Neither Serge Gnabry nor Harry Kane made the grade in Arsenal colours during their stints in the Gunners academy, but the Bayern duo certainly left their mark on the Emirates soil during a four-goal thriller, which was sparked into life through Bukayo Saka‘s fine finish.
However, as the magnitude of the occasion weighed heavily on Arsenal’s inexperienced shoulders, Bayern’s individual quality came to the fore, as Gnabry and Kane both returned to North London with a bang to turn the tide for Thomas Tuchel‘s side, who were only denied a pivotal win by super sub Leandro Trossard.
The Bavarians survived a petrifying heart-in-mouth moment right at the death, though, as Manuel Neuer‘s collision with Saka was not deemed penalty worthy – much to the latter’s fury – but the Emirates stalemate certainly benefits Bayern, even with the away goals rule now a thing of the past.
When Bayern took to the North London soil, they retained a weak grasp on their German top-flight title and did all they could to delay Bayer Leverkusen’s coronation with a 2-0 beating of Koln on Saturday, but Die Werkself’s five-star thrashing of Werder Bremen the next day means that the hosts’ 11-year reign of supremacy in the Bundesliga is now history.
The removal of domestic doubt may breathe new life into a Bayern side who now only have European stardom to fight for between now and the end of the season, and the Bavarians have advanced from 17 of their last 18 Champions League knockout ties when avoiding defeat in the first leg, as well as going unbeaten in their last 14 home matches in Europe’s top tournament.
However, Bayern’s sole elimination in that 18-tie sequence came at the hands of English opposition in the 2018-19 season in the shape of Liverpool, whose Premier League slip-up versus Crystal Palace presented Arsenal with a prime opportunity to create some breathing space in the title race.
Expectation quickly became embarrassment for the Gunners faithful, though, as after failing to make their first-half dominance against Aston Villa count, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins‘s strikes meant that Unai Emery had the last laugh against his erstwhile employers.
A handful of glass-half-empty Arsenal fans have already resigned their side to another title failure as Mikel Arteta’s men trail Manchester City by two points following their first Premier League loss of 2024, one which saw Villa weather a first-half storm before getting their reward for their second-45 dominance.
Arteta and co cannot dwell on Sunday’s chastening result for long, though, and the travelling crowd can take encouragement from Arsenal’s spectacular defensive record on rival territory, which has seen the Gunners ship just one goal in their last six away matches and keep clean sheets in each of their last three.
No Gooner needs reminding of the visitors’ previous humiliations on the Allianz Arena turf, though, as Arsenal return to Munich on the back of successive 5-1 away losses to Bayern in 2015 and 2017, and only one of their six away games versus the Bavarians has seen the Gunners prevail. Even then, a 2-0 last-16 second leg success in March 2013 was inconsequential due to the abolished away goals rule, which Bayern cannot rely upon to get over the line here
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Neuer; Kimmich, Dier, De Ligt, Guerreiro; Laimer, Goretzka; Muller, Musiala, Sane; Kane
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli
