Bayern München welcome Arsenal to Germany for the concluding leg of the teams' Uefa Champions League quarterfinal with the tie level at 2-2 after a gripping contest in north London.
Arsenal struck first on 9 April, Bukayo Saka giving them a 12th-minute lead, but two familiar faces turned the match in Bayern's favour before halftime. Former Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry levelled with 18 minutes on the clock before Harry Kane – formerly of Arsenal's local rivals Tottenham Hotspur – slotted in from the spot on 32 minutes after Leroy Sané had been felled by William Saliba. Just as it looked as if Bayern would make it eight wins in 13 games against the Gunners, however, Arsenal substitute Leandro Trossard restored parity with 14 minutes left – although the visitors might still have been victorious, Kingsley Coman hitting the post in added time.
This is Arsenal's first Champions League quarterfinal since 2010, against a Bayern team who ended their last campaign in the competition in emphatic style. Before drawing at the Arsenal Stadium in the first leg, the German club had won three successive matches against the London side by a 5-1 scoreline, including the most recent tie in the round of 16 seven seasons ago.
The Gunners came through a penalty shoot-out against Porto in this season's round of 16 to reach the last eight for the first time in 14 years, while Bayern are making a record 22nd Champions League quarterfinal appearance and a 12th in 13 years having beaten Lazio in the previous round.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal were first in Group B before edging past Porto, ending a run of seven successive defeats in the Champions League round of 16. Bayern also won their section in the autumn and then overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Lazio 3-1 on aggregate in their first knockout tie.
Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund book their spots in the #UCL semifinals ✅ pic.twitter.com/hLzNDzmOhM
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) April 16, 2024
Previous meetings
- Bayern wins 7
- Arsenal wins 3
- Draws 3
- Bayern goals 29
- Arsenal goals 15
The last of the teams' fixtures before this tie came in the 2016/17 round of 16, when Bayern won 5-1 in both Munich and London.
Arjen Robben's 11th-minute opener in the first leg in Munich was cancelled out on the half-hour by Alexis Sánchez but Bayern produced a clinical second-half showing, taking control of the tie thanks to goals from Robert Lewandowski (53), Thiago Alcántara (56, 63) and Thomas Müller (88).
Theo Walcott's 20th-minute strike gave Arsenal a glimmer of hope in the north London return but a red card for Laurent Koscielny for conceding the penalty from which Lewandowski levelled (55) turned the tide, Bayern running away with it in the final quarter of the match with strikes from Robben (68), Douglas Costa (78) and Arturo Vidal (80, 85).
That made it three successive 5-1 victories for Bayern against Arsenal, who had gone down by that scoreline in Germany in the 2015/16 group stage. Arsenal had beat Bayern 2-0 in north London with Olivier Giroud and Mesut Özil on target but goals from Müller (2), David Alaba and Robben earned an emphatic home win in Munich. Giroud again scored for Arsenal.
All of the teams' meetings have come since 2000/01, Bayern eliminating Arsenal in the round of 16 in 2004/05, 2012/13 and 2013/14.
Arsenal, with a side featuring current manager Arteta, drew 1-1 at Fußball Arena München in the 2013/14 round of 16 second leg when Lukas Podolski, returning to his former club, equalised within two minutes of Bastian Schweinsteiger putting the hosts ahead. Arsenal went out of the competition having lost 2-0 at home, with Toni Kroos (54) and Müller (88) on the scoresheet.
The previous season's contest at Arsenal Stadium was won 3-1 by Bayern, Kroos (7) and Müller (21) again scoring. Podolski's 55th-minute goal gave Arsenal hope, but Mario Mandžukić (77) restored the visitors' two-goal advantage.
Giroud and Koscielny scored as the Gunners won 2-0 in Germany but Bayern advanced on away goals. Arteta played 90 minutes in each leg.
The other two meetings in London ended in a 1-0 Arsenal win in the 2004/05 round of 16 second leg thanks to Thierry Henry's goal, although they lost the tie 3-2 on aggregate, and a 2-2 draw in the 2000/01 second group stage. Bayern subsequently won 1-0 in Germany.
Two semi-final spots remain 🧐#UCL pic.twitter.com/W4A9BOsaGn
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 17, 2024
Form guide
Bayern
Record v English clubs: W27 D19 L16 F113 A80
Home record v English clubs: W17 D7 L4
Bayern's 2022/23 European campaign was ended by Manchester City, who were 4-1 aggregate winners in their Champions League quarterfinal (0-3 a, 1-1 h).
The German club already have two wins against English opposition in 2023/24, beating Manchester United 4-3 in Munich on Matchday 1 and 1-0 in Manchester on Matchday 6.
The win against United in Munich means Bayern have lost only one of their last ten home matches against English clubs in Germany, winning seven; the sole defeat in that sequence was a 3-1 loss to Liverpool in the 2018/19 round of 16 second leg.
That 2019 defeat by Liverpool ended Bayern's four-match winning run at home to Premier League clubs. Prior to that they had not prevailed in four matches in Bavaria, including a defeat on penalties by Chelsea in the 2012 final.
Despite losing to Manchester City at this stage of last season's Champions League, Bayern have won six of their last eight two-legged ties against English clubs; their overall record is W11 L7. A 3-1 aggregate loss to Liverpool in the 2018/19 round of 16 (0-0 a, 1-3 h) is their only other defeat since losing to Chelsea in the 2004/05 quarterfinals (2-4 a, 3-2 h).
Last season's draw with City made Bayern's home record in Champions League knockout games against English clubs W7 D2 L2.
Bayern's European Cup quarterfinal record is W20 L13.
This is Bayern's 22nd appearance in the Champions League quarterfinals – a competition record, two more than Real Madrid.
Bayern have lost more European Cup quarterfinals than any other club, the 13 defeats including the last three.
The Munich side have featured in the Champions League in every season since 2008/09, reaching the knockout rounds in each one of those campaigns.
Overall, this is Bayern's 27th campaign in the Champions League proper, level with Porto and fewer only than Barcelona and Real Madrid (both 28).
Bayern are unbeaten in a record 40 Champions League group matches (W36 D4) and had won 17 successive group games, also a competition best, before being held 0-0 at home by Copenhagen on Matchday 5 this season.
Bayern followed an opening 4-3 win at home against Manchester United with a 2-1 victory in Copenhagen and then beat Galatasaray in both Istanbul (3-1) and Munich (2-1) before their winning run was ended by the Danish champions. They concluded their campaign with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.
Thomas Tuchel's side then went down 1-0 at Lazio in the round of 16 first leg but turned round the tie with a 3-0 victory in Munich in which Harry Kane scored twice.
Kane has seven goals in this season's competition, making him the competition's top scorer ahead of the quarterfinal second legs.
In 2022/23, under Julian Nagelsmann, the Munich club became the first team to win all six games in the group stage on three occasions. They finished ahead of Inter Milan, Barcelona and Viktoria Plzeň in Group C before ousting Paris in the round of 16 (1-0 a, 2-0 h) only, with Tuchel having succeeded Nagelsmann, to come up short against eventual champions City in the quarterfinals.
A 3-2 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020/21 quarterfinal first leg ended Bayern's run of eight successive home Champions League victories and is one of only four of their last 23 matches in the competition in Munich they have not won. The others were 1-1 second-leg draws against Villarreal and Manchester City in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 quarterfinals respectively, both results spelling elimination from the competition.
Tuchel's team responded to their Champions League elimination by winning Bayern's 11th successive Bundesliga title, pipping Borussia Dortmund on the final day of the season.
The six-time European champions – who claimed their fifth European Cup in 2013 at Wembley, the venue for this season's final – have been eliminated in the last eight in the last three seasons but have reached the quarterfinals or better in 11 of their last 12 Champions League campaigns, the exception the last-16 elimination by Liverpool in 2018/19.
Bayern have won all but three of the 25 Uefa ties in which they drew the first leg away from home including the most recent, against Salzburg in the 2021/22 Champions League round of 16 (1-1 a, 7-1 h). Two of those three defeats have come against Liverpool, latterly in the 2018/19 Champions League round of 16 (0-0 a, 1-3 a).
The German club have won two of the three ties in which they drew 2-2 away in the first leg, against Aberdeen in the 2007/08 Uefa Cup round of 32 (5-2 h) and Juventus in the 2015/16 Champions League round of 16 (4-2 h aet) having lost the first such tie, to AC Milan in the Champions League quarterfinals in 2006/07 (0-2 h).
