Alexis Sanchez reportedly decided against signing a new contract at Arsenal after a humiliating defeat to Bayern Munich. The Chilean forward had been keen to stay at the Emirates earlier in the season, having reportedly even shaken hands on a new deal.
However, that changed following Arsenal's heavy Champions League exit at the hands of the Bundesliga side in 2017. The north Londoners lost 5-1 in the first leg in Bavaria before being thumped 5-1 again at home, an aggregate scoreline of 10-2 that marked one of the lowest points of Arsene Wenger's era.
A Recurring European Nightmare
Throughout the 2010s, Wenger's Gunners regularly eased through the Champions League group stages, only to be dumped out in the early knockout rounds by Bayern or Barcelona. Between 2013 and 2017, the two sides faced each other eight times in Europe's elite club competition, with Wenger's men winning just two and losing five of those encounters.
That included round of 16 exits in consecutive years in 2013 and 2014, and three 5-1 thrashings between 2015/16 and 2016/17. Drawing Bayern in the last-16 had become almost a formality, one which Arsenal almost always came out of as losers.
Sanchez's Decision to Move On
The humiliation proved to be the catalyst that prompted Sanchez to pursue a move away. His face spoke a thousand words that night as he sulked around and sat on the pitch in dejected fashion. Along with Wenger failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 19 years, the defeat convinced him that he no longer had a future at the club.
He sought a move to Manchester City in the summer of 2017, where he hoped to be reunited with his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola. Arsenal agreed an offer of around £60million for their talisman, which fell through after they missed out on bringing in Sanchez's replacement, Thomas Lemar, for a club-record transfer sum of £92m.
Swap Deal and Subsequent Flop
Sanchez stayed put and began the 2017/18 season with Arsenal. With then-Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho falling out with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the two clubs agreed a straight swap deal that would satisfy both players in the January window.
Unfortunately for all parties involved, neither player went on to impress at their new club. Mkhitaryan left after 18 months, when Arsenal couldn't qualify for the Champions League, before Mikel Arteta's revolution. Sanchez, who had already begun to lose his spark and frustrate Arsenal fans that season, struggled at United under Mourinho. He also left for Inter Milan 18 months later as a clear flop, having since admitted he immediately regretted his decision to quit the Gunners.
Modern-Day Arsenal vs Bayern
These days, despite Bayern's domestic dominance, it is unlikely they could dismantle Arteta's Arsenal side in such a way, let alone cause their best players to abandon the project altogether. Last season, the Gunners beat Vincent Kompany's men 3-1 at home in the Champions League's new league phase format on their way to the final.
They lost to reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, who also knocked Bayern out in the semis. Bayern have the chance to exact revenge on Wednesday night, when they face Arsenal at home in the third round of this season's league phase.
