The odds were stacked up against them, but Arsenal put in a valiant performance at Stade Louis II in their clash with Monaco, winning 2-0. Nonetheless, the score line wasn't enough, and the Ligue 1 side secured progression at the expense of the Gunners thanks to away goals.
Goals from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey handed the London side hope of a comeback, but they were unable to overturn the 3-1 deficit inflicted upon them in the first leg tie at the Emirates.
Fans of the north London club were pleased with the performance, but a decision made by manager Arsene Wenger left many perplexed, some outraged. Why didn't Ramsey start the game?
The Welshman, who started on the bench in Tuesday's game, excelled in Saturday's 3-0 win over West Ham, and given his undeniable goalscoring threat, was expected to be in the lineup.
However, he was demoted to the bench, and the fact that he found the back of the net after coming in for Francis Coquelin had many questioning whether Le Prof made a huge tactical error in the Champions League round of 16 fixture.
Check out some reactions and tweets by Arsenal fans after the final whistle.
Why Wenger didn't you start Ramsey is the question!
— Gordon (@Arsenal_Supremo) March 17, 2015
Ramsey should've started
— . (@OneLilChilean) March 17, 2015
Knew Ramsey would score, why doesn't Wenger start him more, love him as a player.
— Chris Goodman (@avfcgoodie) March 17, 2015
Wenger's forgotten about the time difference in France and put Ramsey on the pitch an hour late
— BZ (@Formidaballer) March 17, 2015
Ramsey definitely shouldve started. His impact was known straightaway.
— RightInDebuchy (@EmanDaGoon) March 17, 2015
I'm convinced we'd have gone through if Ramsey started.
— DaG (@Wrighty_8) March 17, 2015
Please tell me why you didn't start Ramsey?! Wow wenger is clueless!!
— Jake Avery (@JakeAvery4) March 17, 2015
Wenger has no trust in Ramsey anymore. Even after his best performance in over a year he's been dropped.
— Ollie (@AFCOllie) March 17, 2015
Ramsey, after the game, lamented his frustrations with Arsenal's inability to get past the last 16 in the Champions League, saying:
"We've always played Bayern Munich, Barcelona and teams like that and no disrespect to Monaco but we thought we'd have a real good opportunity of qualifying but we gave ourselves a tough task to do from the first game.
"We've come here and we've nearly done it but that seems to be the case every year."
