Gunners left needing a miracle in Germany

20Feb 2013

Bajnokok Ligája

Mike Norman details tonight's Champions League In-Play odds as both Bayern Munich and Porto take first leg leads...

Arsenal's Champions League aspirations are in tatters after they lost 1-3 to Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium this evening.

Knocked out of both domestic cup competitions by lower-league clubs the Gunners could ill-afford a below par performance against the runaway Bundesliga leaders, and the early signs were promising as Arsene Wenger's men started on the front foot.

But it didn't take long for Bayern to hit their stride, and virtually with their first meaningful attack they took the lead. A Thomas Mueller cross avoided Per Mertesacker and fell to Toni Kroos who struck the ball at the first attempt into the far corner.

Not long afterwards Mueller turned goalscorer after he pounced on a Wojciech Szczesny save to prod home from a few yards. Kroos was backed at 17.0 in the First Goalscorer market, while the 0-2 Half Time Score was matched at a high of 14.5 In-Play.

The Gunners needed something special in the second half to get back in to the tie, but instead it was a stroke of luck that helped them reduce the arrears, Lukas Podolski scoring from a corner that shouldn't have been awarded.

Bayern didn't panic however, and instead of being put under instense pressure as the game progressed it was themselves who got the next goal thanks to Mario Mandzukic, who bundled the ball over the line from a Philipp Lahm cross.

The Emirates Stadium emptied very quickly after that as the realism began to tell on the Arsenal faithful. The 1-3 Correct Score was matched at 22.0, while a Bayern Munich win never touched higher than 2.36.

Arsenal now need a miracle in Germany on March 13 with the To Qualify market telling the story - Bayern Munich can be backed at 1.03 with the Gunners available at 32.0. Even that looks too short on recent performances.

In the night's other tie Porto beat Malaga 1-0 and can be backed at 1.33 to make it through to the quarter-final. The Spanish side are currently trading at around the 3.4 mark.