Bayern Munich after a defeat they have advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League Arsenal 1-0 in Germany on Wednesday, winning 3-2 on aggregate. Despite Alfonso Davies suspended for yellow cards, Bayern secured a clean sheet when Raphael Guerrero assisted on a great header from Joshua Kimmich. Bayern extend their dominance over Arsenal with an 8-3-3 record in their 16 meetings, all in the Champions League.
Combine that with Thomas Tuchel's tactical mastery in knockout competitions and the writing is on the wall for Arsenal's demise in the competition, but it's the way Tuchel did it that counts. Without Davies, he started two left-backs Noussair Mazraoui and Guerrero who was on the left wing. The duo did their job Bukayo Saka without a shot for the entire match, as the Bayern defense held Arsenal to a 0.79 xG, while amassing a 1.74 xG themselves.
Despite losing the Bundesliga Bayer Leverkusen With five games remaining, Tuchel has established himself as one of the best managers in the Champions League, making the best of a bad situation while dealing a blow to the Premier League's hopes of finishing fifth in the Champions League has given.
Tuchel now has a record of 40-10-15 in Champions League matches and six of those fifteen defeats came when he was manager of Paris St. Germain. While he has only won the tournament once in 2020-2021 with ChelseaTuchel could be on course for another win with a good striker in it Harry Kane leading the line. Kane may not have been needed in this match against Arsenal, but as a player who needs a major trophy to cement his own legacy, this will be Kane's best chance since playing in the Champions League final with Tottenham.
Winning is expected at Bayern Munich and is one of the reasons why Tuchel is leaving at the end of the season, but if he takes Bayern's first Champions League title since 2020 it will be quite a high to end on. With just two games to go, anyone can lift the trophy at the end of the season, but the way is clear for Tuchel's tactics to neutralize the opposition.
Arsenal were favored in the draw and Bayen wasted no time in taking advantage of their mentality issues. While that will be more difficult for the remaining teams, it doesn't mean Tuchel won't have his players well prepared for what comes next.