Down, but not out. As 1-0 defeats go this was the vaguely encouraging kind for Arsenal: a performance of real energy and purpose that has set up a beautifully poised second leg at the Emirates Stadium next week. And amid their disappointment Arsenal now know they can hurt Bayern Munich, can pin them back and starve them of the ball, can put them under pressure and create chances.
The burning question, of course, is whether Arsenal will manage to take any of them. Twenty‑five shots came and went for them here, seven of them to the luckless Stina Blackstenius. But Bayern really did need to be at their resilient best in a pulsating second half, twice clearing off the line as an injury-depleted Arsenal turned up the heat against a team that has conceded just four league goals all season. And so Lea Schüller’s towering header proved the difference between the sides here, even if the Bayern coach Alexander Straus suggested that on the balance of play 1-1 might have been a fairer result.
