0 English teams in the quarter finals for the first time since 95/96 season, while there are three Spanish teams left.

I think yeah like Madrid got really lucky, but every team who progresses or wins the CL usually has that bit of extreme luck. Or Malaga also getting lucky in the first leg because Porto could not finish properly.. but still that's not Malaga's problem.

What do you guys think?

United was very unlucky in the second leg, the match was open but United was better the red card changes it by 360 degrees.
Chelsea 3rd place in group was for me surprising.
Arsenal same story every year, we play 1 leg great and 1 leg totally nothing, anyway I think Bayern was lucky. Yes they dominated the game, but they scored 2 lucky goals in Emirates. Yes Bayern probably deserved to go through but I think Bayern is overrated.

I'm sure many people will disagree but my opinions are I think when you look at a lot of the ties in this round most of the matches required an element of luck especially when it came to the 2nd leg's, Unfortunately for England not much went there way.

Bayern although missing some key players were very poor and got quite lucky tonight.
Madrid got lucky against United with the red card.
Malaga got lucky against Porto with the red card.
PSG were lucky to beat Valencia.
Galatasaray were lucky to beat Schalke.

Only teams who were even remotely convincing over the 2 legs were Juve & Dortmund & then you had last night's fantastic performance from Barca as well.

The English thing was always going to happen eventually, 17 seasons is a long time and runs always have to come to an end sooner or later.

I agree pretty much with everything quikzyyy said except that Bayern is Overrated. They really aren't. I think they are 1 of the best 2 teams in Europe right now and every stat you can get your hand on proves it.

I know this is off topic but - Arsenal are only the 2nd English team (besides Norwich in '93) to have ever beaten Bayern Munich at their home. That, along with our performance tonight has left me proud.

I like how some people said we are one of the best teams in europe two weeks ago, and now we suddenly are lucky and overrated? yeah, today's performance was bad, but we still dominated most of the game. we lacked ribery and schweinsteiger, don't forget that...

We can all agree that luck is a big factor in progressing in the CL? & this year English teams had no luck?

@Stern

You were missing Ribery and Schwein, however don't forget that the quality in your team in every single position is better than Arsenal's. 
& people will always talk shit after a bad performance with phrases such as lucky or overrated, so don't mind that. 

yeah you're right tdot. I shall now accept today's loss and let the drinking commence :P

@Footaholic: You're forgetting last year's CL final?

@tdot: I think in the case of Man City and Chelsea, they weren't unlucky, they just underperformed, for a variety of reasons. City are new new kids on the block, and really are only a season or two ahead of what PSG are right now. They need more experience, and a less Italian manager. Chelsea are in transition, and seem to having a nervous breakdown. Both are likely to strengthen this summer, and we'll see about next year. :p

Arsenal were unlucky, but only because they drew Bayern so early. They did themselves proud tonight, but it was always going to be tough against one of the tournament's favorites. I expect Bayern in the final, to be honest.

As for Man United, I don't think luck had anything to do with it. They were screwed by the ref, when they were comfortably the better side. 

I think the semis will contain the majority of Bayern, Barca, Juve and Real. I can only see those teams knocking each other out.

@ Lodatz

Man City new kids on the block? They just won the EPL (best league in the world for majority of people) last year, and are second place right now with LOADS of talent..

However I do agree Chelsea and City under-performed, but not because of the reasons you say. Chelsea just won the CL last year there is no excuse to being knocked out during group stages... 

Arsenal are not unlucky, their games usually involve no controversy  As quikzy said, one leg they do amazing the other leg they don't do shit. I believe this is because Wenger changes up his tactics the second time around, after noticing what destroyed his team the first time. Or if they do amazing the first leg, the other team changes their tactics because they know Wenger won't change his. Wenger is a nervous wreck.

I think these three just got beaten by the better team.

As for United, they were screwed by the ref for sure. But both teams looked pretty even in terms of chances created and also chances wasted; any one of them could have gone through. In the first leg RVP missed some chances that I could not believe..

@tdot: 

1) Man City are new kids on the block, yes. This year was only the 2nd year they've been in the CL, and while they won the PL last season, it was a Herculean effort that they have fallen WELL short of this year. It's like Real going on that amazing domestic season last year... and now being 3rd in the league. It will still be a couple of seasons before Man City are a truly elite team, challenging on multiple fronts for titles. Work in progress.

