Bayern Munich 2-2 Arsenal: Champions League – live reaction

As Kane departs the TNT interview booth, Declan Rice replaces him. “For me Kane is the clear winner [of the Ballon d’Or] … his numbers speak for themselves … the year he’s had has been remarkable … when you play with him, you realise how good he is … when you play against him, you realise how much of a pain it is … as a striker, to play that pass for that goal … he’s ridiculous … such a good player … so happy [to score] … I lost my runner and I was in on the goal … 2-2 was a good spectacle … we could have had more … we aren’t coming here to just sit … match them … go man to man … at times it’s tough … onto the next, we’ve got to keep going.”

Harry Kane gives TNT the Bayern perspective. “A little bit of disappointment … when we look at the whole 90 minutes the draw was a fair result … we had a good spell after we scored the first goal … we looked like the team that was going to win … we had a couple of moments when we could have killed the game but didn’t … we can’t be too disappointed … we take the point and move on … I’m proud of the way I executed the penalty … nice to get on the scoresheet and help the team … I always seem to get a penalty against Arsenal … overall feeling good … hopefully I can keep it up … we have to believe [we can win the Champions League] … we’re a strong enough team … we were missing some key players tonight … we play second in the league on Sunday [in fact third-place Freiburg] … you have to roll with it … try to improve as you go along … a demanding part of the schedule … it’d be a massive honour [to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday] … I’ve made it clear I don’t like to talk about myself but of course I know it’d be a massive achievement if it does happen … Monday could be a big evening for me personally … I’m looking forward to it … hopefully I can enjoy the day and evening on Monday!”

The Champions League table after matchday 3. Arsenal are in seventh spot as a result of all that; Bayern are down in 14th.

Harry Kane and Declan Rice embrace each other. The England team-mates in Full Respect mode after a to-and-fro tussle that ends with the spoils shared. It wasn’t a classic from first minute until last, but when both teams hit the heights, they really did so in style. In the first half, Martin Ødegaard and Kane took turns to set up goals with creamy, dreamy long passes from deep; Eberechi Eze and Alphonso Davies came up with the top-drawer finishes they deserved. Kane then earned and converted a spot kick that looked to have won the game for Bayern, until Viktor Gyökeres set up Rice for the late equaliser. Arsenal won’t be winning the league phase with a 100-percent record this time, but just like last season, they look like they’ll take some beating as their quest to finally land the big one goes on. Bayern meanwhile are Bayern; they’ll be there or there abouts, won’t they?

The whistle goes on a fair result.

90 min +2: Rice goes long, and Tah clears. That set-piece was a surprising non-event from Arsenal’s point of view.

90 min +1: Raya goes long. Timber picks up possession just to the left of the Bayern D, and aims a power curler towards the top left. Neuer is forced to tip over the bar. Rice to take the corner.

90 min: Diaz can’t continue. There will be three additional minutes.

89 min: Diaz goes down with nobody around him. Laimer puts the ball out so his team-mate can get some medical attention.

87 min: The Bayern fans are still in good voice, especially impressive seeing their team haven’t given them much to sing about for a while. Arsenal look the more likely to find a winner.

85 min: Merino, who knows a thing or two about scoring late winners, comes on for Odegaard. Meanwhile for the hosts, Brown replaces Davies.

83 min: Gyökeres barrels after a long pass down the left and nearly gets the better of Upamecano. Nearly, not quite, the big defender doing just enough to hold the striker off. But Arsenal have their tails up now!

… but suddenly Arsenal spring into life, and score another fine goal! Gyokeres plays a cute ball round the corner for Rice down the inside-right channel. Rice bursts into the box and threads a powerful low drive through Neuer and into the bottom left!

81 min: Arsenal are hogging the ball without doing too much with it. Bayern holding their pose.

79 min: This has become rather scrappy. Arsenal won’t mind that at all. Bayern no longer in full flow.

77 min: Diaz picks up possession from Davies on the left-hand corner of the Arsenal box, and warms Raya’s palms with a next-to-no-backlift curler towards the bottom right.

75 min: Bayern stroke it around patiently. Neither team seems willing to make a big move right now.

73 min: The pace drops. The Bayern fans are in good voice nonetheless.

71 min: Bischof steals the ball off Lewis-Skelley and feeds Kane, who in turn releases Davies down the left. Davies makes his way into the Arsenal box, but Madueke gets back on the cover to usher the ball out for a goal kick. Arsenal were in a bit of bother for second there, so they can be thankful to Madueke for his hard work, and to Kane for hesitating a little bit too much upon launching that counter.

