2012/13: The two teams met in the Round of 16 last year too. The tie appeared to be decided after the first leg, a 3-1 away win for Bayern on 19 February in what was only the club’s third ever victory on English soil. Wenger was and still is in charge of Arsenal, who had two German internationals in their team in Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski. However, not even their inside knowledge was able to prevent the hosts being completely overpowered. "For 35 minutes Bayern put on a display of top-class European football", praised Kicker afterwards. Toni Kroos broke the deadlock in the seventh minute and Thomas Müller grabbed a second in the 21st minute, but Bayern could easily have had more prior to half time. A rare headed goal by Podolski ten minutes after the restart raised Arsenal's hopes again before Mario Mandzukic settled matters with Bayern’s third in the 77th minute. The club celebrated with a banquet at 'The Landmark' hotel, the same location of Germany's team party following their EURO 96 triumph. "Perhaps it’s a good sign that we’ve still got a long way to go [in the competition] this season", said Rummenigge.
After such a comprehensive victory, thoughts may have inevitably wandered further ahead than they should have, and it almost came back to haunt Bayern in the return fixture. The 68,000 expectant home fans were left stunned when French striker Olivier Giroud pounced on David Alaba’s slip-up to put Arsenal in front after just three minutes. Leading Borussia Dortmund in the league by 20 points at the time, Bayern were not used to going behind and were even more unaccustomed to defeat. Yet despite having 54 per cent of possession, winning 56 per cent of all challenges, earning six corners to Arsenal’s one and having an equal number of goalscoring chances - four apiece - Bayern lost. The game was a fairly dull spectacle and the likelihood of their elimination appeared remote until the 85th minute, when defender Laurent Koscielny headed the visitors 2-0 up, creating a nail-biting finale. "I'm shocked at how anyone can play football like that", said honorary president Franz Beckenbauer subsequently. Matthias Sammer, who rarely admonished the team in public in his first year as sporting director, said: "We can’t allow ourselves to get stuck in a rut." They need not have worried. The defeat was the trigger for Bayern's treble success, with the team winning all of their remaining matches that season.
2013/14: Bayern have already beaten Arsenal this term, returning home from the last 16 first leg tie in England with a 2-0 victory thanks to stunning goals from Kroos and Müller. To be continued on Wednesday.
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Matches between Bayern Munich and Arsenal may not yet be steeped in tradition, but ahead of their eighth Champions League meeting tonight (from 20:45, live on Sky), the trend is distinctly in the Bavarians' favour: Bayern have always had the upper hand in the knockout rounds and are unbeaten against the English side in the group stages. Historian Udo Muras analyses a classic-in-the-making for DFB.de.
Season 2000/01: Bayern's path to glory in this campaign arrived via a second four-team group stage, as was the competition format back then. As runners-up in the English league the previous season, Arsenal were the favourites to top Group C and had knocked out Werder Bremen the year before. Arsené Wenger, who had been in charge of the team for five years by that point, had 13 internationals from nine different countries in his highly-talented squad.
Kicker magazine described the Londoners as "a team full of stars" and though it may be hard to believe, current FC Augsburg custodian Alex Manninger was in goal for Arsenal on 5 December 2000 as England international goalkeeper David Seaman was injured. The Gunners' line-up also included superstar Thierry Henry, who beat Oliver Kahn as early as the fourth minute. Arsenal's Highbury Stadium erupted, even at its meagre 35,318 capacity, and Bayern were fortunate to go into the break only 1-0 down after struggling to keep the ball away from their area. It appeared to be one of the typical games German teams often encounter in England. As a bomb threat had caused the tie to begin 20 minutes late, Bayern knew that group opponents Olympique Lyon were beating Spartak Moscow 3-0 at the interval, a result that would do them no favours. Stefan Effenberg issued a rallying cry to his team-mates ahead of the second period: "We can either lose heavily or we can get a result."
His words fell on deaf ears initially as Nwankwo Kanu made it 2-0 in the 55th minute, only for Michael Tarnat to reduce the deficit with Bayern's next attack thanks to a long-distance effort. It sparked the start of a fightback. Ten minutes later Mehmet Scholl equalised with a direct free-kick and Kahn ensured the visitors escaped with a draw despite Arsenal having ten corners to Bayern’s one, and creating two more chances than the three Bayern crafted. Club vice president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge called it a "very fortunate but very important point". After some heavyweight tussles with Tony Adams, Giovane Elber commented that in "my whole career I've never had to put up with so much from a defender", and immediately began thinking of the return fixture: "I've already laid down the gauntlet for him. It'll be feisty and he'll get what's coming to him."
