Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny believes the Gunners stopped playing as a team during the second half against Bayern Munich last night.
Arsene Wenger’s side went in 1-1 at the break after Alexis Sanchez equalised following an opener from Arjen Robben. The Gunners conceded three goals in the space of ten minutes in the second half, all but condemning them to exiting the Champions League. The French centre back told beIN Sports (via L’Equipe) :
“In the first half, we were good. The second was completely different. We cracked immediately. I think we wanted to equalise, even though if we lost 2-1 here we would have had a strong hand to qualify in the return leg at home. We lost our unity a little bit. As soon as you give this team a bit of space, they’re capable of making the difference.”
Koscielny suffered from a hamstring injury which forced him off the pitch four minutes into the second half. His departure from the field precipitated the Gunners’ defensive collapse.
Four minutes after the 31 year old was replaced by Gabriel, Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski put the hosts 2-1 up before a double from midfielder Thiago Alcantara meant that Arsenal was staring into the down the barrel just one hour into the two leg tie. A late goal from Thomas Muller capped of a miserable evening for the visitors.
