Arsenal vs Bayern Munich | 2023/24 CL

Arsenal drew with Bayern Munich 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal last Tuesday. Mikel Arteta’s men managed to salvage a draw after having fallen behind 1-2, as Leandro Trossard equalized for them.

Bukayo Saka scored the first goal of the match for the Gunners, but Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane scored in succession to put the German giants ahead. Bayern Munich have traditionally been a bogey team for Arsenal, but the North London club came up with a better performance last Tuesday. Let us now take a look at three takeaways from the match:

1. Arsenal Were The More Dominant Team In The Match

The Gunners showed no signs of being bogged down by their poor record against the Bavarians in the Champions League. Instead, they dominated the match for the most part, ending with 60% ball-possession. Their front three, especially their wingers, Saka and Gabriel Martinelli moved inside repeatedly to keep the opposition defence under pressure.

Arsenal vs Bayern Munich, Bukayo Saka — Image Obtained via GOAL

Saka, yet again, underlined his class by finishing superbly past Manuel Neuer with his left foot after having moved inside. The North Londoners were also quite successful with their substitutions in the second half as Gabriel Jesus provided an assist to Leandro Trossard, who shot first time to equalise to keep the home side’s hopes alive in the tie.

2. Some Lazy Defending By Arsenal Allowed Bayern Munich To Bounce Back

As good as the Gunners were in terms of their attacking play, their usually reliable defence was not at its best on the day. First, Gabriel failed to stop Gnabry from taking his shot at the goal and then William Saliba came up with a somewhat lazy tackle to stop Leroy Sane and thus concede a penalty.

Arsenal Vs Bayern Munich 2-2
Was there a last minute penalty???
Insane goals from Bukayo Saka, Serge Gnabry, Harry Kane and Leandro Trossard☄️☄️👏 pic.twitter.com/uP8ByB3Ger

— MessiTheGoat (@MessiXtheGoat) April 10, 2024

That lazy tackle resulted in a penalty that Harry Kane converted to score his 39th goal of the season in only 38 matches. Arsenal’s centre-backs, who have been superb throughout the season, thus chose a wrong day to come up with an underwhelming performance.

3. The Second Leg Should Be Tough For The Gunners

A trip to Bayern Munich in a week’s time is not going to be easy for Arsenal. The Bundesliga side are one of the strongest sides in Europe and overcoming them at their own backyard in the Champions League quarterfinal is an unenviable task.

However, it is not possible to attain European glory without going through such challenging nights. It remains to be seen if Mikel Arteta’s men are up to it. Still, Bayern Munich will remain the slight favourites to go through to the semifinal.

Follow AD for the Latest Matchday Updates on Arsenal.