Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels has claimed that Arsenal are the victims of their own downfall after slipping to a 10-2 aggregate loss in their Champions League last-16 fixture.
The Bavarian giants matched last month's 5-1 scoreline from the first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to inflict a brutal defeat on their opponents - the seventh season in a row the Gunners have exited the competition at this stage.
Hummels believes that Arsenal's reluctance to shut out the game when being reduced to 10 men in the second leg, with the score locked at 1-1 at the time after Robert Lewandowski converted from the spot, is to blame for the one-sided nature of the result on the night.
"They lost the ball sometimes too easy, and so I think this result can happen in a game that was clearly not a 5-1, if you see the whole the 90 minutes," he told DFB.de. "But maybe they felt that they could score again so it was OK for them to keep playing like this but, of course, then we played things really well.
"I experienced it for myself. I lost one time 1-5 in Munich [while at Dortmund] in a game where we felt we did a good job, it was not so bad. When there is an opponent that good, it can go very fast in the wrong direction. I do not know if you can have pity in sports.
"Everyone has to give their best on the pitch. Of course, the result looks very unfortunate for them. And who knows, perhaps next year we will meet them again and then we will be the ones who have such problems. But no, you do not have to feel compassion for them. The team that wins can also look forward to it."
Both Bayern and Arsenal have been charged by UEFA for events that took place during Tuesday evening's clash in North London.
Daniel Lewis
