Leandro Trossard came off the bench to secure a 2-2 draw for Arsenal against Bayern Munich on a night when the Gunners failed to land a knockout blow against their experienced opponents.
Bukayo Saka gave Mikel Arteta’s side the perfect start but sloppiness at the back allowed ex-Gunners Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane to strike back before the break; the latter with his customary Emirates penalty after Leroy Sane was fouled by William Saliba.
While a draw was arguably a fair result, Arsenal were left cursing the officials after they failed to award a spot-kick to Saka who was caught by Manuel Neuer right at the death.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
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Feel like Arteta nailed it in his press conf. these games are all about moments…almost 2-0 up became 1-1, and it was a collection of errors plus a perfect Bayern attack – maybe the occasion got to the boys, but credit to them for getting back to 2-2 and a good chance…
We got a good result overall, given their experience. Tomi instead of Kiwior could have been better decision, but this once tge is finishef. Last minute was never a penalty. It was a wise move by Saka but reg got it better. We should be better next time.
I am genuinely baffled by the take that many Arsenal fans are taking on the Saka incident in these comments. I thought it was a pen in real time and looks nailed on in the replays. If Raya had done that to one of our players I would expect a pen to be given.
“If Raya had done that to one of our players I would expect a pen to be given.”
If Raya had done that to one of our players we definitely wouldn’t get a penalty, but I’d be pretty confused.
There is an angle where it looks like Saka sticks out his leg, but the reverse angle shows he doesn’t move his leg, it’s moved by Neuer clattering him. I think the TNT commentary really didn’t help either, calling it a great decision without looking at it carefully enough.
The Paramount commentary was shit all night. Hand on heart, I haven’t heard a more biased called game in a very long time.
Yeah Saka doesn’t do that stuff. Not sure which angle you are refering to but the one I saw Neuer definitely doesn’t “just stand his ground” as some say. I thought PL VAR was crap (Harvey Elliot’s pen the other day?!), only for CL VAR to go one up… or down.
That White chance was so crucial. I think from that point we at worst finish the game 3-1
It was the pivotal moment in the game. At 2 v 0 they’re battling for scraps. At 1 v 1 the place is like a library.
Left back is our weak link that’s for sure. Tomi surely a better bet than either of the two we had out there tonight?
Disagree, thought Zinchenko did more than ok and we had much more control of the match since he came on, gave a couple of balls away but not in threatening positions, and he really allowed us to advance the ball and keep it and not feel like we could concede every time we lost it, as well as marking Sane much better.
I don’t see it with Zinchenko. He was perfect last year when we were lacking maturity a touch and unable to totally control games, but now I just find his passing infuriatingly slow and aimless. The number of times he just drifted across midfield today then turned back and passed to Gabriel was insane.
I was really worried when Zinchenko came on given the torrid time Sane was giving Kiwior, but he surprised me with how composed he was defensively. Some sloppy/rushed passing though.
I agree. We’ve seen some loose defending from Zinny this year but tonight he was solid and their threat on their RHS was diminished. 2nd half their were some poor offensive passes across our team and he was far from being the worst offender.
I know this is a pipe dream, but imagine if we had the opposition’s LB in our squad. Davies would fit perfectly into Mikel’s system.
Imagine if we had Timber – you mean!
Rice and Jorginho weren’t great advancing us up the pitch today thought Arteta was brave bringing Zinchenko on to remedy that rather than shore it up with Tomi,
I agree completely.
I’m not Zinchenko’s biggest fan if I’m honest but I thought he did really well today. Changed the game when he came on.
Great subs by mikel tonight. He’s learnt.
Yeah really thought Zinchenko was pretty good in the second half.
Disagree. Zinchenko added nothing and again his positioning is so bad, drifting around leaving huge areas down the left wing for Bayern to exploit, which they did. Tomi should have started this game no doubt,
When defending, Bayern put two forwards (Kane, Musiala) in front of Jorginho to make sure he got the ball as little as possible. City did the same thing at the Ethiad. When Zinchenko came on, Arsenal got an extra man in central midfield, which made it harder for Bayern to execute the same tactics.
Except it didn’t and gave them wide open space down the left flank.
Personally I was surprised to see Kivior back in the starting lineup tonight, same with Martinelli
“TIMBER”!!!
the best player on the team is on the bench – may actually be true this time!
Should have won that. Some good, some bad. But 2-2 isn’t bad at all and still can do the job in Germany next. Back the boys we can do this!
