Champions League holders Bayern Munich confirmed their spot in the quarter-finals with a 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal, which put them through 3-1 on aggregate.
The first half was tight, with both sides restricted to only half-chances, but Bayern came out strongly in the second and went ahead through Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Arsenal pulled level just a few minutes later with a strike from former Bayern man Lukas Podolski, but the hosts managed to calm the game down and qualify despite Lukasz Fabianski saving a late Thomas Muller penalty.
Read how the action unfolded below.
Good evening Champions League fans! The holders are back in action tonight, with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal the visitors to Munich. Pep Guardiola's men hold a 2-0 lead from the first leg last month and Arsenal require the performance of a lifetime to get through here. You never know, though.
We have the team news in here at SM, so before I get further into the build-up let's take a look, shall we?
BAYERN XI: Neuer; Lahm, Martinez, Dante, Alaba; Schweinsteiger; Thiago, Robben, Gotze, Ribery; Mandzukic
ARSENAL XI: Fabianski; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen; Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Cazorla, Ozil, Podolski; Giroud
Bayern subs: Starke, Van Buyten, Rafinha, Pizarro, Boateng, Muller, Kroos
Arsenal subs: Viviano, Jenkinson, Flamini, Rosicky, Hayden, Gnabry
I'll begin with Arsenal then. Wenger has made three changes to his starting XI, with Laurent Koscielny, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud all coming into the team in place of Kieran Kibbs, Mathieu Flamini and Yaya Sanogo. Lukasz Fabianski keeps his place, of course, due to Wojciech Szczesny's suspension.
That's an attacking team selected, which at 2-0 down after the home leg does make sense. Thomas Vermaelen is at left-back to add a bit more protection for the very attacking midfield. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain switches to the holding midfield role alongside Mikel Arteta.
For Bayern, Franck Ribery is in the XI having sat out three weeks ago. For them there are some adjustments but even so what a team Guardiola has put out! Philipp Lahm reverts to right-back, with Bastian Schweinsteiger in the anchor role that the captain has been playing so well in recently. Arjen Robben played in the middle at the weekend, but he's back on the right tonight with Mario Gotze back in.
And just look at that bench! Arsenal, by contrast, have only got six subs because Ryo Miyaichi travelled but was either not registered or picked up an injury - I believe the former. Bayern's subs are made up of players who would be starters for a lot of teams in world football. Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng, Rafinha and Toni Kroos are all of the highest calibre. What a task this is for the Gunners.
Confirmation there of just the six Arsenal subs and how the two teams will line up. Just a quick reminder of the other Champions League clash happening tonight: Atletico Madrid host AC Milan with the Spaniards holding a 1-0 lead. You can follow our coverage of that clash right here.
Arsenal's form has been a little inconsistent of late, with just two wins from six league games meaning that they have dropped off the pace in the title race. They have a game-in-hand over league-leaders Chelsea, but as it stands are seven points behind their fellow Londoners. A strong performance here to go with the 4-1 FA Cup win over Everton at the weekend would boost confidence heading into the run-in.
There are no such troubles for Bayern in the league and they have all-but wrapped up another Bundesliga title. Remember Arsenal's Invincibles of a decade ago and their 49-game unbeaten league run? Well, Bayern went past that at the weekend and made it 50 with a 6-1 win over Wolfsburg. There is absolutely no sign of it coming to an end, either. They are born winners with a coach in Guardiola who is of the same ilk.
There is of course a natural comparison between the two teams, but in a decade football has changed a lot. I'm not so sure that Arsenal team would achieve the same success today, and equally the high-pressing and technical game that Bayern have mastered may not have dominated world football 10 years ago. That said, there would have to be room for Robben, Lahm, Neuer, Schweinsteiger, Ribery and Robben somewhere, wouldn't there?
Naturally, the history books do not favour Arsenal in this fixture. In total the two teams have met seven times in the Champions League, with Bayern triumphing on four occasions and they have also outscored the Gunners 11-7. Arsenal's one and only away win was that game last season when they went out on away goals.
Another worrying statistic from Arsenal's point of view is that, while 30 teams have managed to overturn a first-leg deficit in the knockout stage of the Champions League only two have lost the home leg to reach the next round. Although more encouragingly is that one of the two teams to be on the end of such a defeat was Bayern against Inter Milan in the 2010-11 season.
