could have won the game against Villa by halftime if the attacking players were more clinical in front of goal. That’s frustrating, especially given that Arsenal’s attack has shown that it can blow teams away in relatively short time periods.
Arsenal 2024 Part 41: 7/10 and 5/10 Manager Ratings for Arteta
Arteta’s team selection was fine against Bayern Munich. However, he did fail to prevent the players from getting carried away by the occasion. This overexcitement permeated the entire performance. Even so, a 2-2 draw isn’t a bad result against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Arteta receives a 7/10 manager rating for the game against Bayern Munich.
Arteta’s team selection was far more puzzling in the Aston Villa game. Starting Zinchenko in a game against Aston Villa that will be decided mostly in transition is a recipe for disaster. Unsurprisingly, Zinchenko was awful against Aston Villa due to his complete inability to defend effectively in transition. Pushing Havertz back into midfield was also a strange choice and further weakened the attack.
Arsenal were wasteful, porous in defense, and looked exhausted against Aston Villa. Martin Odegaard was one of the few Arsenal players consistently trying to make something happen against Villa. Arteta receives a 5/10 manager rating for the Villa game.
Arsenal Travels to Munich for the Champions League Quarterfinal Second Leg Against Bayern Munich Next
The Gunners will travel to Allianz Arena in Munich to play the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie against Bayern Munich next. The aggregate score is 2-2. Arsenal will have to play their best to beat Bayern and advance to the Champions League semifinals. Let’s hope they do just that.
Check back next week for more Arsenal content.