Champions League｜The battle for the top spot was staged in the early morning of the 27th: Invulnerable to bullets, but still more benevolent

Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point Reporter Yin Chengjun

At 4 o'clock in the morning on the 27th, this season's Champions League stage will usher in a first-place battle. Arsenal, which has won four games, will face Bayern Munich at home with the same record. This is not only a battle for the "leader", but also an out-and-out battle of shields and spears. Arsenal won four games without conceding a goal. Bayern scored 14 goals and tied for first place with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League this season. This game is really valuable.

A contest of spears and shields

Both Arsenal and Bayern Munich have shown amazing dominance this season. Arsenal are in excellent form and are making rapid progress in both the Premier League and Champions League. They just destroyed their local rival Tottenham 4:1 at home in the Premier League early this Monday morning, showing their fiery competitive state and strong home momentum. They are currently 6 points ahead of second place Chelsea in the Premier League. In the Champions League, Arsenal won all four games without conceding a goal, and their defensive strength was amazing.

Bayern Munich also maintains a strong performance and is in the leading position in both the Champions League and the Bundesliga. They have shown strong offensive power. In the Bundesliga last weekend, Bayern scored six goals in a row after falling behind 0:2, and finally completed a 6:2 comeback, showing their super toughness and offensive firepower. They are currently the only team in the five major leagues that remains undefeated on all fronts.

The battle for the Gunners' reputation

In the Champions League, the historical confrontation data between the "Gunners" and Bayern is also clearly biased towards the latter. The two teams have met 14 times in the Champions League, and Arsenal only achieved 3 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses, putting them at a disadvantage.

Eight years ago in 2017, the Gunners encountered Bayern in the first knockout round of the Champions League. As a result, they lost 1:5 at home and away. This was a wound that could not be healed for them.

With the retirement of coach Arsene Wenger in 2018, the performance of the "Gunners" has gone from bad to worse. In the past, they could barely enter the Champions League. However, in the past few years, it was difficult to even enter the Champions League. Young coach Arteta completely reversed this situation and made the "Gunners" a strong team again. In the quarter-finals of the 2023-2024 Champions League, Arsenal and Bayern met again. As a result, Arsenal was eliminated by Bayern again in two rounds.

Once again, for Arsenal, it is not only a battle for top spot, but also a battle for reputation.

Bayern also has weaknesses

Another highlight of this game is Kane's return to North London. The former Tottenham captain is very familiar with Arsenal. He has scored 14 goals in the Bundesliga and 5 goals in the Champions League this season. He will be Bayern's sharpest offensive weapon.

Bayern's Michael Olise is also worthy of attention. This player who joined Arsenal's youth training camp at the age of 7 contributed 2 goals and 3 assists in the Bundesliga last weekend. In this campaign, he will face his old club many years ago.

As for Arsenal, Eze, who just scored a hat-trick in the North London Derby, is in good condition. He will work with young talents such as Saka and Madueke to help the Gunners.

Bayern's only weakness lies in set-piece defense. This shortcoming was already evident against Inter Milan last season and has been completely exposed in the last two Bundesliga games. The four consecutive goals Bayern conceded against Union Berlin and Freiburg were all due to set pieces, three of which were corner kicks. This is a dangerous sign for Bayern, because Arsenal are the "European set-piece experts" and the Gunners have scored a large number of goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season.

In addition to this first-place battle, in other contests on the same day, Paris Saint-Germain versus Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid versus Inter Milan, and Liverpool versus Eindhoven are all very exciting matchups that fans can feast their eyes on.