2) As for Chelsea, well, there I disagree with you. Don't forget that Chelsea just lost Drogba, Anelka and Essien, and Terry and Lampard were also down in the pecking order. Ivanovic is old and starting to get dodgy. Cech and Cole are still great, but for how much longer? These are the backbone of last year's victory, which was truly heroic. It was their last chance at glory, and they knew it, so they played the tournament of their lives. (don't forget they came 6th in the league)

This season? The age is finally starting to really show, and with the transition between the old guard and the new bloods well underway, I think it's no surprise they didn't play well this season in the CL. They have yet to learn the steel and character that the older men had last year -- we'll see how it goes, but if they get Mourinho back, then everyone else had better look out.

3) For Arsenal, hehe, I wasn't really saying they were unlucky. I was just saying that Bayern are beast, and it's harsh to come up against them in the Last 16. Surely you'd admit that you'd have fancied Arsenal to progress past, say, Galatasaray, Malaga, or Schalke? If not, that's your call, but either way, meeting Bayern is not something anyone wants to do, right now.

4) I think what you said is true of the first leg. At Old Trafford, there was a clear difference -- United had Real effectively neutralized, up until the red card, and probably should have been 2-0.

Ah well. First year in 17 years with no English teams in the QF. Savour it, rest of Europe. We'll be back next year. ;)

@Lodatz

Expects Spurs to be in the knockout stages next year too. ;)

@ Lodatz

New kids or not, is it an excuse to come 4th in your group? After all that money spent and competing in the most difficult league in the world, and still come behind Ajax? Not even Europa League man...

As for Chelsea, you have a point. They need:
1) a new manager (Benitez is hated which is bad for the club)
2) a new full back (Ivanovic is slow and Cole is getting old)
3) a new EXPERIENCED attacking midfielder (Although very talented, Hazard, Oscar, Mata are too young and inexperienced to control and dictate a game against a big opponent)

4) a striker who is a proven goal scorer (we all know the Torres situation and to me Ba isn't good enough for Chelsea)
5) a new CB (Terry is old and Luiz is pretty shaky)

& I thought you were saying Arsenal were unlucky to not go through, lol. 

& As for RM VS MANU, RVP should have buried the whole tie that first leg.

@tdot: Oh, I'm not trying to make excuses for Man City; far from it. I'm just being realistic about the future. The billionaires who bought the club didn't do so just to win one single PL title -- like PSG it's just going to take a bit of time to get something special put together.

I happen to think that crashing out of the CL is precisely what Man City deserve, for their PlayStation methods of purchasing their squad.

Just don't expect their failure to be a permanent thing, is all. Money will talk. Loudly.

HA! City deserved to lose, but I loved how all three teams in their group beat them! They lost to not only Madrid, but Dortmund completely outclassed them, and Ajax beat them 3-1 as well.

I think everyone is forgetting who the reigning champions are. And that in the past decade or so our teams have always been reaching the final/semi final each year. So we've had a bad year, doesn't mean we aren't as good any more, anyone can get kicked out in the KO stage. If Barcelona doesn't win it everyone will still regard them as the best team in the world. And yeah there are some other top teams in Europe, good! A better competition if the teams are better but I don't think we have to worry we are still the elite - don't let a bad season fool you.

Annonymous comment.

@tdot, 

• A striker who is a proven goalscorer: 

Demba Ba: only joined in the second half of the season - can't really tell if he'll give Chelsea heaps of goals, but from my POV, he's definitely a bargain. 

and plus, there is Lukaku, who is totally blitzing his loan mission in West Brom, so it's highly likely that he'll become the next big thing after 1 or 2 seasons, or perhaps next season? Who knows? I think he will...

The one thing that is annoying me about United's game play is the execution of their chances. tdot has a point about RVP - I expected more from him in those 2 legged matches against RM....some of his chances were point-blank. This might also be RVP's last years of prime, so he's gonna have to do a lot more than now if he wants my approval of being a United Legend, in which he is still light years away from being one.

At the moment, fatigue is taking a huge toll on them, it was evident in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea. But I still believe that they can claim a double this season, which is as expected from us.

^remember that some players actually get better as they get older! look at pirlo...but anyway, I think a BVB and Barca final will be awesome. As for Bayern, i think they are a world class side but they are not as good in defence as people say they are, despite what the stats say. As for the United and Real game, well, man the ref raped us of the win. But hey, we will come back next season even stronger, as we are still halfway through the process of re-building our squad, and i guess that goes the same with the rest of the clubs which are competing for a CL space in the EPL. Like Lodatz said, we will come back next season much, MUCH stronger i am sure of that. And hopefully Man City will too :)

sort of got mixed up with another thread at the start...my bad

just bit out of topic but gonna say it to yesterday's game
Arsenal ended Bayern 29 unbeaten run.