The second leg on 14 March 2001 felt like a final, with none of the teams yet qualified for the next round. Although Bayern only needed a point to go through, they were playing to win in front of a 58,000 strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium. Arsenal were deprived of Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp, who had not made the trip due to his fear of flying. Elber and Adams renewed acquaintances and Elber kept his word, heading in the only goal of the game in the tenth minute. Arsenal failed to threaten over the course of 90 minutes, allowing Bayern to ease to victory on the night and seal top spot in the group, although Arsenal also progressed as runners-up.
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2004/05: The Olympic Stadium was sold out at 59,000 capacity for the last 16 clash on a cold Tuesday evening in February, with Germany national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann present to witness his top two goalkeepers face off. One year prior to the World Cup on home soil, the question of whether Kahn or Jens Lehmann would be Germany No1 was still unanswered. It remained so after the first leg, with Klinsmann commenting that "both had flawless games" in Bayern's 3-1 victory.
Claudio Pizarro put the hosts in front in the fourth minute in what would be the only highlight of the first half. Bayern, playing without Michael Ballack, extended their lead in the 58th minute through a Pizarro header before Hasan Salihamidzic made it 3-0 in the 65th minute. Kolo Touré grabbed a consolation for the visitors two minutes before the final whistle, leading to Uli Hoeneß lamenting an "annoying goal". Lehmann claimed afterwards that "Bayern are almost through", only to be contradicted by Kahn who expected "a kind of hell" in the return leg at Highbury.
Roy Makaay, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Torsten Frings were all unavailable for that encounter, but Bayern's squad was strong enough to compensate for their absence, especially as Ballack was back. Felix Magath's side dominated proceedings for long periods, enjoyed more possession and won nine corners to Arsenal’s four. Yet after Henry’s 66th minute strike, Bayern spent the remainder of the match on the back foot, with 35,000 fans urging Arsenal forward. Kahn was not to be beaten again, however, and the 1-0 defeat was largely forgotten. Magath claimed afterwards that "our chances of winning the Champions League have increased", although the next English opponent, Chelsea, halted Bayern's progress in the quarter-finals.
2012/13: The two teams met in the Round of 16 last year too. The tie appeared to be decided after the first leg, a 3-1 away win for Bayern on 19 February in what was only the club’s third ever victory on English soil. Wenger was and still is in charge of Arsenal, who had two German internationals in their team in Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski. However, not even their inside knowledge was able to prevent the hosts being completely overpowered. "For 35 minutes Bayern put on a display of top-class European football", praised Kicker afterwards. Toni Kroos broke the deadlock in the seventh minute and Thomas Müller grabbed a second in the 21st minute, but Bayern could easily have had more prior to half time. A rare headed goal by Podolski ten minutes after the restart raised Arsenal's hopes again before Mario Mandzukic settled matters with Bayern’s third in the 77th minute. The club celebrated with a banquet at 'The Landmark' hotel, the same location of Germany's team party following their EURO 96 triumph. "Perhaps it’s a good sign that we’ve still got a long way to go [in the competition] this season", said Rummenigge.
After such a comprehensive victory, thoughts may have inevitably wandered further ahead than they should have, and it almost came back to haunt Bayern in the return fixture. The 68,000 expectant home fans were left stunned when French striker Olivier Giroud pounced on David Alaba’s slip-up to put Arsenal in front after just three minutes. Leading Borussia Dortmund in the league by 20 points at the time, Bayern were not used to going behind and were even more unaccustomed to defeat. Yet despite having 54 per cent of possession, winning 56 per cent of all challenges, earning six corners to Arsenal’s one and having an equal number of goalscoring chances - four apiece - Bayern lost. The game was a fairly dull spectacle and the likelihood of their elimination appeared remote until the 85th minute, when defender Laurent Koscielny headed the visitors 2-0 up, creating a nail-biting finale. "I'm shocked at how anyone can play football like that", said honorary president Franz Beckenbauer subsequently. Matthias Sammer, who rarely admonished the team in public in his first year as sporting director, said: "We can’t allow ourselves to get stuck in a rut." They need not have worried. The defeat was the trigger for Bayern's treble success, with the team winning all of their remaining matches that season.
2013/14: Bayern have already beaten Arsenal this term, returning home from the last 16 first leg tie in England with a 2-0 victory thanks to stunning goals from Kroos and Müller. To be continued on Wednesday.
