Arsenal defeated Bayern Munich 2-0 in the second leg of Champions League Round of 16, but their effort was not enough to help them advance.
Despite earning two away goals and drawing level in the aggregate 3-3, the team lost thanks to Bayern's three away goals two weeks ago. Arsenal got off to a flying start with a third minute goal from Olivier Giroud. The Frenchman roofed a low cross from Theo Walcott to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead. At the 85th minute, Laurent Koscielny added a second to put Arsenal within one goal of winning the game.
The loss eliminates the final English team from contention. Manchester United was ousted by Real Madrid last week and Manchester City and Chelsea were both eliminated from contention in the group stage.
"It's a massive wake-up call for English football because for a long, long time we were not used to that [having no sides in the last eight]," said Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. "If you think about it is a massive wake-up call for us [English football] ... it means that the rest of Europe has caught back up with us and we have to take that into consideration in the way we think about the future of the Premier League."
Despite the loss, Wenger was "proud of his team's heroic effort" and stated that it could be a major boost for the remainder of the season. "We were under pressure. A bad performance [last night] would have been terrible for morale of the team and for pride as well," said Wenger. "The regret that I have is that there is potential in this team and now, of course, we are out the competition."
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