Home SPORTS Five-star Bayern destroy Arsenal, Madrid defeat Napoli

Five-star Bayern destroy Arsenal, Madrid defeat Napoli

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Bayern Munich ruthlessly  destroyed visiting Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie.

The visitors were defeated 5-1 in front of 70,000 spectators at Allianz Arena, with four of Bayern’s  goals scored in the second half.

Arjen Robben handed Bayern the lead after 11 minutes with a trademark strike after cutting in off the left flank before Alexis Sanchez grabbed an away goal, following up to score the rebound after seeing his penalty initially saved by Manuel Neuer.

The Gunners were well in the tie at the break, but they lost captain Laurent Koscielny shortly after the interval and it proved to be the turning point.

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Robert Lewandowski, the Polish who had been Arsenal’s nightmare, even while playing for Dortmund, scored for Bayern in the 53rd minute, to shoot them ahead 2-1 and opened a floodgate of three more goals.

Thiago Alcantara scored three minutes after. And in the 63rd minute, seven minutes after his first goal, he found Arsenal net again, increasing the scoreline to 4-1.

Substitute Thomas Muller rounded off the scoring to leave Arsenal needing a Champions League miracle ahead of the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on March 7.

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In the stats, Bayern were clearly superior to Arsenal, having 12 shots on target to Arsenal’s five and dominating possession 70-30 per cent and mounting persistent pressures that made Arsenal concede nine corner kicks, while Arsenal only got two.

In the other match of the night, Real Madrid came from a goal down to beat Italian club SSC Napoli 3-1.

Napoli’s eight minute goal by Lorenzo Insigne shocked the 80,000 spectators at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. But Madrid overcame the scare 11 minutes after with a goal by Karim Benzema.

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In the second half, Toni Kroos and Casemiro scored for Madrid again and made the first leg end in the club’s favour.

 

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