Luis Diaz and Nicolas Jackson score two goals in injury time to seal a dramatic 3-1 victory for Bayern Munich against St Pauli and move the Bundesliga holders eight points clear at the top of the table.
MATCH REPORT: Bayern Munich 3-1 St Pauli
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Who: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich
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.
English Premier League leaders Arsenal host the German Bundesliga’s top-ranked team Bayern Munich in a heavyweight UEFA Champions League (UCL) matchup of the two frontrunning European mega clubs on Wednesday.
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The sides are also ranked No 1 and No 2 in the current UCL standings, with both clubs protecting perfect records in the League Phase of the competition.
Here is all to know ahead of their top of the table clash at Emirates Stadium:
After four matchdays in the League Phase, Bayern Munich sits top of the standings with four wins and a maximum 12 points against Chelsea (3-0), Pafos (5-1), Club Brugge (4-0) and most recently, a victory over reigning UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain (2-1) away in France on November 4.
Arsenal is second on the table, equal with their German rival on points (12) and goal difference (+11). Their four wins have come against Athletic Bilbao (2-0), Olympiacos (2-0), Atletico Madrid (4-0) and Slavia Praha (3-0).
The only other team remaining in the competition with a perfect 4-0 record is Inter Milan.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is a strong possibility to play against Bayern Munich in what would be his first match since injuring his knee in early October.
The Norwegian midfielder participated in training on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to be in the squad.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed Odegaard is under consideration for Wednesday’s fixture.
“He [Odegaard] was very close for the previous game. We are hopeful that tomorrow [Wednesday] he can be in the squad as well.”
The Gunners reached the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2008–09, upsetting Real Madrid in the quarterfinals (5-1 on aggregate) before losing to eventual champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich’s UCL campaign came to an end at the quarterfinal stage with a closely contested defeat to Inter Milan (4-3 on aggregate).
Arsenal: W-W-W-D-W (Premier League, most recent result last)
Bayern Munich: W-W-W-D-W (Bundesliga, most recent result last)
The sides last played on April 17, 2024, with Joshua Kimmich’s 63rd-minute header handing Bayern Munich a 1-0 quarterfinal victory (3-2 on aggregate) over Arsenal in the Champions League, sending the Germans through to the last-four of the 2023-24 competition.
In total, the sides have played against each other 14 times, with Bayern dominating the historical matchup:
Arsenal will line up against Bayern without a recognised striker, with Kai Havertz (knee) and Viktor Gyokeres (hamstring) still rehabbing injuries.
Gabriel Jesus will also be held back from the Champions League fixture, although the Brazilian forward is back in full training after undergoing knee surgery.
“He is quite close, to be fair, and earlier than we expected,” Arteta said.
“In the next few days, he is going to have another step to make with a game that we are going to organise for him. After that, he is just going to be knocking on the door.
Raya (goalkeeper); Timber, Saliba, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Merino, Trossard
Kimmich, the player who buried Arsenal the last time they played back in 2024, was a question mark at the beginning of the week after sustaining a knock picked up during the FIFA international break, but is believed to be ready to play on Wednesday.
Explosive winger Luis Diaz is suspended for the Arsenal clash. The Colombian might be replaced by rising 17-year-old star Lennart Karl, who became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer when he started against Brugge on October 22.
Injured duo Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies will be unavailable for selection.
Bayern manager Vincent Kompany will again lead the line with English international Harry Kane, who returns to his home city of London for this fixture.
Neuer (goalkeeper); Laimer, Upamecano, Tah, Guerreiro; Pavlovic, Kimmich; Olise, Karl, Gnabry; Kane
Bayern Munich remain top of the league standings after staging a road win over reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Published On 5 Nov 20255 Nov 2025
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Bayern Munich have made it 16 wins from 16 games this season to underline their credentials as early UEFA Champions League favourites, beating holders Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 away as Luis Diaz scored two goals and was shown a red card.
The Colombian winger struck twice on Tuesday before being sent off for a violent tackle on Achraf Hakimi on the stroke of half-time.
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PSG, who reduced the arrears through Joao Neves, dominated possession after the break but failed to make it fully count and slipped to their first defeat in the competition since last season’s quarterfinal second leg against Aston Villa.
The result kept Bayern top of the 36-team league on a maximum 12 points with PSG in third, three points adrift and with more injury concerns after Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele were replaced early.
“Most importantly I hope that it’s not too bad for Hakimi. We went through this in the US [at the Club World Cup against PSG] with [Jamal] Musiala,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said at a news conference.
“What I tell players is that when there’s some hype, don’t believe it. We’ve won 16, but from tomorrow onwards, it’s back to zero. Nobody has won the Champions League today.”
His PSG counterpart, Luis Enrique, echoed that point of view, saying: “Today’s standings mean nothing. What matters is February, March, April, May.”
“It’s always hard to lose at home. We need to assert ourselves and play better. We faced a well-organised team, especially physically. We couldn’t get our game going,” PSG captain Marquinhos said.
“There are still some positives to take from this match. The team remain ambitious, but we have to do better. They were superior to us. In the second half, we were on top, but it was after the red card.”
Dembele made his first Champions League start of the season, but his night was short-lived, the France forward being replaced by Lee Kang-in after 25 minutes.
PSG, who had beaten Bayern 2-0 in the Club World Cup quarterfinals in July, came out flying with their trademark high pressing but were caught cold in the fourth minute when Diaz smashed home after Lucas Chevalier had parried Michael Olise’s effort.
Dembele thought he had levelled midway through the half, only for his goal to be ruled out for offside as PSG pressed but looked unusually fragile at the back.
Moments later, Manuel Neuer pulled off a spectacular save to deny Bradley Barcola, who had raced to a pinpoint long ball from Fabian Ruiz.
Bayern stayed a step ahead, and after Serge Gnabry struck the post, Diaz pounced on a sleepy Marquinhos to steal the ball and slot home a second in the 32nd minute.
Diaz’s evening ended abruptly just before half-time when he was shown a straight red card for a brutal lunge on Hakimi, who limped off in tears with a suspected ankle injury.
Long possession spells ensued for PSG in the second half, but the hosts lacked a cutting edge until the 74th minute when substitute Neves reduced the arrears with a spectacular scissor kick from Lee’s cross.
Neves came close to levelling a few minutes later with a header as PSG further increased the pressure. Despite the hosts’ late flurry, Bayern held firm.