Only four coaches have won the trophy with two different clubs, which means should Guardiola win it this season then he will become the fifth. The man he replaced, Jupp Heynckes, is one of the four as well as Jose Mourinho of Chelsea - who won with Inter Milan and Porto. We're not too far away from kickoff now!
A very interesting facet to this one is that Bayern have scored in 99 of their last 100 fixtures. A quite incredible feat, but what was the game that they last failed to score? Of course. It was this very fixture last season. They lost, but went through anyway, and in truth it will be hard to see Arsenal keeping a clean sheet tonight.
PREDICTION: It's almost time for kickoff. The teams are out, the theme is blaring and we're nearly ready to go. The odds point heavily to a Bayern win here and I cannot see anything but. Backing Arsenal at 8/1 would be brave, but even though Bayern will probably win there isn't a huge amount of value in the 1/3. I'm plumping for 2-0, anyway.
KICKOFF: Here we go then. Can Arsenal produce the almost impossible?
Tidy passing early on for Bayern, with Koscielny slightly late to the ball to bring Mandzukic down from behind. This is a dangerous spot early on for a free kick.
Mertesacker with a somewhat risky header, but Arsenal in the end manage to clear. Bayern get it back and come forward, with space opening up ahead of Schweinsteiger so he shoots. It has plenty of power but Fabianski was right behind it to save. It would have taken something spectacular, but the German is certainly capable.
UPDATE: It didn't take long for Atletico to double their advantage - Diego Costa has put them 1-0 up on the night and 2-0 on aggregate against AC Milan. It's about as expected early on in this one, with Bayern seeing all of the ball, but no chances as yet.
BOOKING: There have been one or two risky clearances already for Arsenal. However, Cazorla recovers from a poor one by Koscielny to set Oxlade-Chamberlain away, who is then bundled over by Dante. He's rightly booked and will miss the next game.
There's quite a battle happening in the midfield at the moment, with Arsenal not afraid to press high. At the moment Schweinsteiger is just about on top of things in the middle, but the lack of space for Bayern has meant a lack of chances so far. They continue to ping it about patiently, however.
Giroud hasn't seen much of the ball at the moment, but he is roving across the Bayern defence waiting for the ball. Thiago is dropping deep into space to try to control the tempo of this one - Arsenal will be happy with the slower pace at the moment.
It's a clear tactic for Thiago and Schweinsteiger to rotate the anchor responsibility. Sagna is fortunate there that Alaba decides not to go down after he got the ball back from a cross, as the right-back did stick out a foot and could have conceded a penalty. There has still just been the one save, but it was comfortable.
It's amazing how much space this Bayern team seem to have when on the ball. There's always a man making a run, there's always someone on the overlap and there is the safe ball to recycle possession on every time as well.
Martinez goes down in a heap in a challenge with Podolski. The German spun the Spaniard and there was a slight touch of a hand, but absolutely no need for him to go to ground from what I could see. Arsenal have a corner.
CHANCE! Bayern up the pace with a speedy attack. Thiago pings left to Alaba, who finds Ribery on the overlap and after the cross the shot comes in from Robben, but it was hard to keep down and it bounces over the bar. He might think he should have hit the target, though.
There's a great deal of space down the Bayern left at the moment. Ozil is not getting back and Sagna is also a bit slow at times, which is giving Alaba a lot of joy. So far his crossing hasn't found the target, but he will find a man sooner rather than later.
Arsenal, of course, have to overturn a 2-0 deficit, but the first step having conceded twice at home will be to not let another go in. They have defended well so far, but will need to be very clinical if they are to convert what will probably be very few chances.
DISALLOWED GOAL! First let-off for Arsenal. Vermaelen brought down Lahm on the right, with Podolski going into the book for kicking the ball away. Thiago clipped it in and Martinez volleyed home with his left foot, but he was offside. Good call.
BOOKING: Better defending that for Sagna, who nipped in after a slight Ribery mis-control to clear. Not so good from Arteta, though, who gets carded for a sliding tackle that he was late into on Thiago. Three yellows already with a number of players needing to be careful now.
What a fantastic run by Oxlade-Chamberlain. He's the outlet from balls out of the back and this time picks up one from Mertesacker to take on three Bayern players before being brought down by the fourth. Dangerous spot for a free kick...
