Formerly Manchester City colleagues, currently league-winning managers, Vincent Kompany and Mikel Arteta reunite on the Allianz Arena touchline once more when Bayern Munich and Arsenal square off in Wednesday’s must-watch Champions League contest.
The Bundesliga champions chaotically dropped two points in an engrossing 3-3 draw with Viking FK on matchday two, whereas the Gunners produced another second-half show to sink Lille 3-0 in the English capital.
A Scandinavian slaughter preceded a Scandinavian setback for Bayern Munich in the Champions League, as after kicking off their bid for European Cup number seven with a 5-0 trouncing of Bodo/Glimt, Kompany’s men just about staved off the shock of almighty shocks on match day two.
The Bavarians recovered from going 2-0 down to lead Norway’s Viking FK 3-2 heading into the dying embers, but with no fewer than 90 minutes on the clock, Herman Haugen’s header stole a historic point for the Eliteserien giants.
Michael Olise’s quickfire red card for two bookable offences which rules the electrifying Frenchman out of today’s game was a “stupid mistake” that contributed to Bayern’s concession of two points, in Kompany’s eyes, as the Bundesliga holders went winless in back-to-back contests after also being held to a 2-2 draw by Augsburg.
However, today’s hosts returned to their ruthless ways over the weekend, crushing RB Leipzig 6-1 at the Allianz Arena thanks in no small part to a Luis Diaz hat-trick, as well as a customary goal and two assists for Harry Kane.
Still unbeaten in all tournaments in 2026-27, Bayern have racked up a staggering 25 goals across their last six games and now set out to find the back of the net for the 24th Champions League game running.
Furthermore, the Bavarians have strung together an extraordinary 39-game unbeaten run in Champions League group stage/league phase home matches, winning 37 of them since a 3-2 loss to Man City in December 2013; Kompany was an unused Sky Blues substitute that day.
While only Paris Saint-Germain (10), Barcelona and Aston Villa (nine each) have netted more than Bayern’s eight UCL goals thus far, Arsenal’s underwhelming total of four makes the Gunners the worst attacking team in the top 10 of the league-phase table.
However, Arteta’s men are the only side yet to concede a goal in the 2026-27 tournament a statistic that will surprise few after following up their 1-0 Napoli triumph with a more emphatic lashing of Lille.
A seven-minute flurry saw Jurrien Timber, Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka down Les Dogues, giving Arsenal their 14th successive victory in the Champions League league phase – seven at home and seven away.
Consecutive win number three in all competitions also arrived for the Premier League champions on Sunday, although Arteta once again had to turn to the bench for decisive inspiration, as Noni Madueke’s deflected 80th-minute strike sufficed for a 1-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest.
The ex-Chelsea winger was memorably on target when Arsenal bested Bayern 3-1 at the Emirates a little over 12 months ago, but the Gunners have lost on their last three visits to the Allianz Arena, only prevailing once when Arteta captained his club to a 2-0 last-16 second-leg win in 2012-13.
Booked for a cynical foul before needlessly throwing the ball into the face of Viking’s Zlatko Tripic, Olise must now serve a one-match suspension; 18-year-old wonderkid Lennart Karl is the favourite to deputise over ex-Arsenal product Serge Gnabry.
Kompany is also expected to make do without Jamal Musiala owing to his ongoing thigh problem, while defender Kim Min-jae – recently linked with a transfer to Arsenal – is a doubt after being forced off with an unspecified injury in the 77th minute of the Leipzig thumping.
On a positive note, Bayern are confident that 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be fit to return in between the posts, after sitting out the weekend’s triumph with a foot issue.
Set to face Arsenal for the 23rd time in his career, Kane has found the net 15 times in his previous 22 matches against the Gunners, although he has drawn blanks in his last two appearances vs. the reigning English champions.
Meanwhile, the Premier League champions have no disciplinary concerns to worry about for Wednesday’s blockbuster battle, which Martin Zubimendi is fit for after recovering from a minor ankle problem.
Madueke for Eberechi Eze the critical change Arteta made at half time at the City Ground is virtually guaranteed, while Jurrien Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Viktor Gyokeres are also candidates for promotion.
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
Read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
