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Bayern Munich Cruise To The Quartefinals Of Champions League

By Kiran Thakare

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 7: Bayern Munich players celebrate after a goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal FC and Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium on March 7, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 7: Bayern Munich players celebrate after a goal during the UEFA Champions League match between Arsenal FC and Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium on March 7, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /
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Bayern Munich enter the quarterfinals of Champions League after a massive 5-1 win over Arsenal in the second leg of round of 16.

The Bavarians qualify for the second round after beating Arsenal over a two leg tie with a huge aggregate score of 10-2. Bayern Munich end the crucial seven days with gaining three victories across all competitions.

As promised Carlo Ancelotti fielded the strongest lineup for the game despite leading the tie for on aggregate with a scoreline of 5-1. Rafinha replaced the suspended Philipp Lahm in the defence. Franck Ribery replaced Douglas Costa in the lineup which faced Arsenal at Allianz Arena.

The Bavarians started the game by dominating the possession. However they were not able to create chances in the initial part of the game despite having more of the ball. Arsenal looked more threathening on the break and looked more lively than Bayern.

Bayern were succumding under pressure and were not able to recycle possession and losing the ball cheaply. Manuel Neuer made a brilliant one on one save after Theo Walcott made a brilliant run past Bayern’s defence. Walcott kept on making David Alaba’s night difficult as he was causing problems on the left hand side.

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Arsenal went strength to strength as the half was progressing as they kept on creating chances troubling Bayern’s defence. They finally got the reward as Walcott scored the opening goal of the game. The Englishman dribbled past couple of Bayern players and firing the ball past Neuer from a tight angle.

Bayern didn’t improve after conceding the goal and were withstanding the continuous pressure from the home side. The London side had a tight penalty call ruled out in the box when Xabi Alonso made a crunching tackle on Walcott. Robert Lewandowski missed a golden chance to equalise few minutes before the halftime whistle. Arjen Robben played in a lovely dink over the defence but Lewandowski failed to finish the move.

The home side started the second half the way they left in the first half. Arsenal kept on showing intent in the final third but failed to test Neuer. Bayern increased the tempo of their game. Mats Hummels had a goal ruled out as he was in offside position after a brilliant setpiece from Xabi Alonso.

Bayern finally got the chance to equalise when Laurent Koscielny fouled Lewandowski in the box. The Frenchman received the red card and Bayern put the tie to bed by scoring the away goal. Bayern were now getting in the box frequently as Javi Martinez came close twice with two headers.

The Bavarians took the lead on the night after a mistake from David Ospina. He misplaced his goalkick and Robben pounced on it. Bayern became ruthless now as they look to get as many goals against 10 men.  Lewandowski uncharacteristically missed two chances as he hit post once and once allowed Ospina to win one on one battle.

Bayern scored their third goal courtesy of a fine curler from the substitute Douglas Costa. The Brazilian finished the chance after a swift counter initiated by Rafinha. Bayern achieved the same scoreline as the first leg as Vidal grabbed two goals in the end end. The first one came due to a mistake from Arsenal in defence while the other was constructed well by Renato Sanches and Costa.

Ancelotti’s men cruised to the quarterfinal stage. The Italian will be pleased that his team came with three wins in a congested week. They will find their opponent for the quarterfinal stage after the rest of the ties are over by next week.