Mikel Arteta had told Arsenal to write a history of their own against an old nemesis who had done it all before and, while this was not quite a night for the ages, his players proved a point. They showed themselves capable of facing down Bayern Munich as equals and on this evidence it will take a brave onlooker to predict the outcome of the second leg in Bavaria next week.
The result was fair, both sides convincing in some spells and looking alarmingly naive in others. Reports of Bayern’s demise have evidently been exaggerated; Arsenal, though, matched them blow for blow and put distance between the days when this fixture would routinely leave them ripe for a thrashing.