Martinelli might get some stick but gets absolutely no service at times especially with Kiwior behind him.
As for left back I’d have like to see Tomiyasu start.
We can win in Munich. No doubt.
We are magnets for bad refereeing.
The (first) refuge of the scoundrel: blame the ref
Regardless of the final score, we were the better team. A long time since we could say that.
Don’t think we were better than them in the first half. Our midfield was nowhere. Sane and Gnabry were running all over us. Haven’t seen us that bad for a long time. Second half we took control again but it took Trossard and Jesus to edge it for us. I think Arteta got his team selection wrong tonight. Tomi, Partey and Jesus must start in Munich.
No-one will remember that if we are eliminated. I’d sooner suck and fluke our way through
Had flashbacks of Arsenal being the better team but giving away silly goals. But the team sorted it out after the pen. I think this will be a huge lesson and a game they can be proud they didn’t lose control of. If it ended 2-1 it would’ve been a big blow. Getting back into it means they can view it positively. We were the better team clearly from the start. But Bayern were the smarter team.
I think we massively underestimated Bayerns experience in the competition. I think we are a better team but like Porto they have massively experienced players that erases the advantage of us being ‘better’. Look how Gnabry himself was nearly being considered world class when he was inform before his injuries a few seasons ago. How he tore up the scum. Kane was the threat but we forgot about Sane for example. Probably has more champs league games than our entire squad outside Jorginho, Havert and Jesus. I think its a positive experience for us.
I guess we the fans might have underestimated the quality of their forwards but I can assure you that Arteta and the boys didn’t.
Trossard is some finisher
What was the word Arteta used to describe these impact-subs again? Impacters? Gamechangers?
No comments for Raya ? Not sure what he was upto for the goal.
That was a pen !!
He was there in case Gabby doesn’t make it back, that’s his super proactive style that we’re reaping the benefits of… ludicrous to blame him!
Raya should never have been so near to the last defender as it made a back pass impossible, forcing Gabriel into trying a risky pass to find Kiwior
If you look at the replay Gabby has three passing options once he gets away from Kane, and passes it between Kiwior and Rice. And even then we could of stopped the counter. Hindsight bias ….ahhhhh
The game was under control until that error of positioning from Raya. While Been White missed goal a few moments before that was bad I think Raya’s wrong positioning was the real turning point in the game. It led directly to Bayerns first goal and the team was substantially disorganized after that. Kudos that we fougt back. If Raya was properly positioned at the edge of his 18 Gabby has a simple pass back to him and we recycle play from there.
Raya can’t know that Gabby is getting to that ball first and has every right to be there just in case, there is no way in hell you can say it leads directly to bayerns goal…
The mix up Gabriel / Raya / Kiwior. I think it’s mainly Gabriel’s fault. He is s in control, needs to clear his line long especially when the team is out of position
The ball to Kiwior wasn’t that bad, he just didn’t react well enough.
Hospital ball
I agree. hard to blame Kiwior for that one. Sane did have the better of him overall.
Raya threw everything off but once he did Gabriel should have hoofed and we reset but he tried to get back the structure when it had been thrown off and he and Kiwior were both a step off Personally Raya had no need to be that high when we had just won possession.
I think I agree with you that once the pass back option to Raya is off, the safest and best option for Big Gabi is to just whack the ball out into the stands, it could be where Blog or AA was sittin, or just anywhere …bottom line…simple, no pussyfutting about, no play play,full stop. Off course that would be very un-Arsenal like, init…..To be fair I’ve seen Ars Def including Big Gabi done this artsy defending in the past and when it work out well it looks great…when it’s not…oh well..This is a team with top quality players after… Read more »
The team got out of position when Raya was almost in Gabby’s face instead of being at the edge of his 18. Am attack has just broken down and the Bayern defence clears, Gabby has got to the ball just past the halfway line and the next natural move was a return to his goalkeeper to recycle play. Imagine his shock when he sees his goalkeeper less than 3 yards in front of him and far out of his goal area. Raya has been spectacular this season, and that’s a great concession from a fan who believes Ramsdale is far… Read more »
Could he have done better for the pen? He dived an hour before it was taken, surely some work would have been done before hand on Kane as he was guaranteed a pen against us.
Catching at straws, if he dives a bit later doesn’t make it that easier, but
What goal? the first one? that was quite obviously only down to Gabriel – what was he doing? why was he rushing his pass? and why is it Raya´s fault all of a sudden?
