Arsenal shrank in the face of the occasion, writes OLIVER HOLT after 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich

When the time came to show that they were ready to mix with European royalty again without looking like paupers in rags next to the ermine of the elite, Arsenal shrunk in the face of the occasion.

Faced with a Bayern Munich side that has fallen from grace in its domestic season but which has won this competition six times, Arsenal played for large parts of the tie with all the uncertainty and gaucheness of schoolboys who didn’t believe they belonged among the adults.

Arsenal had conceded two goals in their last ten games before this tie. Against Bayern, they conceded two goals in 14 minutes. Bayern are European aristocracy and instead of laughing at how frayed their robes have become, for much of the game, Arsenal bowed to them.

They took an early lead through Bukayo Saka in the first leg of their first Champions League quarter-final for 14 years but were soon pegged back by a fine Bayern equaliser from Serge Gnabry.

And then the salt that many had feared would be rubbed in their wounds began to sting. Harry Kane, who had scored 14 goals for Spurs in his previous 19 appearances against Arsenal and is the record scorer in north London derbies, made it 15 in 20 with a first half penalty. It was his 39th goal of the season.

Arsenal did conjure a late second half rally with an equaliser from substitute Leandro Trossard but the 2-2 draw means they have a mountain to climb when they go to the Allianz Arena for the second leg next Wednesday and the Bayern fans who were banned from the ground here will be in full voice.

There was a feeling before the game that the biggest obstacle Arsenal might face against Bayern was themselves. Perhaps it is overstating matters to say that their European misadventures made them a laughing stock but their repeated failures bequeathed them a Champions League inferiority complex.

They made the wrong kind of records. They were knocked out of the competition at the second round stage in seven successive appearances. For the elite, drawing Arsenal in the first knock-out stage was a matter for quiet celebration, a sign that progress was all but guaranteed.

That was all supposed to have changed. ‘We have got facts to back up what we are doing and stats,’ Arsenal legend Ian Wright told the crowd from the pitch before the game. ‘Everyone wants to make fun of us but let them. We are in a good place.’ Arsenal were in the quarter finals for the first time in 14 years and every sign suggested they had it in them to go further.

But confidence was not confined to the Arsenal ranks. Another Spurs alumnus, Eric Dier, whose move to Bayern in January provoked a mixture of surprise and bemusement, had a decent tilt at tempting fate before the game when he claimed in an interview that he should still be in Gareth Southgate’s England squad and that, at the age of 30, he was still in his prime.

Maybe he has a point. He was selected ahead of both Dayot Upamecano and Minae Kim in the heart of Bayern’s defence last night as a partner for Matthijs de Ligt. ‘I want to be a part of the England set-up,’ Dier said, ‘and I believe that I should be a part of it, that I'm that level of a player.’

The first big cheer of the match came when a short ball from Alphonso Davies went to Dier on the touchline in front of the benches and bounced off Dier’s shin and into touch. That delighted the Arsenal faithful. ‘Eric Dier,’ they sang, ‘you’ll always be ****.’

That aside, Bayern made a bright enough start but 11 minutes in, Ben White clipped a short ball in to Saka on the edge of the area. Saka turned and advanced on Dier. Dier stood still, trying to block his path, but Saka used him as a shield and bent a brilliant shot around him and beyond Manuel Neuer into the far corner.

Four minutes later, Arsenal should have been two up. White was played in to the box and found himself clean through on Neuer. He probably had too much time and space to think about his shot – for a defender anyway – and smashed it straight into the arms of the grateful goalkeeper.

It was an escape for Bayern and the German champions capitalised on it immediately. Gabriel gave the ball away deep in his own half. Leroy Sane played a clever ball to Leon Goretzka, who slid a pass through to Serge Gnabry and Gnabry forced it past David Raya. The Emirates fell silent.

Things soon got worse. Half an hour had gone when Sane got the ball with his back to goal just inside the Arsenal half. Sane turned away from Jakub Kiwior beautifully and set off for goal with Kiwior trailing in his wake as if he were running in treacle. Sane got to the edge of the Arsenal area and danced past Gabriel before William Saliba mistimed a tackle and brought him down.

Kane, inevitably, stepped up to take the penalty. He took a slow run-up, watched as Raya moved to his right and then slid his kick nonchalantly to the goalkeeper’s left. It was his 15th goal in 20 appearances against the team that released him when he was an eight-year-old boy. How many times must Arsenal have regretted that.

Five minutes later, Sane burst through again. This time, he ran clear of the Arsenal defence and just when he appeared poised to shoot, he cut back inside to evade White and allowed Martin Odegaard to make a saving tackle. All Arsenal’s European nightmares seemed to be coming back to haunt them.

Kiwior paid the price for his struggles when he was replaced at half time by Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel required lengthy treatment after he felt the force of Kane’s elbow crashing into his jaw ten minutes after the interval. Kane deserved the booking he got for the offence.

Arsenal were misfiring, desperately searching for confidence. Nothing they tried in the opening stages of the second half came off. Odegaard’s chipped free kick towards Kai Havertz ran harmlessly into touch, Saka began to hobble as he tried in vain to make inroads on the right and the crowd started to fret.

Havertz fell under a challenge from De Ligt in the box but the Swedish referee waved away appeals for a penalty and replays showed Havertz had trailed his legs over the defender’s heels. When Bayern counter-attacked, Arsenal looked increasingly stretched. Arteta acted and brought on Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard.

Trossard scored immediately after good work from Jesus but Arsenal could not get the winner their fans craved and they had an escape in the last minute when substitute Kingsley Coman flicked a cross on to the face of the post.

The match ended in controversy when Saka tried to go round Neuer in the area and fell under his challenge. Replays showed there was definitely contact but the Swedish referee decided Saka had initiated and waved play on.

Saka, and the crowd, were apoplectic but the final whistle blew even as the protests continued. Arsenal had finished with a flourish that will give them hope all is not lost as they prepare to travel to Munich.