A mouth-watering prospect lies in store on Wednesday night as Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich in a clash between two of the heavyweights in the Champions League.
When the new, extended group stage format for this competition arrived a couple of years ago a few people questioned whether more matches – eight as opposed to the previous tally of six – would dilute the quality of matches.
But you only have to look at this week’s glut of games to dispel that particular theory. Back-to-back winners Paris Saint-Germain face off against Barcelona on Tuesday to get the juices flowing before Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Bavaria 24 hours later for a game that, at least on paper, has everything.Vincent Kompany’s side are yet to taste defeat in 2026-27.
They’ve won seven and drawn three of ten matches so far, with one of those stalemates coming in this competition just last week as Norwegian side Viking sprang a monumental surprise in a barnstorming 3-3 draw.
They actually led 2-0 only for Munich to propel themselves 3-2 up. But the debutants had another surprise up their sleeves as they scored a stoppage time equaliser. Bayern bounced back with a thumping 6-1 win in the league on Saturday, disposing comfortably of RB Leipzig to maintain top spot in the Bundesliga.
As for the Gunners, it’s three wins on the spin heading into this one. They recorded a slender but deserved 1-0 win in the Premier League away at Nottingham Forest where they had to show their grit. That made it an impressive 10 wins out of 11 in all competitions this term with the only blot on their copybook a surprise but ultimately deserved 3-0 setback at Brighton just before the international break.
Arsenal’s challenge is a mighty one and key to getting any kind of positive result will be how they cope with a familiar foe: Harry Kane.The England hitman has been in typically prolific form this term, and has 11 goals in as many games for club and country so far.
The former Spurs man has a brilliant record against his old rivals with 15 goals in 22 games and he’ll be itching to improve that tally on Wednesday. Speaking ahead of the game, the 33-year-old England captain said: “When you’re playing against one of the best teams in Europe, you always have to savour moments like this. We’re up for the challenge. We’re playing here at home – the energy, the fans – it’s sure to be a special night.”