Out of interest since you’re from Hamburg, how much do you hate Bayern Munich?
Because the last time I checked he is keeper not a striker. He is equally to blame.
Raya’s positioning on the first goal was atrocious. Put Gabriel under needless pressure which led directly to the goal.
Raya’s panic, knee jerk reaction set up the unfortunate chain reaction for the first goal. Schoolboy mistake, he’s absolutely ripped apart our momentum. He has some credit after the penalty shootout vs Porto, but that was really poor from him and gave me a sleepless night.
Raya was at fault but Gabriel was still in control and he played a poor pass. That said I would have moved quicker than kiwior. The ball was past him before he started moving. Kiwior was totally out of his depth tonight
One thing that’s occurring to me is that fatigue might be affecting our captain’s passing and decision making, which has been uncharacteristically imprecise at time lately. Don’t get me wrong this is anything but criticism, I love his running and pressing and the example he sets with it, but if you’ve ever tried to pick out a pass and weigh it just right after running the whole length of the pitch you’ll know that you’re much more likely to fluff it that way, when you’re out of breath and that oxygen isn’t hitting your brain cells. And surely long term… Read more »
Bayern pressed us hard, we were not winning second balls, MO was not that effective
Goretzka won everything in the middle of the park
Didnt think Jorginho/Rice were great passing forward, We need a Fit and Firing Partey for those quick shifts and passing quickly to odegaard through the lines but he looks way off it at the moment.
Both rice and jorghino not great tonight. Partey needs to start in Munich.
Partey looked really rusty when he came on. Was hoping he would be slowly getting back to his best by now… But there’s just no sign of that
He CLEARLY needs a rest. I personally think we should trust Vieira/ESR enough to start against Villa. And depending on the state of the game, Mikel can decide whether he needs to make an appearance in the second half or not. We need to use the entire squad now because they are playing every 3 days. Even Big Gabi and Saliba need to be rested at some point.
See what Guardiola did at the weekend. He rested Foden for the entirety of the game. Yesterday, it was De Brunye.
Yes and yet it s such a tough decision because Villa are a good team and you could easily lose points against then and end up effectively losing yourself two competitions in the space of a few days, if you then don’t manage to win at Munich either… but yes if even if we rest only one player it should be Odegaard.
It’s just nerves. It only happens in the big ganes vs City or like last night. Was he tiered when he scored the goal last week…..?
Fatigue or tiredness doesn’t mean your performance level drops to 0. You just get slightly worse at everything.
Trossard comes on to score again. How many times has he done that now? I know there are better players in this team but he remains my favourite.
Great screen name!
Thank you.
Agree and think his rating could be higher due to his consistent results from subbing. Not as much time to make an impact is worth an extra point for me
Absolute clutch player. Scored in the community shield final, v Liverpool, v Brighton, v Porto and now. We’d be out of the Champions League without that little genie.
Just imagine, we could have had Mudryk instead. For much more money. Bears not thinking of.
If Tomi can play, he should play at the left. He’s the team strongest defender 1:1 ,Kiwior do not cope with this level and Zinky careless.
When Timber is back i think we’re well covered in defense, we need a top class replacement for Partey, a top class forward and a decent back up for Saka. His legs is the target # 1 for all opposition teams
Would reverse the ratings for Zinchenko and the crowd. I was there tonight and Kiwior was rightly taken off (perhaps too late?) – he will learn from this but he got an absolute roasting from Sane. Zinny came on and completely changed the game – yes we were still vulnerable behind him but he acquitted himself well in covering / defending, while playing about 6 defence-splitting passes in the space of 15 minutes – honestly, Munich did not know how to handle him, that sub completely changed the game in our favour. How he gets such a low rating here… Read more »
It was SO loud … until we gave that first goal away. But got it back in the second half.
Totally agree – Zinchenko absolutely changed the game
He correctly gets a low rating because yet again he is nowhere defensively and Bayern immediately exploit his poor positioning and wayward passing.
Having lost Gnabry and Sane to injuries, I’m sure Bayern thought the introduction of Zinchenko would even things up a bit
I think the nerves affect most of them. From Raya to Kiwior. Even matineli seemed to be a bit rushed when he got a chance. Hoping we show a cool head for the second leg.
I’m disappointed with us looking for penalties.
Neuer sticks out a leg, Saka initiates the contact. ( he didn’t have to).
