The Arsenal season seemed like a fairy tale until just four days ago. The London club was leading the Premier League before the 32nd round, and the prospect of reaching the Champions League semifinals over Bayern was on the horizon. However, Aston Villa shocked them at the Emirates on Sunday (2-0), and three days later, the Munich giant showed the London team what it means when the Champions League runs through your veins. Experience, ruthlessness, and creating a comfort zone from a game where no mistake is forgiven.UCL: No surprise in Munich, Bayern eliminate ArsenalAlmost all the players who were expected to shine at the Allianz Arena faltered in last night’s duel with Bayern. None were drastically poor, but all, without exception, simply not good enough – especially Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.”We need to stay close to the players. Right now, they need someone beside them to offer support and love. We have to keep going because we have a huge, huge game on Saturday. We want to show that we’re capable of turning the season around. We’ll suffer tonight and tomorrow, get up, step onto the field with the same attitude we had, and hopefully, beat Wolverhampton,” said Mikel Arteta after the elimination from Bayern, in which Joshua Kimmich’s contribution after the 2-2 draw in London proved crucial. His goal in the 63rd minute turned out to be decisive, and Arsenal was almost entirely harmless in the final half-hour.🗓️ 2021/22: 40%🗓️ 2022/23: 20%🗓️ 2023/24: 40%Arsenal’s win percentage in April over the last 3 seasons 🫣 pic.twitter.com/F5hRHg7Zzo— SPORTbible (@sportbible) April 18, 2024 The Spanish coach, whose speeches in the dressing room became viral, remained speechless for his players after stumbling in Bavaria.”Right now, it’s a very shocked, desperate dressing room. And I can’t find the right words to lift them up. I wish I did. We have to get through this” he said.UEL: They need more than a miracle against the Goddess… then again, they’re LiverpoolBayern secured their place in their 13th Champions League semifinal last night, while Arsenal missed the chance to reach the top four of Europe for the third time.”The club has been without the Champions League for seven years, and everyone wanted to reach the semifinals or finals already in the comeback year. We passionately wanted that, but examples from other clubs often show that it takes up to six or seven years to reach that stage. But we were close, that’s our reality. We tried against a team with a lot of experience, and throughout the two legs, the differences were extremely small. There were moments when we were the better team. We allowed them two goals at home, and in the return leg, it’s a big handicap for the guest. There was hardly any room for error, and we made a big mistake defending the penalty area” explained the Spanish tactician.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUEQuarterfinals – second legThursday22:00: (4.80) Atalanta (3.90) Liverpool (1.70)22:00: (3.80) West Ham (3.60) Leverkusen (2.05)22:00: (2.45) Olympique Marseille (3.50) Benfica (3.00)22:00: (3.00) Roma (3.45) Milan (2.50)***odds are subject to change***
