Neuer’s uncharacteristic mistake cost Bayern. Courtesy of Wikimedia.
The Gunners picked up a shocking home victory against reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. A rare mistake from goalkeeper Manuel Neuer allowed Arsenal to take the lead while a late Ozil goal sealed the deal for the Premier League side.
This season, Arsenal opened up their Champions League campaign with poor results. They picked up two straight losses in their first two matches against teams that, on paper, should have been solid wins for them. In the first round, they suffered a 2-1 away defeat to Croatian league champions Dinamo Zagreb while losing at home to Olympiakos in the second round. Despite these early failures in the European club competition, Arsenal has managed to soar in the Premier League. They are currently sitting in 2nd place and have a real shot at winning the title. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich has been winning in both the league and in their Champions League group. Coming into this match, they were holding first place by a solid seven points over second placed Dortmund. In addition, they got a full six points from their first two matches to get first place in their group.
During this match, the away side came out dominant in possession and chances. In-form striker Robert Lewandowski had two clear chances to score against the English club, but he was denied by former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. On the other end, Manuel Neuer made a miracle save on a point blank header from Walcott. The English winger had a wide open header, but the German international managed to get a hand to it. Both sides would go into half without a goal to show but that would change later in the second half. Arsenal managed to get a goal through a Neuer mistake on a set-piece. Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla whipped a ball into the box where Neuer charged out and missed it, giving Olivier Giroud an open net to score in the 77th minute. The home side would double the lead when Germany international Mesut Ozil scored against his own countryman to send the Gunner fans into raptures and securing the win.
PSG 0-0 Real Madrid
Despite a star-studded lineup at the Parc-des-Princes, both Real Madrid and PSG failed to score. This highly anticipated matchup saw both sides come close but neither one could break the deadlock to claim first place in their group.
PSG has put a strong showing in this season of the Champions League by picking up two wins from its first two matches. The French side defeated both Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk to share first place with Madrid. In the league, PSG is also in first place and looks to be on track for yet another Ligue 1 title. Real Madrid is also having a solid season in both Europe and Spain. The capital side is still showing growing pains with its new manager, Rafa Benitez. They are currently in first place in La Liga while also collecting six points in their CL group.
Even though both sides have some of the best forwards in the world, neither were able to break the deadlock throughout the match. Both sides had great chances to score but were just not able to hit the back of the net. Ronaldo had multiple chances to put his team ahead, but strangely enough, could not hit the target. The Portuguese winger had a wide open header tipped wide and was frustrated throughout the match. Meanwhile, both Cavani and Ibrahimovic had shots go wide, leaving both sides scoreless in Paris.