Now the ref has a decision to make.
Havertz didn’t cover himself in glory by looking for one earlier.
Admittedly, much more blatant but I don’t think this is the way to go.
On a positive note, we stuck this one out and I believe we will learn from it
I mean Saka has a right to keep running. He does not have to avoid that leg.
Neuer did stick out his leg but when I first saw the replays it looked like Saka lifted his leg into Neuer to initiate the contact, which is what I assumed the ref saw as well. But then looking back at it, it looks like Saka couldn’t switch direction in mid-air on one leg to avoid the contact, so could’ve been a pen but that would’ve been a massive call right at the end of the game. A real pity because if Saka couldn’t stepped around him he was through on the open goal
* could’ve stepped around him
You’re a better person than I. I still remember one Arjen Robben with a complete lack of fondness, and am very glad Saka knows what’s up.
If theirs was a pen so was ours, almost identical. The ref blew full-time meaning that var became irrelevant. The ref bottled it because of WHEN it occurred. Both were pens all night all day.%hey get it we don’t. Ground Hog Day …again
Players aren’t on rails, it isn’t Pro Evo 5. When a player makes a sharp change of direction at high speed isn’t it natural for the non grounded outside leg to stick out at an angle? Neuer initiated the contact, he lunged in attempting to get the ball. Could Saka have made a bigger effort to avoid contact? Perhaps, but I’m not convinced he could have avoided Neuer entirely and likely would have lost his stride and unbalanced himself in the process. Besides it’s not his responsibility to do that – you can’t just take wild lunges at players knowing… Read more »
Cannot stand him but he’s prob the best CF in the world Harry Kane. Build up play, works hard, can drop very deep and play.
Arsenal naive at times tonight but they learn.
Absolutely love this bunch of players.
(Would take 30m for Zin in a heartbeat this summer)
It was a weird night.. everytime Bayern attacked, I felt my butt clench, but we also dealt with most of their attacks fairly comfortably.
I genuinely feel we are good enough to beat them at their home. Just need to make sure we make no silly errors.
I thought Saka initiated the contact at the end, not a pen for me. Raya was well shaky. Even the penalty he dived so early. It was like he couldn’t make the decision quick enough.
No text for Raya?
Agree on the Saka comment, it’s a penalty for me. Saka doesn’t dangle his leg out, it’s taken out by Neuer and that can clearly be seen by the reverse angle where his leg is in a natural position until contact. I actually think the commentary on TNT has done Saka an injustice and got people looking for something that isn’t actually there. Arguably it evens up the Gabriel handball mistake though!
I know this will sound incredibly biased coming from an Arsenal fan, but I thought ours was a stone wall pen and the Gabriel one wasn’t a pen.
Saka was about to tap a ball into an empty net. If the ref gave that NO WAY would Var overturn it.
Gabriel’s on the other hand, Tuchel is complaining about a technicality. Arsenal gained absolutely no advantage from that situation and Bayern suffered no disadvantage. It was a simple mistake having not heard the whistle. Good sensible refereeing
The Hand ball rule in the penalty box is very clear and has got nothing to do with gaining an advantage. On The game had restarted and Gabriel touched the ball with his hand. I applaud the ref for not giving it and I’m less upset by him not giving the Saka’s penalty.
A pen given against Gabriel for that would have been about as bullshit as RVP’s sending off at the Nou Camp. Ok technically both are within the rule book but also completely against the spirit of the game
Football is a complicated game that throws up unusual situations and subtle but important distinctions. The rules don’t cover all situations in a satisfactory way, so human judgement and discretion is needed
The ref blew while the ball was in play. Gabriel did a goal kick restart under no pressure. The idea that this is some problem needing a refereeing intervention is fucking laughable.
simple laws of body movement in that saka needs to take a sharp turn left to get to the ball which requires his right leg to plant wider than normal to apply the braking force to slow and turn sharply. Try and run at Saka pace in a straight line but suddenly turn left without putting your right leg out. Anyone who doesn’t see this should never be a referee or into officiating, or has never played high level football/sport
Absolutely agree. I can’t believe the pundits aka ex players did not point this out. Absolute nutjobs.
What level did you reach in the game Ben?
As much as I thought the foul on Saka was a penalty, we were very lucky that the ref didn’t outright give one for Gabriel handling the ball when he’d blown the whistle for the goalkick.
Was a very unArsenallike performance. Hope we can take the game to Bayern at the Allianz.
