Posted March 12, 2014 09:15:05
Arsenal ended Bayern Munich's long winning streak when they held the Bavarians to a 1-1 draw in the Champions League on Wednesday but it was not enough to stop the holders reaching the quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
Bastian Schweinsteiger put Bayern ahead in the 55th minute of the last-16 second leg but Lukas Podolski stunned the Allianz Arena when he fired into the roof of the net two minutes later.
Podolski's goal gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope although the Germans played keep-ball in the closing stages as the visitors ran out of gas.
Bayern had won 13 games in a row in all competitions since a 3-2 home defeat by Manchester City in the Champions League in December.
They could have made it 14 victories in succession but substitute Thomas Mueller had a stoppage-time penalty saved by Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Bayern spent most of the first half probing a resilient Arsenal defence that just about managed to hold out.
Bayern finally broke through 10 minutes after the re-start when Ribery sneaked into the area and laid the ball off for Schweinsteiger to finish from eight metres.
The referee surprisingly waved play on even though Podolski seemed to push Philipp Lahm in the area two minutes later and the Arsenal forward went on to hammer the ball home.
Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer then had to rush out of his box to head the ball clear after Tomas Rosicky tried to send Olivier Giroud clean through.
Neuer had the home fans on edge again when he sent a clearance straight to Giroud but the Bundesliga leaders quickly regrouped. Atletico Madrid crushes AC Milan 4-1
Diego Costa struck twice as Atletico Madrid thumped AC Milan 4-1 to send the seven-times winners crashing out 5-1 on aggregate and advance to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time this century.
Costa, who also scored in Atletico's 1-0 win at the San Siro in the first leg of the last-16 tie, put the La Liga side ahead in the third minute at the Calderon with an acrobatic volley.
Kaka levelled with a header in the 27th before Arda Turan's deflected effort sailed past Christian Abbiati five minutes before half-time to restore the home team's lead.
Raul Garcia headed Atletico's third in the 71st minute before Costa struck again five minutes from time.
Atletico, who previously featured in the last eight in 1997 with a team featuring current coach Diego Simeone, thoroughly deserved their victory, while Milan's exit means there will be no Italian side in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2009. Reuters
Post By http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-12/bayern-ease-past-arsenal-in-champions-league/5314582
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