• Arsenal manager says change needed to ‘protect our players’
• Accrington chairman open to boycott if ‘enough clubs’ want it

Mikel Arteta insisted that the scrapping of FA Cup replays was necessary to “protect our players” as Accrington Stanley’s chairman said he would support a boycott of the tournament if there was widespread backing.

As the backlash against the abandonment of replays continued, the EFL said clubs lower down the pyramid were being marginalised. Accrington’s Andy Holt tweeted that it was important to fight the change “with all our might” and said: “I would support a boycott if enough clubs feel the same.”

It was a night when Bayern Munich lived up to their assertions that, when the Champions League comes around, they are an altogether different beast. Equally it was a triumph for Thomas Tuchel, who may yet rescue a miserable domestic season with another European trophy and remind any suitors that his star has not waned just yet. Bayern’s certainly remains ablaze and ultimately they deserved to beat Arsenal, who seemed to run out of steam after an accomplished first half, through a fine header from Joshua Kimmich.

Mikel Arteta’s team could not muster a response and must now gather themselves. A run of games that brimmed with promise has not delivered and their season hangs by a thread. When the dust has settled a quarter-final finish will demonstrate clear progress but the swagger with which Bayern expertly shut the tie down shows there is still far to go.

• Champions League updates from the Allianz Arena, kick-off 8pm BST
• Manchester City v Real Madrid – follow it live
• Get in touch with Scott | Live scoreboard – Wednesday’s latest

Arsenal are 90 minutes away – or maybe 90 minutes plus extra time, then possibly a penalty competition – from their first Champions League semi-final since 2009. But good luck predicting how this match is going to go. Arsenal will take a lot of heart from their impressive start and staunch powers of recovery during last week’s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Emirates ; they way they ceded early momentum in that see-saw game will worry them as well. They’re coming off the back of a concerning league defeat at home to Aston Villa; Bayern won’t be in the best frame of mind either having relinquished their decade-long grip on the Bundesliga last weekend. Arsenal are hopeful that Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard will both be fit to start, while Bayern are without Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies; on the other hand, Harry Kane, Harry Kane and Harry Kane. So it’s up in the air. The Gunners went into this tie as favourites, but having not made the most of their home advantage in the first leg, everything’s poised perfectly for a wonderful evening’s entertainment in Munich. The partial may demur but everyone else can kick back with the popcorn, because this could be great fun. Kick-off at the Allianz Arena is at 8pm BST, 9pm local. It’s on!

Sunday’s defeat by Aston Villa has added jeopardy, and Mikel Arteta knows ousting Bayern will take some doing

Arsenal landed in a gusty Munich aiming to show they have not been blown off course. A week is a long time in football and it was only last Tuesday, when Mikel Arteta’s players emerged for their first leg to a rapturous reception at the Emirates, that they were being favoured to dethrone a wobbly Bayern Munich. The picture has clouded since then and there is a sense of being caught between absolutes when the rematch kicks off on Wednesday night.

If Arsenal overcome their depleted hosts, they will have achieved an outcome for the ages and can savour a first Champions League semi-final since 2009. Should Bayern make home advantage and elite-level lineage count, those hovering to sound the death knell on their season will form an orderly queue. At this point of a campaign the lightest breeze can resemble a hurricane, as was amply shown by the reaction to Aston Villa’s victory in north London on Sunday.

We ask whether the teams’ Premier League defeats had been coming, where the problems lie and what the managers must reflect on

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta’s decision to disrupt the formula that has served them so well since the turn of the year backfired spectacularly against an Aston Villa side who came to the Emirates Stadium with a clear gameplan. Kai Havertz looked threatening during the first half as he consistently broke through the lines from his midfield position but Gabriel Jesus was unable to provide the cutting edge in attack as Arsenal faded badly after the break. By contrast, Ollie Watkins was a constant menace and unsettled the usually assured Gabriel Magalhães, while John McGinn and co were able to control possession for Villa against an ineffective Arsenal midfield. But of most concern was how panic seemed to spread among Arteta’s players as they chased the game and were eventually overwhelmed. EA

City have not been at their overwhelming best this season, but they remain immune to the typical anxieties of a title run-in

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There are still only two points in it: Manchester City 73, Arsenal 71, Liverpool 71. It’s not over yet. If the three keep pace for the next five games, it will still be the first season since 1971-72 in which three different sides go into their final game of the season with a chance of winning the title. The hope for anybody seeking a dramatic run-in is that this weekend was just the beginning of a final month of twists and turns. But the sense is that the race has taken a decisive shift towards City and a fourth successive title for Pep Guardiola’s team.

It’s not just that City swept Luton aside 5-1 . You’d expect that; they beat them 6-2 in the FA Cup in February. Nor was it just the fact that Liverpool lost at home to Crystal Palace , the opponent Jürgen Klopp had beaten more than any other, or that Arsenal lost at home to Aston Villa , managed by their former manager Unai Emery, each detail twisting the knife in a little further. It was the way they lost, coming after the way Arsenal had played in drawing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and the way Liverpool had played in losing to Atalanta in the Europa League .

Manchester City are only two points ahead, there are six games remaining, but we know we have seen this movie before

At the final whistle the Emirates ­Stadium was already half empty, the home crowd streaming out into the Sunday gloom.

Mikel Arteta could be seen striding across the turf to applaud the empty pink-red seats, or least those who had remained in theirs right to the end of an afternoon that had kicked off to raucous club anthems, tongues of fire on the touchline, choreographed victory-vibes.

• Defeat by Aston Villa leaves Manchester City top
• ‘We knew this moment could come. It’s about reacting’

Mikel Arteta admitted that Arsenal must “keep believing” they can still win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 after a disastrous 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa handed Manchester City the initiative in the title race.

Late goals from the substitute Leon Bailey and a 19th league strike of the season for Ollie Watkins condemned Arsenal to only their fifth loss of the season. It meant that Arsenal missed the opportunity to return to the top of the table having seen rivals Liverpool also slip up against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

If this was the afternoon when Arsenal let it slip then Mikel Arteta will know they only have themselves to blame. Handed the perfect opportunity to lay down their title credentials after Liverpool had been surprisingly beaten by Crystal Palace , instead it was Aston Villa who celebrated wildly at the final whistle after late goals from substitute Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins delivered a hammer blow to their chances of ending a 20-year wait to be crowned champions.

It was a victory that will have tasted particularly sweet for Unai Emery, who was sacked by Arsenal in November 2019 after just 18 months in charge but is now a step closer to guiding Villa to Champions League qualification next season following this famous victory. Things could have been even worse for the home supporters - most of whom stayed until the bitter end in hope rather than expectation of a comeback - had Watkins and Youri Tielemans not seen their efforts strike the woodwork either side of half-time.