Arsenal's first Uefa Champions League quarterfinal since 2010 pits them against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, the team who ended their last campaign in the competition in emphatic style. Catch the action live on SuperSport at 21:00 CAT.
Bayern have won seven of the teams' 12 contests – the last three all by a 5-1 scoreline, including the most recent tie in the round of 16 seven seasons ago.
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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.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Arsenal wins 3
Bayern wins 7
Draws 2
Arsenal goals 13
Bayern goals 27
The last of the teams' 12 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.
FORM GUIDE
ARSENAL
Record v German clubs: W18 D6 L16 F67 A64
Home record v German clubs: W12 D1 L7
This is 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 made it six defeats in Arsenal's last nine home matches against German teams.
The win in Frankfurt is one of only two in Arsenal's last seven games against Bundesliga clubs, a sequence that includes five defeats. They have managed six victories in their last 18 matches against clubs from Germany (D2 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 11 of their last 14 home European matches, losing only one.
However, the Gunners had lost five successive home knockout games in the Champions League – conceding 15 goals while scoring only three – prior to beating Porto. Their previous home knockout victory was a 3-0 second-leg defeat of AC Milan in the 2011/12 round of 16, a tie they lost 4-3 on aggregate.
BAYERN MUNICH
Record v English clubs: W27 D18 L16 F111 A78
Away record v English clubs: W9 D9 L9
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).
Bayern 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 German side have suffered three defeats in their last nine away games against English clubs (W4 D2).
Three of Bayern's four victories in that nine-match sequence have come in London – at Arsenal in the 2016/17 round of 16 second leg (5-1), Tottenham in the 2019/20 group stage (7-2) and Chelsea in the round of 16 first leg in the same campaign (3-0).
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 loss at City ended Bayern's six-game unbeaten away run in knockout games against English clubs (W4 D2).
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).