“I can’t believe I just said that” - Ex-Chelsea star Craig Burley makes bold prediction on winner of Arsenal vs Bayern Munich quarter-final tie
Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has backed Bayern Munich to eke out a positive result against Arsenal in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie. The two teams played out an enthralling 2-2 first-leg draw at the Emirates on Tuesday (April 9).
Arsenal led the game for six minutes after Bukayo Saka's wonderfully-taken left-footed finish in the 12th minute. Serge Gnabry came back to haunt his old club when he scored the equalizer, while Harry Kane's penalty made it 2-1 with 32 minutes on the clock.
Bayern could have gone 3-1 up in the fourth quarter of the game had referee Glenn Nyberg given them a penalty for a Gabriel Magalhaes handball. Instead, Leandro Trossard equalized 14 minutes from time to seal a first-leg draw.
Asked about his predictions for the tie after the full-time whistle, Burley said on ESPN FC (13:04):
"That surprised me tonight. I think it’s a really tight one now. Arsenal are much better in terms of form but I’m going to go 50-50 and Bayern Munich to go through in extra-time and penalties. It’s a big swing in this one. I’ve watched a lot of Bayern Munich this year and I can’t believe I just said that because they’ve been bad."
Bayern, who are accustomed to dominating domestic competitions, are currently second in the league after 28 matches. They trail leaders Bayer Leverkusen by a mammoth 16 points and are also out of the DFB-Pokal, having already lost the DFL-Supercup to RB Leipzig (3-0) in the season's curtain-raiser.
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal gave away two goals to Bayern Munich in 2-2 draw
Mikel Arteta was unhappy with the manner in which Arsenal conceded the two goals to Bayern Munich.
The first goal came after David Raya pushed up the field following a long ball by Bayern. This seemingly pressured Gabriel Magalhaes into playing a forward pass, which was intercepted and led to a deadly counterattack finished off by Serge Gnabry.
For the second goal, a dizzying run from Leroy Sane drew a tackle from William Saliba in the box, resulting in a penalty. Raya gave Harry Kane an empty side of the net to aim at after going down to his right side a tad too early.
Reflecting on the two incidents, Arteta said (via the Guardian):
"In the Champions League you cannot give anything to the opponent and we gave them two goals today. When you have this situation you are going to be punished. And that is the biggest lesson."
The away leg will be played at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday (April 17), with the Gunners looking to secure their first Champions League semi-final berth since the 2008-09 season.