Isn't it great when big games come one after the other? You know your team is back in the big time when you play the NLD, Bayern of the Munchens, then Chelsea in a row.

 

No sooner have we all drawn breath after Sunday's pulsating win, than we have a mega Champions League night three days later. First vs Second, both with 100% records on the line. Keep 'Em Comin', we say.

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So … Bayern, eh? Good old Bayern... We don't care enough about 'foreign' football to despise an overseas side, but if we did, they would be one of them (cheating Barca the other). Not only has the fixture been historically as much fun as tube strikes, but they also signed 'Arry Kane. Hey, maybe we should be thanking them for that, but no, it doesn't make them any less despised.

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But hey, it's a new season! We are built differently. This is the brave new 2025 Arsenal the Bavarians have to deal with. Even without our wall at the back, Gabriel, our defence is proving stingier than we are with our Hive heating controls (smart meters are the WORST invention ever).

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So what of the six-time European Cup/Champions League-winning German Giants? Where they at? What's the Dilly Yo?

 

In Kompany's first season at the helm, they qualified as champions of the Bundesliga after losing out to Leverkusen's invincible season the year before. They won the league at a canter by 13 points, losing only two league games all season and racking up 99 league goals. Their Champions League campaign got snuffed out at the quarter-final stage by Inter, the eventual beaten (poor) finalists.

 

They didn't go overboard in the summer transfer market. We all know their most significant signing was Luis Diaz from Liverpool for £70m, and he has proved to be worth every penny so far. They strengthened at the back with Leverkusen's much sought-after Jonathan Tah after running his contract down (we hate it when players do that).

 

As good a piece of business as that was, they followed it up with the bizarre loan signing of Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson. Initially on loan for £15m, they are OBLIGATED to purchase for a whopping £65m. Talk to any fans from the Bridge, and they will tell you the deal makes ZERO sense, even more so when he's going to spend most of his time bench-warming.

 

One signing that has flown under the radar but looks like great business was the (again) free transfer signing of young German midfield wonderkid Tom Bischof from Hoffenheim. He has appeared in every Champions League game so far this season and has made nine of eleven league appearances. He is somewhat of a set-piece specialist and has already been capped by the Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft (we just wanted to type that for a laugh. It's the only time we are doing it).

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On the outgoing front, they sold Mathys Tel to our old friends the Spuds while Kingsley Coman sold his soul for Arab money. They went for a combined total of £60m. Also departing, but without the club receiving a Euro, were Leroy Sane to Galatasaray, Eric Dier to Monaco, and veteran Thomas Muller to somewhere in the Rocky Mountains (We think. Maybe).

 

We all know our history against them isn't great. In fact, it's terrible. They have beaten us eight out of the fourteen times we've played. The most recent was the 2023-24 quarterfinals, when we had a real shot at eliminating them but got narrowly edged by the odd goal.

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Their leading man in a team full of stars is, of course, Harry Edward Kane. His scoring record since moving there is just mental. In season one, he scored 36 goals in 32 league games and won the European Golden Boot. Last season, he scored 26 goals in 31 league games. If you think his talents are on the down slope, you are sadly mistaken, my friends. This season, he's already got 14 goals in the league, 5 in the Champions League, 4 in the German Cup, 1 in the German Super Cup and 8 goals for England. He has 15 goals in 21 appearances against us. Ridiculous.

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We have two ways to approach the game, since it is sandwiched between two massive league games. Do we qualify for the Champions League knockout regardless of the result against Bayern? Yes, we do. Does this mean we rotate to some extent with the Bridge in mind this weekend? 

 

Or... or... do we play our strongest side, give ourselves more of a winning chance and try to keep the momentum on the up and up going into Sunday, but risk fatigue and more casualties of war?

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Honestly? We don't think there's a right or wrong way. We can see both sides of the argument 100%.

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On the team news front, Arteta expects Odegaard to be back in the squad (yay) and said Havertz and Gyokeres are both in contention for the weekend. That's positive news, especially on the Kai the Guy front, as Nagelsmann was scaremongering about his fitness over the international period.

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For them, we caught a massive break in Diaz getting himself suspended, and both Alphonso Davies and the mega-talented Musiala are long-term casualties.

 

Our stab at the lineup is below, as usual. We think Mikel might make a couple of changes, but nothing too crazy. Both of our starting full-backs could do with a rest, and both of our backup full-backs could do with a game, so that makes sense. The other one is to give Trossard a night off, and we know so far this season, Martinelli loves a Champions League night.