Should have started Jesus. His CL record is fantastic. And again tonight. right now he is much better than Martinelli in tight spaces.
I love Martinelli but all he really offered tonight was energy and enthusiasm (no guile)
Kane gets that pen week in and week out and is praised by all and sundry. I personally don’t think its a pen when he does it or when Saka did it tonight.
We are still in this but MA has to make some line up changes! COYG!!!
This match perfectly sums up how good and naive we are in the Champions League. We were the better team but not street wise just like against Porto. I feel that we became too adventurous instead of making calculated moves. UCL has quality players that will punish any mistakes. This again is a big lesson for us in our journey to becoming an European powerhouse. I have this sneaky the feeling that Arsenal’s luck will shine through and we will win UCL and we will learn many valuable lessons along the way. We have the quality to beat any team,… Read more »
Experience is invaluable. We simple don’t have it and you can see it at times. But i also think we dealt with it well. I think Bayern played well and would have scored 5 or 6 against a lesser team. We should and could have wont he game
At this point in our development i think we are almost punching above our weight despite being top of the league, but i love that a home draw with Bayern is considered disappointing.
This was probably one of Bayern’s best performances (together with the home game v Lazio) of what has been, by their standard, a woeful campaign
Blogs really does not like Zinchenko. Were we watching the same game? He improved our progressive passes and control of the game. Yes he has failings defensively, but they were not exposed tonight. He dealt well with Sane and Coman reasonably well.
He’s not the only one, Zinchenko at this point has become a magnet for criticism and scapegoating, basically what Havertz was in the first part of the season. Sometimes the critique has been fair, but tonight I agree with you that it really isn’t.
Absolute bollocks. He’s the weakest link in this team when he starts. No defensive capabilities, wayward passing and always injured! Get rid.
He’s a quality midfielder but a very poor defender. Man City sold him for a reason you know….
Totally agree, disappointing that Blogs falls into that category it would seem.
Zinni is not one our best players this season, but today was not the dayto critique him. Kiwior was our weakest link in the first half, and Zinni brought some sanity to that part when he replace him.
I think the zinchenko critics dont understand his role properly. He’s there to provide measured, experienced possession and stretch the first pressing wave.
He did that very well, even though a couple line breaking passes didnt land his role was what helped us dominate better than with kiwior.
Andrew was at the match, might be part of the reason. I thought Zinchenko was very good. I didn’t see all the giveaways he refers too; I’ll look for them when I watch the game again, but I have my doubts.
Twice he went on a surging run between 3 players and gave the ball away centrally. Bayern were on the break and we lost some momentum. Then 5 seconds delay in each passing allows the opponent to anticipate the passing lane. When there’s an obvious left or right option. He’s being out for awhile so he doesn’t merit an outright cancel. With more game time he will be back at his usual vibration But this things are hard. With all the war going on in his home country, it’s amazing he’s able to keep focusing on football Knowing that he’s… Read more »
People focus so much on his supposed carelessness but forget that just like Arteta wants his goalkeeper to play with “balls” he expects the same from his inverted fullback. His role isn’t to just make the obvious pass, because the obvious pass is often what the opposition funnel you to do as it’s the least threatening and/or allows them to press you better two passes later. Arteta loves Zinchenko so much because he’s as much of a football sicko as he is and tries to anticipate 2-3 passes further down the road where space could open up. In the same… Read more »
Just my opinion of his performance from inside the ground. I also don’t think it’s fair to say I don’t like Zinchenko, I’ve said often and recently I think some of the criticism of him is a bit OTT.
I just felt nervous of him last night, which might well be a consequence of game-state and the tension in the crowd in general, but I really wasn’t alone in that either.
In fairness, if you have been harsh to him this year, I clearly remember yourself and James raving about him on the Arsecast last year saying he was almost like a cheat code (positively) I couldn’t accuse you of hating the man.
A little disappointed with Rice today. But as i say this its not a criticism more so the realisation of just how inexperienced our team is. His usual industry was there and he won the ball in the lead up to the second goal but i thought he didn’t get on the ball enough to dictate play which was why Zinchenko had to come on. Was pretty brave of Arteta to be honest, as the easier sub was Tomi especially as this was the shakiest we have looked in a long while. Bringing on a player who cant defend for… Read more »
I thought Zinchenko surrendered possession under zero pressure more than any other Arsenal player during the whole game
I’m optimistic. We’re a young team with very little pedigree in this competition, but the lads are maturing at each stage. They had the nous and now the home field advantage, but we ARE the better team. We’ll learn from this and pull through next week.
