Arsenal maintained their 100% record in the 2025-26 Champions League with a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich.
Despite having just 40% of the ball, Mikel Arteta’s side were able to dominate the game. They created seven big chances and generated 2.72 Expected Goals. Bayern, meanwhile, created only one big chance and 0.69 xG.
This was a tactical affair of the highest order. Positional rotations happened all over the pitch. Man-oriented pressing schemes were deployed with high intensity. And there was technical quality in every zone.
In this article, we’ll cover
Set-piece opener
Arsenal have already scored 14 goals from set-pieces this season. Another vital one came against Bayern, with Jurrien Timber heading home from close range.
A sea of bodies swarming the back post has become one of Nicolas Jover’s main routines at Arsenal.
As they all ran across to swarm the six yard box, Bukayo Saka put a lovely ball into the box. Timber was on the end of it, having curved his run through the bodies, across the goalkeeper to find himself free at the near post.
Cristhian Mosquera played a key part in this too. He did just enough to stop Harry Kane getting closer to Timber, with Manuel Neuer also unable to make first contact.
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Kane causing problems
Kane has scored 24 goals in 19 appearances across all competitions so far this season. And many expected him to be the one to hurt Arsenal on the night.
In the first half, we saw why the 32-year-old was a danger even without touching the ball. The position he picked up between the lines gave William Saliba constant questions to answer.
As Arsenal tried to transition from their lower 4-4-2 press into a more aggressive high press, it was Saliba’s job to follow Kane even deep into his own half. Which, of course, left gaps to be exploited elsewhere.
Lennart Karl’s equaliser to make it 1-1 perfectly illustrated this. Without touching the ball, Kane’s positioning between the lines was a clear reference point for Saliba. The Frenchman was shifting his body orientation towards the England forward.
And it was this moment that Joshua Kimmich picked out a beautifully weighted pass into Serge Gnabry. The German was then able to put it across the box where Karl was arriving in the space Saliba perhaps could have cut out, had he not been on the front foot to watch Kane.
It was a moment of pure quality that hurt Arsenal, with three perfectly executed actions. So it’s likely a situation where Arteta will be happy to give a round of applause.
Second half pressing tweak
The idea to press with intensity was there from the start. Arsenal wanted to ensure there was constant pressure on the ball, even when being forced to defend in a low 4-4-2.
However, in the first half, Bayern were able to find settled possession at times. Kimmich could drop between the centre-backs to overload the Arsenal front two, stunting the Gunners’ press. As was seen for Bayern’s goal.
The second half saw a slightly tighter instruction for Mikel Merino on Kimmich. The Spaniard looked to stop him getting on the ball and allowing Bayern to get settled possession.
Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke were tasked on taking the split central defenders of Bayern, with the left-side making jumps to go man for man. Myles Lewis-Skelly jumped onto Josip Stanisic, Mosquera shifted over to Michael Olise and Declan Rice covered the space behind for Karl to exploit.
Devestating final blow
The game was still level midway through teh second half, when Arteta introduced a double change of Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Martinell. This was a risk at the time, as Arsenal were clearly on top executing their press very well. But those fresh legs proved to be profitable.
Just one minute after joining the action, Calafiori went rampaging forward after the Gunners forced a turnover. The Italian flashed a ball across the box for Madueke to slot home.
The third goal to put the nail in the coffin was scored by Martinelli. Eze received the ball in a deeper zone from a Bayern turnover, allowing him to pick his head up and release the Brazilian in behind.
From there, Martinelli did the rest. He took the ball Neuer who came rushing out around 40 yards from his goal, before calmly slotting it into the empty net.
Arteta has referred to Martinelli in particular as a “finisher” when speaking about the impact those substitutes can have coming from the bench.
Against Bayern, it was the finishers who earned all three points. It allowed Arsenal to stamp authority on their excellent second-half performance with a victory over one of the best teams in Europe.