Bayern's record in six Uefa penalty shoot-outs is W5 L1:
- 4-3 v Åtvidaberg, 1973/74 European Cup first round
- 9-8 v PAOK, 1983/84 Uefa Cup second round
- 5-4 v Valencia, 2000/01 Uefa Champions League final
- 3-1 v Real Madrid, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League semifinal
- 3-4 v Chelsea, 2011/12 Uefa Champions League final
- 5-4 v Chelsea, 2013 Uefa Super Cup
Arsenal
Record v German clubs: W18 D7 L16 F69 A66
Away record v German clubs: W6 D5 L9
The first leg was Arsenal's first fixture against a German club since the 2019/20 Uefa Europa League group stage, when they won 3-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 1 but lost 2-1 at home on Matchday 5.
That away win ended Arsenal's four-game losing streak in Germany.
The win in Frankfurt is one of only two in Arsenal's last eight games against Bundesliga clubs, a sequence that includes five defeats. They have managed six victories in their last 19 matches against clubs from Germany (D3 L10).
Arsenal's record in two-legged ties against German clubs is W3 L5. They have lost the last four – all against Bayern – and five of the last six, the exception a 6-2 aggregate success against Werder Bremen in the 1999/2000 Uefa Cup quarterfinals (2-0 h, 4-2 a).
Arsenal's record in European Cup quarterfinals is W2 L5:
- 2009/10 Barcelona L 3-6 (2-1 h, 1-4 a)
- 2008/09 Villarreal W 4-1 (1-1 a, 3-0 h)
- 2007/08 Liverpool L 3-5 (1-1 h, 2-4 a)
- 2005/06 Juventus W 2-0 (2-0 h, 0-0 a)
- 2003/04 Chelsea L 2-3 (1-1 a, 1-2 h)
- 2000/01 Valencia L 2-2 away goals (2-1 h, 0-1 a)
- 1971/72 Ajax L 1-3 (1-2 a, 0-1 h)
This is Arsenal's 20th Champions League campaign – second only to Manchester United's 25 among English clubs – but a first since 2016/17, their 19th in a row, all under Arsène Wenger.
In that 2016/17 campaign, the Gunners lost in the round of 16 for the seventh season running, going down 5-1 away and at home against Bayern.
Arsenal's most successful European campaign in recent years came in 2018/19 when, with Unai Emery in charge, they reached the Europa League final only to lose 4-1 to London rivals Chelsea in Baku.
In 2022/23, now coached by Arteta, Arsenal finished first in their Europa League section to earn direct passage to the round of 16, where they lost on penalties to Sporting CP (1-1 a, 2-2 h).
This season, after marking their return to the Champions League with a 4-0 home win against PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal went down 2-1 at Lens on Matchday 2 but won the next three, against Sevilla (2-1 a, 2-0 h) and Lens (6-0 h) – in the latter match, Arsenal became the first side to have five different scorers in the first half of a Champions League game. They concluded Group B with a 1-1 draw in Eindhoven.
The London club were beaten 1-0 at Porto in the round of 16 first leg but won at home by the same scoreline and then went through 4-2 on penalties.
Arsenal have won 12 of their last 21 away European matches, losing only four – although those defeats have come in their last nine fixtures.
The Matchday 3 win at Sevilla was one of just four in the Gunners' last 12 away Champions League matches, with six defeats.
Arsenal's record in Uefa competition ties when they have drawn the first leg at home is W4 L4, the last such tie against Slavia Praha in the 2020/21 Uefa Europa League quarterfinals (1-1 h, 4-0 a) ending a run of three successive defeats. They have drawn only one previous tie 2-2 at home in the first leg, against Barcelona in the 2009/10 Champions League quarterfinals; they lost the second leg 4-1.
Arsenal's record in six Uefa penalty shoot-outs is W3 L3:
- 4-5 v Valencia, 1979/80 European Cup Winners' Cup final
- 3-2 v Sampdoria, 1994/95 Uefa Cup Winners' Cup semifinal
- 1-4 v Galatasaray, 1999/2000 Uefa Cup final
- 7-6 v Roma, 2008/09 Uefa Champions League round of 16
- 3-5 v Sporting CP, 2022/23 Uefa Europa League round of 16
- 4-2 v Porto, 2023/24 Uefa Champions League round of 16.