Would have taken a 2-2 at halftime. Lacked composure tonight, but attacked well enough to penetrate through Bayern enough times despite their compact shape. Have a chance to score a few at the Allianz, just need to defend better as a team.
Agree that Kiwior selection was wrong tonight. Bayern’s strengths are in the wide areas and Arteta should have realised that Kiwior would get exploited.
Bayern were good value for the draw over the 90 minutes but the pivotal momeent for me in the game was White’s miss at 1 v 0 in the first half. We’ve got to be scoring with those chances. At 2 v 0 the place is rocking and Bayern are fighting for scraps. At 1 v 1 the place was like a library and Bayern have weathered the storm. The fat diving c*nt who used to be a Spud should have been red carded for elbowing Gabriel.
Why not start Tomiyasu at LB? He’s our best defensive left back by far and just as effective, if not more so, than Kiwior going forward. Understand brining Zinchenko in when we were down at the half, but couldn’t understand why Kiwior started.
Also, would rather have seen Jesus start in place of Jorginho and move Rice back (or at minimum make that move at the half as well).
I join you in questioning why Kiwior started. Possibly because neither Zinny or Tomi are fit for a full 90 and both played on the weekend? Regardless, of the three, Kiwior I trust the least – he doesn’t have quite the defensive nous of Tomi, and Bayern would be aware of this, and he cannot contribute in ball progression as much as Zinchenko. Kiwi’s weakness especially apparent in how difficult Martinelli found it to get on the ball. The only service he had came from the right. Pulling Jorginho maybe justified at half, but he’s been so solid recently and… Read more »
Jorgi lack of legs limits Declan up the pitch/edge of box influence. Hopefully we will be able to get Declan a partner in the summer. Although Martinelli is a bit less zappy than usual. Our extreme right-handness may also contribute to lack of impact. and us being unable to stretch defenses and create gaps between CB. Noticeably Harvetz seems more comfortable a bit tilted to the right-recieving passes and linking play. With Saka, or perhaps Saka/White Dependability have tilted the centre of gravity of our offensive shape. Even Odegard likes a more tilted view of the pitch. You will find… Read more »
Seems like we still need to learn to adapt to CL football. Should have started partey over jorginho today, and zinch over kiwior as we dont need that much strength against bayern. Also GJ9 over martinelli cos of form.
Disagree with Zinchenko. Thought he absolutely changed the game for Arsenal in the second half
If Saka’s leg was stretched and made contact with the GK then the decision would be correct. Saka’s leg during the contact was bent which means Nuer would have anyways brought him down if Saka was not looking to maximize the contact which looked worse in slow motion. Either ways it was a stone wall penalty and VAR should have intervened.
They looked nervous. The Bayern tactic of not pressing our defence seemed to leave them unsure of what to do
Definitely need a quality left back as we are do weak down that side, a big problem in so many games
Disagree with the Zinchenko comment – thought he changed the game for us. Some wayward balls but then also some excellent ones. Much much better than Kiwior.
Regarding Partey, we really could use a fit Partey right now but he’s either very rusty or just beyond his best. I think we need a replacement in the summer when he leaves, even if we’ve survived the season without him.
Interesting match but, I feel, other great learning curve moment for this team. It was as though many of the problems that we seemed to have elminated suddenly returned to haunt us… profligate finishing… lazy passing gifting possession… brain-farts – Kiwior getting skinned, Raya wondering around on the halfway… Big Gabi not just hoofing it up to their corner flag seeing Raya wondering around on said halfway… Saliba’s clumsy challenge (unnecessary when Benny had scooped up Sane’s heavy touch anyway)… On the ref – thought he was pretty decent although for me, if he gives the Sane pen (where his… Read more »
Thomas Partey has always been slow to regain form and I can’t see him playing a major part this season. Great player when fit, but those days are rare when he needs that run of games to get into form.
Zinny made all the difference in the second half. Yes, we were even more vulnerable on the break, but at least he tried shit and him playing had us on the front foot the entire second half. Id start him and Jesus in the second leg for Kiwior and Kai; once we take the lead, put in Tomi and Kai.
Bayern are good. They are very, very talented. But they are a broker team, relying of Kane who was a nonentity in the first game due to our CBs.