🔗 Share this article

The London side needed a strong performance and positive result against a continental giant, but the team surrendered their 2-0 advantage and the victory to Bayern Munich with little resistance, casting their Champions League defence into difficult waters.

Contrasting Outcomes from Last Season

Last season, a inspiring fightback from a goal behind to a 3-2 victory over Bayern in their final group game avenged their opening 5-2 loss to the German opponents and kickstarted their remarkable journey to the final. It represented a pivotal moment in their season, demonstrating a resilience that propelled them to a second Champions League title. Their collapse here showed they are still searching for the fighting spirit that led to victory in May.

Fan Support in Germany

More than 400 Arsenal fans had made the trip to Munich, many gathering at the Hofbräuhaus before the game for their pre-match meet-up. They were placed in a section of the middle tier at the Allianz Arena, but still created an atmosphere, battling against the impressive home crowd of over 15,000 that brought the noise in the lower tier.

Learning from Recent Form

Daphne van Domselaar had stated her team had "given their all" in their hard-fought tie with Chelsea on Saturday. They were "deeply disappointed" by the result against the WSL champions, with controversial officiating bearing the brunt of those disappointments.

The aim, though, was to channel the momentum of that strong performance after halftime to Germany with them. Arsenal had begun poorly against Chelsea. In Munich they stuck to the plan and there was no repetition of that slow start.

Strong Start for Visitors

They started aggressively. Beth Mead was especially lively and caused problems for the Bayern full-back their left-back and the central player Japanese international on the right as Arsenal's high and aggressive pressing proved effective.

It was the forward's attempt that gave Arsenal the advantage in the early stages, the striker's effort unusually parried by the Bayern goalkeeper, Maria Luisa Grohs. Fox was there to head it back over the goalkeeper and in.

Extending the Lead

Arsenal's second goal arrived in the 23rd minute. Bayern's insistence on building from defense had been dangerous and was exploited. Mead cut out Stine Ballisager's stray pass and laid off to Stina Blackstenius, who poked it towards Mariona Caldentey on the penalty area. The talented playmaker took a control to create space from Tanikawa before driving past Grohs.

After Break Turnaround

The energy lessened a little in the final period. The Bayern coach turned to his bench to try to get his team back into the game: the ex-London striker Pernille Harder, whose three goals in October 2024 took the game from 2-2 to 5-2, came on and Arianna Caruso and Turkish talent followed shortly. The final substitute would make Arsenal sweat first, sprinting forward and receiving from Klara Bühl before directing the ball past Van Domselaar.

Complete Turnaround

It was Bayern in the driving seat after the gap narrowed, the home team believing they could get a result from the game. Harder produced, floating a cross in from the edge of the area to level. They did not just want to take something, though: they wanted everything, and shortly after they had the lead, Glodis Viggosdottir scoring at the near post from Bühl's cross. This time it was a sluggish end that let down Arsenal and, with one win from three Champions League games, they have a major challenge ahead.