What happens when the
world’s two best teams tussle? When Arsenal met Bayern Munich in
the Champions
League on Wednesday night, we found out. And the result wasn’t
close.
On Wednesday night, we found out what happens when a seemingly
unstoppable force meets an immovable object. One of them
cracks.
The UEFA Champions League’s heavyweight clash on Matchday 5
pitted the two best teams in Europe against each other, as Arsenal
hosted Bayern
Munich at the Emirates. That’s not just conjecture, either,
with those two sides sitting atop the
Opta Power Rankings:
And with very good reason. Arsenal and Bayern have been Europe’s
standout sides this season, with both looking heavy favourites to
win their domestic league titles.
Mikel Arteta’s side came into the contest on a 15-game unbeaten
run, with eight wins from nine at the Emirates, while Bayern were
unbeaten everywhere, winning 17 of their 18 matches in all
competitions. Together, they had combined to win 32 of their 36
games in 2025-26 on the eve of this clash.
Both teams have been extreme in their dominance, though in
different ways. Arsenal have the best defence in Europe by some
distance. Including this game, they’ve conceded just 0.37 goals per
match in all competitions, and only 0.55 expected
goals per game. Both are by far the best marks of any team
across Europe’s top five leagues.
Bayern, by contrast, have been Europe’s most devastating
attacking side. They’ve already scored 65 goals in 2025-26, 17 more
than PSG in second, averaging a wild 3.4 goals per game. Heading to
the Emirates, they’d scored at least twice in every game this
campaign.
So what happens when those two forces collide? One of them
breaks – but not in the way that many expected.
After a tight and evenly contested first half, which saw
Jurrien Timber‘s header cancelled out by Lennart Karl, Arsenal
blew Bayern away in the second half.
Much of that was down to Mikel Arteta’s substitutions, which
changed the game. Two of them combined to put Arsenal ahead, with
Riccardo Calafiori bursting down the left to cross for Noni
Madueke‘s first Arsenal goal, before
Gabriel Martinelli added a third on the break.
It was very notable that Arsenal grew and grew in strength as
the game wore on, with Bayern barely hanging on at times. Ten of
Arsenal’s 13 shots and six of their seven shots on target came in
the second period, during which they generated 2.3 expected
goals.
It was a total performance. Arsenal were threatening from open
play, devastating in transition and once again dangerous from
set-pieces.
In the end, they amassed 3.11 expected goals on the night, which
is an incredible total against a team of Bayern’s calibre. In the
entire Opta database, Bayern have conceded 3+ xG in a match only
seven times, and last instance came more than three years ago, in
April 2022 against Mainz.
Equally impressively, Arsenal shut down the best attacking unit
in Europe. Bayern managed just eight shots and 0.65 xG, their
lowest return in any match this season. Harry Kane didn’t have a
single shot – the first time in his career he has played 90 minutes
against Arsenal without attempting one. Bayern simply couldn’t
progress the ball into meaningful areas, restricted to just seven
touches in the Arsenal box after half-time.
And Arsenal did all this without three starters: Martin
Ødegaard, Gabriel Magalhães and Viktor Gyökeres. What’s clear is
that there is now no meaningful drop-off when Arteta rotates or
when his bench is called upon. If anything, substitutions make
Arsenal stronger, as was the case on Wednesday.
This was statistically Arsenal’s biggest test of the season, and
they passed it with flying colours. They are the only team in the
Champions League with a perfect record and are six points clear at
the top of the Premier League. The number one team in the world
could very well be holding both trophies come the end of the
season.
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