Arsenal's 15 year misery extends with tense loss

Arsenal’s 15 year semi-final drought will extend another year, after the Gunners were bundled out of the Champions League in Germany on Thursday (AEST).

Joshua Kimmich’s emphatic 63rd minute header was all that separated Bayern Munich from Arsenal as the home team won a tense second leg of the quarter-final 1-0 at Allianz Arena.

The evenly matched sides had played out a pulsating 2-2 in last week’s first leg in London.

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Declan Rice of Arsenal looks dejected at Allianz Arena.

“It’s a fantastic goal,” former Socceroos captain Craig Foster said on Stan Sport.

“They were better than Arsenal. They were more effective. Roughly 50/50 with the ball but in terms of efficiency and creating chances, Bayern were quite a good distance ahead. They demonstrated their experience.

“Being at home, very strong, they’ve got an incredible record there. You knew that Arsenal were going to find it difficult. I must admit I had a feeling that they might come up with the performance of their life after having been so brilliant this year in particular and so many goals.

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“I couldn’t see them remaining scoreless in this game. But credit to Bayern, they’ve they’ve got the job done. (Manager Thomas) Tuchel once again demonstrates his experience. And for the Gunners, gee, it’s a big, big loss.”

Arsenal last reached the semis in 2009 after losing the 2006 final against Barcelona.

Their exit was especially painful after their Premier League title hopes were rocked on Monday (AEST) by a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa.

Arsenal now sit second in the league, two points behind defending champions Manchester City.

Arsenal’s players were “gutted,” manager Mikel Arteta said.

“I cannot find the right words to lift them. We gave them two goals, a big advantage to give away, and today you could see it was margin of error zero, we made a mistake defending the goal and we conceded. Then it was difficult.

Kai Havertz of Arsenal reacts at Allianz Arena.

“We tried in many different ways but it’s difficult. It is the moment to stay next to the players, give them support, because they are the ones who have taken us on this journey.”

Bayern, a six time European champion now headlined by England captain Harry Kane, had lost in the quarter-finals of the three previous Champions League seasons.

Striker Kane – who was motivated by his release from Arsenal as a youth player – takes a step closer to what would be the first trophy of his career.

Tuchel said it meant “a lot” to beat Arsenal.

“The semi-finals are an important step, the last four, that was fun.”

It also keeps alive Bayern’s hopes of finishing the season with a trophy three days after Bayer Leverkusen ended their 11 year reign as German champion.

Bayern and Arsenal have been drawn together five times in the knockout stages of the Champions League since 2005 and the German team has won each time. – with AP