There was plenty of hope, a good deal of optimism and a certain sense of expectation as Arsenal travelled to the Allianz Arena in Germany to take on Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
But that all evaporated following a pretty meek display by Arsenal as they crashed out of the Champions League to their old foes. At least it wasn't another 5-1.
Joshua Kimmich scored the only goal of the game in Munich, to see Bayern through 3-2 on aggregate to face Real Madrid in the semi-finals, after they knocked out holders Manchester City. The excitement over a potential all-England semi-final has become a Germany vs Spain last-four clash.
The expected goals tells the story of the two-legged encounter — Bayern racked by 3.69, while Arsenal finished on 1.95. The German side deserved it over the two legs.
That will not take away the disappointment for Arsenal fans, who now have to hope their team can bounce back from this reverse, and the loss to Aston Villa in the Premier League at the weekend to get their title challenge back on track. Wolves this Saturday will be huge.
Arsenal's disappointing display in the Allianz Arena was somewhat summed up by what happened in the final seconds of injury-time a the end of the match. The Gunners won a corner, after a quick free-kick found Ben White but he was quickly pounced upon in the box. Up came David Raya. This was it. Last chance saloon.
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Bukayo Saka stood over the ball and sent it into the box. Well, not really into the box, it went straight in towards the near post where it was easily
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