Bayern Munich are through to the Champions League semifinals after defeating Arsenal 1-0 in Germany on Wednesday, winning 3-2 on aggregate. Despite Alphonso Davies being suspended due to yellow card accumulation, Bayern were able to secure a clean sheet as Raphael Guerrero assisted on a great header by Joshua Kimmich. Bayern extend their dominance over Arsenal with an 8-3-3 record in their 16 meetings, all in Champions League play.
Combine that with Thomas Tuchel’s tactical mastery in knockout competitions and the writing was on the wall for Arsenal’s demise in the competition but it’s about the way that Tuchel did it. Without Davies, he started two left backs in Noussair Mazraoui and Guerrero who was on the left wing. The duo did their job keeping Bukayo Saka without a shot during the entire game as the Bayern defense held Arsenal to a 0.79 xG while accumulating a 1.74 xG themselves.
Despite losing the Bundesliga to Bayer Leverkusen with five matches remaining, Tuchel has been able to establish himself as one of the best managers in the Champions League, making the most of a bad situation while dealing a blow to the Premier League’s hopes for a fifth Champions Leauge spot in the process.
Tuchel now has a 40-10-15 record in Champions League play and six of those 15 losses came while he was manager of Paris Saint-Germain. While he has only won the tournament once in 2020-21 with Chelsea, Tuchel could be on track for another victory with a proper forward in Harry Kane leading the line. Kane may not have been needed in this match against Arsenal but as a player who needs a major trophy to cement his own legacy, this will be Kane’s best chance since playing in a Champions League final with Tottenham.
Winning is expected at Bayern Munich and part of the reason why Tuchel is leaving at the end of the season but if he lifts Bayern’s first Champions League title since 2020 it will be quite a hight note to end on. With only two games remaining, anyone can lift the trophy at the end of the season but the stage is set for Tuchel’s tactics to neutralize their opposition.
Arsenal was favored in the tie and Bayen wasted no time taking advantage of their mentality issues and while that will be harder to do with the remaining teams, it doesn’t mean that Tuchel won’t have his players well prepared for whatever comes next.