Cazorla takes it and it's deflected wide off the wall. Giroud leaps like a salmon to meet Ozil's corner, but it was comfortable in the end for Neuer. That's where the striker is dangerous, though.
UPDATE: It's level now in Madrid, with Kaka pulling Milan level on the night. It's now 2-1 on aggregate to the Spaniards and potentially very interesting now.
Bayern are tireless off the ball. They regroup so quickly when they lose possession that there's nowhere for Arsenal to go. It's not long before the hosts have the ball again and this time Robben's driving run and cross from the right is turned behind by Arteta.
Half-chance for Alaba there. For once he cut inside instead of hitting the line and shot from around 20 yards, but drags it wide of the near post. Guardiola looks annoyed - his decisions haven't been the best so far, but he's been such a strong outlet.
The closest we have come to a goal so far was Martinez's volley that was rightly ruled out for offside. Here it is:
They're starting to get through here, Bayern. Gotze this time hits the byline and his pull-back reaches Robben, but the Dutchman's shot is blocked. If Arsenal can keep it to 0-0 at half time they won't be too disappointed at all. They will still be in it.
CHANCE! Decent chance there for Mandzukic, who met Lahm's cross but was a bit too far out to cause trouble. In the end he loops the header on to the roof of the net.
This is not the sort of game that gets the best out of Ozil. He's so reluctant to track back and has been really wasteful with the ball at his feet. Oxlade-Chamberlain has been without doubt the away side's best player so far.
UPDATE: There's a crucial third goal in Spain and it has gone the way of the hosts. Arda Turan has scored it and it means that Milan are back to needing two. Still 0-0 here in Munich with a couple of minutes until the break.
SAVE! Really good effort that from Gotze. Alaba's cross is headed right to Gotze by Vermaelen, and his snap-shot on the turn is on target but Fabianski is down well to gather.
HALF-TIME: Bayern Munich 0-0 Arsenal
Well, Wenger cannot be disappointed with what he has seen so far. Bayern have been restricted to very few chances, but they too have not really had a sniff. All the while they keep Bayern from scoring they remain in this tie, however,
Guardiola I'm sure would have liked to have created more, but remember they're comfortably ahead in the tie. Bayern are probably waiting for Arsenal to commit - which they have to - and then attack on the break.
For Arsenal, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ozil have been polar opposites. The German international has looked stroppy and lazy, while Ox has threatened every single time he's had the ball. I'm hearing that Tomas Rosicky will come on for Ozil in the second half. Maybe an injury, then, but I fancy Arsenal to be better without Ozil after that first-half showing.
So while Ox has been the most successful dribbler so far, there is another stat that sums up the game so far. Bayern keeper Neuer has completed more passes than any Arsenal outfield player so far apart from Mertesacker. He had 14 successes - and compare that to Ozil's seven.
Arsenal are back out on the pitch - except for Rosicky who is continuing his warm-ups until the last minute. The next goal is so important in this tie, if indeed there is one.
Here we go again then. Bayern get us back underway.
Arsenal are still being pinned back a little bit so far, but that said Bayern have not had any further chances. Ozil was brought off because of a hamstring twinge, incidentally. I'm not sure when that might have happened - perhaps the lack of movement made it ping when he decided to run.
Arteta is running the risk of a red card here and he's actually quite lucky to get away with a late tackle on Ribery. The referee is lenient and lets him off - that will probably be the final chance, though.
Oh my, Robben. That is disgusting for a player with his ability. He got by two players in the box and then hurled himself to the floor under no contact at all it looked. I'll need to see it again, but I think he should have been booked for a dive.
I've seen it again and, yes, he should be booked. There was no contact from Cazorla but the Dutchman went to ground anyway. Shocking.
Oh that was a waste from Rosicky. He initially slides the ball clear, before Giroud plays it back to him with a one-two. Then, with Oxlade bursting a gut with a run he instead looks for Cazorla which allows Robben back to win the ball. What a shame as the youngster might have got through then.
GOAL! Bayern 1-0 Arsenal (Bastian Schweinsteiger)
Arsenal have defended so well but that is just too simple. Ribery completely outdoes Sagna with a little cut inside and plays in to Schweinsteiger, who was in acres in the middle. He took his time and fired past Fabianski to surely book Bayern's place in the quarter-finals.
