Complete the sequence: Barcelona, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, Monaco and ________.
If you said “Barcelona” then congratulations, give yourself a pat on the back and a free subscription to Arsenal Fan TV.
For the SIXTH season in a row the Gunners have departed the UEFA Champions League at the last-16 stage. It is a level of consistency that can only be matched by Arsene Wenger’s ability to guide the club into Europe’s premier competition year after year.
The script is becoming pretty predictable – inconsistent group stage results good enough for second place finish and a second round tie with one of the continent’s heaviest hitters (or alternatively, muck up against Monaco).
The London club’s season was effectively thrown on the funeral pyre on Wednesday night in Barcelona as the reigning champions beat Aresnal by 3-1 for a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez all scored to condemn Arsenal to an inconsequential end to the season, with next year’s Champions League qualification (naturally) all but assured and the title out of reach, with Watford having eliminated them from the FA Cup last weekend.
Not all consistency is to be celebrated and, needless to say, Arsenal fans were not revelling in their six-year streak.
BREAKING NEWS: Arsenal crash out of Champions League at Last 16 stage for SIXTH consecutive year. Long live Wenger!
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 16, 2016
Sixth year in a row #Arsenal exit at the Round of 16 in the #ChampionsLeague. pic.twitter.com/tZ6zNlNZbL
— Nihadh (@nihadh09) March 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/AburoHazard/status/710224589675167744
And Arsenal are out of the CL in the round of 16 for the sixth time in a row. Consistently…bad. https://t.co/T805SUoRJT
— Ali Al-Mudaifa (@alialmudaifa) March 16, 2016
Predictably sympathy was in short supply.
Normality resumed for Arsenal, that's the sixth consecutive year in a row. Where Arsenal have been knocked out in the last 16.
— . (@Pogbaganda) March 16, 2016
https://twitter.com/FootballFact101/status/710220611260272640
Still, plenty of time to dust yourselves down and get prepared mentally for next season exit at the hands of… let’s say Carlo Ancelotti’s Bayern.
PepsiCo has kicked off the next phase of its UEFA Champions League sponsorship with a new on-pack promotion that gives you the chance to win prizes every hour with #GAMEREADY Doritos packs.
Prizes include official UEFA t-shirts and footballs to tickets to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final in Milan on May 28th.
