Arsenal vs Bayern Munich: UEFA Champions League – team news, start, lineups

Who: Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal
What: Matchday 5, League Phase, UEFA Champions League
Where: Emirates Stadium, North London, England, UK
When: Wednesday at 8pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.

In a heavyweight UEFA Champions League (UCL) matchup of the two dominant European megaclubs on Wednesday, English Premier League leaders Arsenal take on German Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich.

In the UCL League Phase, who have Arsenal and Bayern Munich currently defeated?

Bayern Munich leads the league standings with four victories and a maximum of 12 points against Chelsea (3-0), Pafos (5-1), Club Brugge (4-4) and, most recently, a victory over Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) at home in France on November 4.

Arsenal leads only their German rival in terms of points and goal difference, with 11 points behind. Athletic Bilbao (2 / 2)), Olympiacos (2 / 2), Atletico Madrid (4 / 4) and Slavia Praha (3 / 3) have all registered victories against them.

Inter Milan is the only team with a perfect 4-0 record in the competition.

Odegaard will face Bayern Munich in a game?

In what would be his first game since suffering a knee injury in early October, Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has a good chance of starting for Bayern Munich.

The Norwegian midfielder is expected to be in the squad after training on Tuesday afternoon.

Odegaard is being considered for Wednesday’s game, according to manager Mikel Arteta.

For the previous game, “He]Odegaard was very close. We anticipate that he’ll be a part of the squad on Wednesday.

Martin Odegaard of Arsenal training at the London Colney, United Kingdom, on November 25, 2025 [Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters]

Where did Bayern Munich and Arsenal finish last year’s Champions League?

The Gunners defeated Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (5-1 on aggregate), before falling to Paris Saint-Germain, who had previously reached the Champions League semifinals.

Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals against Inter Milan (4-3 overall).

last five matches form guide

Arsenal: W-W-W-D-W (Premier League, last result)

Bayern Munich: W-W-W-D-W (Bundesliga), last.

Arsenal-Bayern Munich: head-to-head

Bayern Munich won 1-0 (3-2 on aggregate) over Arsenal in the Champions League semifinal on April 17, 2024, making the Germans advance to the last four of the 2023-24 competition with Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header.

The teams have played each other 14 times, with Bayern dominating the historical contest:

8 wins for Bayern Munich
3 wins for Arsenal
Draws 3

news from the Arsenal team

With Kai Havertz (knee) and Viktor Gyokeres (hamstring) both still recovering from injuries, Arsenal will face Bayern without a recognized striker.

Gabriel Jesus will also need to be rested for the Champions League game despite having knee surgery and returning to full fitness.

He arrived sooner than we anticipated, to be fair, and quite close, according to Arteta.

He will have a new step to take with a game that we will arrange for him in the coming days. He will simply be knocking on the door after that.

Possible starting XI for Arsenal

Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Zubimendi, Rice, Saka, Merino, Trossard, and Raya (goalkeeper) are present.

Team news for Bayern Munich

Kimmich, the player who put an end to Arsenal’s last game in 2024, was a question mark at the beginning of the week because of a knock he picked up during the FIFA international break, but is now expected to be back on Wednesday.

Luis Diaz, an explosive winger, is a disciplinary defender for the Arsenal game. Lennart Karl, a rising 17-year-old star, who started for Bayern against Brugge on October 22 and became the club’s youngest champions league scorer in his debut.

Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies, who have injuries, won’t be selected for selection.

Harry Kane, who has returned to his native London for this game, will once again lead the charge under the guidance of Bayern manager Vincent Kompany.