The London side required a strong display and favorable outcome against a European powerhouse, but the team surrendered their 2-0 advantage and the victory to Bayern Munich far too easily, plunging their Champions League defence into tricky waters.
In the previous campaign, a battling comeback from a goal behind to a narrow win over Bayern in their last group stage match avenged their opening 5-2 loss to the German opponents and kickstarted their remarkable journey to the final. It marked a turning point in their season, showing a mental toughness that propelled them to a second Champions League title. Their breakdown here demonstrated they are still searching for the fighting spirit that ensured success in May.
More than 400 Arsenal fans had traveled to Munich, many gathering at the city's famous beer hall before the game for their pre-match meet-up. They were shoved into a corner of the middle tier at the Allianz Arena, but still made their voices heard, competing with the vocal local supporters of over 15,000 that made their presence felt in the lower tier.
The Arsenal goalkeeper had stated her team had "showed everything we had" in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday. They were "devastated" by the outcome against the WSL champions, with controversial officiating receiving much criticism of those disappointments.
The goal, though, was to channel the momentum of that impressive second-half display to Germany with them. Arsenal had begun poorly against Chelsea. In Munich they stuck to the plan and there was no repetition of that slow start.
They opened on the front foot. Beth Mead was particularly energetic and created difficulties for the Bayern full-back their left-back and the central player Momoko Tanikawa on the right as Arsenal's high and aggressive pressing reaped its rewards.
It was the forward's attempt that gave Arsenal the advantage in the early stages, the striker's effort strangely pushed away by the Bayern goalkeeper, the German shot-stopper. The midfielder was there to nod the ball back over the goalkeeper and in.
Arsenal's second goal arrived midway through the half. Bayern's insistence on building from defense had been risky and was exploited. The winger cut out Stine Ballisager's stray pass and passed to the Swedish striker, who poked it towards Mariona Caldentey on the penalty area. The talented playmaker took a touch to create space from the defender before lashing past Grohs.
The intensity dropped a little in the final period. The Bayern coach made substitutions to try to get his team back into the game: the former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder, whose hat-trick in October 2024 turned the match from 2-2 to 5-2, entered and Italian midfielder and Turkish talent followed shortly. The final substitute would cause problems first, sprinting forward and collecting from Klara Bühl before guiding the ball past Van Domselaar.
It was Bayern in the ascendancy after the gap narrowed, the home team believing they could take something from the game. Harder delivered, clipping a looping ball in from the penalty box to equalize. They did not just want to take something, though: they wanted everything, and six minutes later they had the advantage, Glodis Viggosdottir scoring at the front post from Bühl's cross. This time it was a poor finish that let down Arsenal and, with one win from their European matches, they have a big job ahead.
Milan is een ervaren opticien met een passie voor visuele technologie en klantgerichtheid.