GOAL! Bayern 1-1 Arsenal (Lukas Podolski)
But hold on! Posolski rifles a shot in at the near post after he got away with a push on Lahm. Somehow the free kick isn't given and he slams in against his old club. What the referee is doing there I don't know, but Arsenal now need two again - this time they'll win it.
Oxlade-Chamberlain strikes from just outside the box, but Neuer gathers fairly evenly. Suddenly Arsenal are pumped up and they have enough time to win this - do they have the quality?
BAYERN SUB: Guardiola looks to his bench and... calls for Kroos. Not bad. It's Gotze who makes way.
Not quite sure what the new man Kroos was trying there. He hits what looks to be a cross from quite a central position, but clips it into the arms of Fabianski at the far post.
Neuer is so good at coming off his line. There's a hint of a threat there as Sagna clips over the top for Giroud, but the German number one is on to it like a flash to head away. Then Schweinsteiger strikes from range but well over.
Arsenal are looking very confident on the ball at the moment and are enjoying a good spell of possession. Rosicky is heavily involved as Sagna crosses, before Podolski's eagerness sees him foul Mandzukic who had got back to defend. Posolski is getting roundly booed by the home fans and it's spurring him on at the moment.
That is not good from Neuer, however. He does have a rash side and gave the ball straight to Giroud before Martinez is eventually back to get it behind for a corner. From it Neuer makes a massive leap to pluck it out of the air. He atoned, there.
CHANCE! Bayern work a lovely chance there as Alaba pings it across to Thiago, who in turn clips left to MAndzukic, but Fabianski gets down really well to block and then pounces on the rebound. That's just too intricate.
Arsenal could really do with a goal soon if they are to keep their dwindling hopes alive. They have been excellent since the Bayern goal and still have Serge Gnabry to come on. Robben goes down under a light challenge from Vermaelen. Again, not much contact but just enough.
UPDATE: Another goal in Spain and it's surely the one to put Atletico through. Raul Garcia makes it 3-1 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate.
Bayern are getting back on top of this now and you have to feel that Arsenal's chance has probably gone. Robben goes inside of Vermaelen this time and shoots low from the edge of the box, but it was an easy enough save down low for Fabianski.
ARSENAL SUB: The walking red card Arteta makes way now for Gnabry. What can the German do against the biggest side from his home country? It's a big ask for him to change this one.
BOOKING: Martinez has been a bit untidy tonight and he's caught the wrong side of Podolski before bringing him down. He's rightly given a yellow for that foul, but Arsenal cannot work anything from the free kick.
Mandzukic has another chance with his head from a cross by Robben on the right. It strikes a defender at close range and the visitors escape. They're looking a bit tired now, Arsenal.
BOOKING: The referee waits for Vermaelen to get to his feet before he's shown the yellow card for a foul on Ribery. Bayern will take their time here.
SUBS: Oxlade-Chamberlain has run himself into the ground today and he cannot continue any more. On comes Flamini for him, while Thomas Muller is on for Ribery for Bayern.
UPDATE: It's a rout in Madrid. Diego Costa nets his second to put them 4-1 ahead against Milan, which is 5-1 on aggregate.
Back to Germany and this one is fizzling out into a quiet finish. Arsenal's chance was just after they scored when they were on top, but overall Bayern have been the better side across both legs. They almost create a chance but Podolski was narrowly offside as Cazorla played it through.
MISS! Gnabry is set away down the right with a cross-field ball. He cut inside but fired his effort well over the bar. Good effort, but that needed to be special from there.
There will be four minutes of time to play at the end of this one.
PENALTY TO BAYERN!
SAVED!
Muller steps up to stroke it down the middle, but it catches the boot of Fabianski, spins across the line and stops dead, with the keeper beating the forward to the ball to push it clear.
FULL-TIME: Bayern Munich 1-1 Arsenal
Bayern were not at their best and Arsenal gave it a real good go, but in the end the German side had just too much.
So Bayern go into the quarter-finals and will be joined by Atletico Madrid, who thrashed Milan 4-1 on the night. This was a high-quality match and the better team did get through in the end.
That's all we have from this one. Thanks for joining me and please do stick around for reaction and analysis from tonight's games. Until next time, it's goodbye.
That's all we have from this one. Thanks for joining me and please do stick around for reaction and analysis from tonight's games. Until next time, it's goodbye.