69 min: … and Arsenal respond by replacing Guimaraes and Havertz with Gyökeres and Lewis-Skelly.

68 min: Bayern replace Saibari and Gnabry with Luis Diaz and Karl …

67 min: Odegaard curls the free kick into the mixer. Havartz tries to prod home from a mid a melee. Bayern counter en masses, and Laimer creams a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post.

66 min: Eze one-twos with Havertz down the inside left and draws a foul from Laimer. A free kick, just outside the box to the left.

64 min: Bayern press, Bayern probe.

63 min: Raya is fouled as the corner comes in, and the pressure is off Arsenal. But Bayern are clearly in the mood for more. A big five-to-ten minutes coming up.

62 min: Davies jinks in from the left and should shoot. He overthinks it and is crowded out. That was a decent half-chance. But Bayern come again, Gnabry winning a corner down the right.

Kane makes no mistake! Then a whip into the top left, Raya having been sent the other way. Unstoppable, even if Raya had decided correctly.

60 min: A low cross from the right finds Kane on the edge of the box. Kane smacks a drive goalwards. Timber, sliding in with one arm up, pays the price for doing so, the ball hitting that arm.

58 min: Bischof pings a diagonal towards Kane on the left-hand edge of the Arsenal D. Kane heads down to Davies, who can’t get to the ball in time for a shot. But no matter from Bayern’s perspective, because …

56 min: The first lull in a long while.

54 min: Eze enters the box and drops a shoulder to get past Laimer down the left. He shoots from a tight angle. There’s a melee, and the ball’s eventually hacked clear. Both defences creaking a bit, but holding firm at the moment.

52 min: Tah plays a long pass down the left to find Saibari, who enters the Arsenal box before scuffing his shot. Saibari’s got himself into some good positions tonight, only to … well, that’s a start, though, isn’t it?

50 min: … and now it’s Raya’s turn to make an outstanding stop! Gnabry crosses from the right. Upamecano powers a header goalwards; from point-blank range, Raya somehow parry-scoops away! Two of the finest saves you’ll see in a long while!

48 min: … but Arsenal have come back out with intent, too, and Eze wins the first corner since the restart with a dribble down the left. Guimaraes wins a header at the far stick, six yards out. He plants a downward header towards the bottom right. It’s surely a goal, but Neuer somehow shovels it up off the line, off the crossbar, and away. Not quite on the Banks-Pele level, but not far off!

46 min: Kane is quickly on the ball, nearly releasing Gnabry down the middle with a route-one pass. Gabriel is on point to intercept. So close to a super-fast start to the second half for the hosts.

Bayern get the second half started. They’ve made a change, switching out Minjae Kim for Jonathan Tah.

Half-time entertainment.

It took a while for his match to get going, but it was worth the wait. Odegaard to Eze was sensational; so was Kane to Davies. Good luck predicting the outcome of this.

45 min +1: Raya picks the corner without fuss.

45 min: Kane plays a cute pass round the corner to release Gnabry down the right. Davies is free on the left, but Gnabry opts to shoot from distance. His effort is deflected out for a corner, but Davies had Raya and the goal in his sights. There will be two additional minutes.

44 min: Davies is everywhere at the moment. He barrels down the left and earns Bayern a corner. Gnabry whips towards the near post, where Timber heads clear. Bayern have been much improved in the last few minutes; what a difference a goal makes.

42 min: Rice’s delivery skims off the top of Laimer’s head at the near post. The ball nearly loops into the bottom right. Calafiori tries to force it home, but can only ripple the side netting. Laimer gets away with a big one there, because for a couple of split seconds, that had own goal written all over it.

Eze crosses from the left. That’s deflected out for a corner. This isn’t going to end 1-1.

39 min: Kane is caught late by Konsa’s lunge on the halfway line. Bayern are gifted the advantage, but Davies and Gnabry aren’t able to combine as they barrel towards the Arsenal box. Rice gets in the road to nix the attack. Then Konsa goes into the book. Kane is not happy with his England team-mate.

37 min: That was a peach of a goal. Good luck deciding which of the Odegaard-Eze and Kane-Davies combinations is the most outrageously good. You could spend all night debating it. The assists and finishes so far tonight have been from the top drawer.

… so having said that, they split Arsenal open with absurd ease! Another Kane pass from deep. Almost from the centre spot, he forensically rolls a pass down the inside-left channel to release Davies, who gets in ahead of last man Timber, opens his body upon reaching the edge of the box, and passes across Raya and into the bottom right!