Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has acknowledged his team need to defend much better if they are to have any chance of overcoming Bayern Munich to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Arsenal fell to a 3-1 defeat in the last 16 encounter in Munich on Tuesday as their brittle defence, which has been Arsenal’s undoing all season, was torn apart by Bayern.
”We made it easy for Bayern by conceding stupid goals,” raged Wenger. ”It was our worst performance in the Champions League and the players are really down.”
With just four minutes gone, Arsenal pressed the self-destruct button when Côte d’Ivoire defender Kolo Toure failed to clear an Oliver Kahn goal-kick and Claudio Pizarro volleyed home.
”Toure needs a lift at the moment,” admitted Wenger. ”But he is still young and learning the game.”
The absence of England international Sol Campbell with an ankle injury was a major blow for Arsenal, and his aerial presence was sorely missed.
On 58 minutes, Pizarro stole in front of the ungainly Pascal Cygan to head home, and Bosnian Hasan Salihamidzic headed home in the 65th minute with the Arsenal rearguard all at sea.
”Our goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann, did not have much to do apart from pick the ball out of the net,” confessed Wenger.
Lehmann produced a fine save from Roy Makaay at 1-0 but could not really be faulted for any of the goals, with his defence leaving him brutally exposed.
But Toure’s 88th-minute goal gives Arsenal a ray of hope for the return leg at Highbury on March 9, when Wenger knows a 2-0 win will see his team through into the last eight of Europe’s premier competition.
”I am still very confident in the players I have here,” maintained Wenger. ”I think we can still reach the quarterfinals at Bayern’s expense.”
The problem for Arsenal is they do not look likely to keep a clean sheet.
”We have to start keeping clean sheets and we have two weeks to sort that out before Bayern come to us,” declared Wenger. ”I do not expect Sol Campbell to be fit for the game, so we may have to improvise.”
Despite exposing Arsenal’s defensive frailties, Bayern manager Felix Magath was unhappy at conceding the late goal.
”We missed the chance to make it 4-0 and then let in a stupid late goal,” bemoaned Magath. ”I am really annoyed about that.
”Arsenal are fully capable of scoring several goals against us on their own turf.”
If Arsenal defend as they did in Munich, they will have to score a hatful of goals to have a chance of defeating Bayern on aggregate and reaching the quarterfinals. — Sapa-AFP