The Breakdown: Bayern Munich vs Arsenal

A valiant Arsenal side managed to register a 2-0 win at Bayern Munich in the Champions League but it was not enough to reach the quarter-finals.

They were lucky that Bayern did not convert their superiority in possession and the Bavarians wasted many chances as the likes of Mario Mandzukic and Arjen Robben just could not find their scoring boots. 

Arsenal were good on the defensive front but struggled to get the ball up the field. In fact, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny's goals occured in what were surprisingly rare attacks on the Bayern goal. 

While the Arsenal players definitely deserve top marks for effort, they didn't really play as good a game as the scoreline suggests. Instead, the German side will have to undergo a close examination of their profligacy in front of goal, especially as they will not be let off the hook by the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid. 

FOX Sports rates objectively how both sides fared and believes that Arsene Wenger would do well to not get carried away with the win in Germany either. 

Bayern Munich

Defence

The defenders of the home side were generally capable of wresting the ball off their opponents although they did not mark Giroud and Koscielny properly, allowing the duo to score their goals. 

Philipp Lahm and David Alaba were useful down the flanks and sent in a number of crosses but struggled to find accuracy on the night. 

Neuer - 6 | Lahm - 6.5 | Van Buyten - 6.5 | Dante - 6.5 | Alaba - 6

The midfielders were capable of spotting one another and had a fluid system that enabled a swift transition from defence to attack. Despite this, they could not send in good through-balls and also failed to find the back of the net despite numerous cutbacks that gave them long-range shooting opportunities. 

Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller were quite dangerous at the start of the game but their impact subsided as the match wore on. 

Gustavo - 6.5 | Martínez - 6.5 | Müller - 7 | Kroos (off 81') - 7

Robben was quite a handful for the Arsenal defence and dribbled with great intent. It looked like the Dutchman would score any moment and he was unlucky that his shots were not on target. Furthermore, his runs attracted a great many fouls that earned several Arsenal players yellow cards and this ensured that his side did not have to be too worried about being bullied off the ball in the closing stages of the game. 

Mario Mandzukic, on the other hand, had a poor game as he repeatedly failed to get into position whenever the midfielders ventured into the Arsenal half. Furthermore, the Croat was not able to win many of the aerial challenges which is surprising when considering that he prides himself in the targetman role. 

Robben - 7.5 | Mandzukić (off 73') - 6

Subs

Anatoly Tymoschuk and Mario Gomez were brought on to provide some cover and the Germany striker was useful as he did a good job of holding the ball up and wasting some time. 

Tymoshchuk (on 81') - 7 | Gomez (on 73') - 7.5

Arsenal

Lukas Fabianksi had a great game and made several key stops, including one towards the end that saw him prevent Arjen Robben from troubling his goal when presented with a one-on-one opportunity. 

The goalkeeper was helped by some sterling performances by the defenders as well and Laurent Koscielny justified his manager's decision to drop captain Thomas Vermaelen from the starting line-up. The Frenchman was confident with his challenges on the night and even made an impact at the other end of the pitch by sending in an accurate header towards goal following a corner.

Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson were also good at tracking back and provided adequate support to the under-pressure centre-backs. 

Fabianski - 7.5 | Jenkinson - 7.5 | Mertesacker - 7.5 | Koscielny - 8 | Gibbs - 7.5

Midfield

The midfield did not have a coordinated plan for the game aside from passing it out to Tomas Rosicky or Mikel Arteta and hoping they could spot the runs of the forwards. It was not too effective but it must be said that Arteta did remarkably well with his passing under pressure. 

Aaron Ramsey was Arsenal's Jack Wilshere for the day and made some astute passes but also saw several others go astray. Santi Cazorla tried his best to link up with Giroud but the Spaniard did not have a good outing in terms of his set-piece delivery. 

Arteta - 7.5 | Ramsey (off 71') - 7 | Rosicky - 7 | Cazorla - 6.5

Theo Walcott did well to spot Giroud making a run at the far post and smashed in a precise cross that was duly converted in the third minute. For the rest of the game, though, the England international was a muted presence and did not capitalise on Alaba's keenness to get forward. 

After scoring the goal, Giroud also became less of a threat and did not fight for the ball with as much vigor as some of his team-mates did at the Allianz Arena. 

Walcott (off 72') - 7 | Giroud - 7

Subs

Shortly after coming on, Gervinho made a superb one-two that allowed him an attempt at goal from the left but the shot barely missed the far post. The Ivorian was also quite a handful down the left wing and was determined to give it his absolute best for the 20-odd minutes of his presence. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, much like Walcott, was unable to really produce an impact and his determined runs down the right were easily checked by Alaba. 

Oxlade-Chamberlain (on 72') - 7 | Gervinho (on 71') - 7.5

Source: Hollywood