In the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, Arsenal created a massive hole for itself to get out of.

Despite being home against a "weak" Monaco side, the team wound up losing 3-1 and found itself with only one possibility toward advancing -- three-goal victory or bust.

The team did all it could to overcome the deficit but ultimately came up short despite a 2-0 victory in the tie.

Here is what we learned from the thrilling knockout match:

Gunners Ready

Arsenal knew the task at hand. And by all accounts, considering the way the team played in the first leg, it was an impossible mission.

But you wouldn't have know that by the way Arsenal attacked the first half of the game. There was desperation from the English side as they mounted one attack after another on the Monaco side, eventually breaking through with an emphatic goal from Olivier Giroud in the 35th.

After that goal, the team managed to find yet another gear and had a plethora of chances to extend the lead before halftime. One could feel that Monaco was about to implode with another goal against, but, alas, the team was saved by the whistle. At one point, Alexis Sanchez was pulled down inside the box and should have gotten a penalty, but instead he was given a wrongful yellow card.

Monaco Responds

Arsenal sent one wave after another in the first half, overwhelming a team that was in first control of the tie. The French side looked ready to implode in the first half, but the second period of play saw a more structured approached with Arsenal finding less space moving forward. At one point, the Gunners could not string together more than one consecutive pass and Monaco looked far more composed moving forward. At one point inside the first 15 of the half, Joao Moutinho gave Arsenal's defense headaches and looked likely to score a goal and essentially kill the tie.

So strong was the defending that Arsene Wenger's side struggled to even cross from the flanks. Monaco constantly sent out two men to challenge the wingers, consistently forcing them to the outside or to simply pass back to an open man further away from the penalty area.

The team did make a mistake on the Ramsey goal, but, shortly after enduring a wave of pressure from Arsenal, the French side found composure and started to waste valuable minutes in Arsenal's end.

Aaron Ramsey the Hero

But Monaco's defending would not hold up for long in front of a desperate Arsenal side that needed two goals with less than 15 minutes to go. At one point, the team found a space along the left flank and a cross dropped to an open Nacho Monreal who hit the post. It seemed that that would be Arsenal's luck all night long, but a poor clearing attempt fell to Aaron Ramsey who notched in the second crucial goal to tie the aggregate and put Arsenal one goal away from advancing.

Ramsey was the catalyst that managed to turn around Arsenal's game from his arrival midway through the second half. Prior to his substitution into the game, the Gunners lacked passing cohesion as Monaco's intense pressure managed to unsettle them. However, Ramsey's creativity and strong runs allowed his team the necessary space to make plays. It was almost a different team with Ramsey on the pitch.

Unfortunately, he could not manage to get the team through to the next round despite his best efforts, but his work in this match proved him to be a major catalyst on this team.