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Bayern Munich vs Arsenal: Olise suspended, Arsenal on 14-win run

Arsenal arrive with two wins and no goals conceded, while Bayern have four points and are without Michael Olise and likely Jamal Musiala. Bayern lead the head-to-head with eight wins from 15 meetings.

By Rowan Ashby Published 21.10.26 16:34 UTC 5 min read

Close-up of the inflated, diamond-shaped facade panels on the exterior of the Allianz Arena stadium in Munich — Martin Falbisoner / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Key takeaways

Bayern Munich host Arsenal at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, in matchday three of the Champions League league phase. Kickoff is 19:00 UTC (21:00 local time).
Arsenal arrive with two wins, no goals conceded and a run of 14 straight league-phase victories. Bayern have four points after a 5-0 home win and a 3-3 draw away at Viking.
Bayern will be without Michael Olise, who is suspended. Jamal Musiala is expected to miss out injured, and coach Vincent Kompany has been unwell since last week.
Arsenal are without William Saliba and Piero Hincapié, according to pre-match reports.
The two clubs have met 15 times in the competition. Bayern have won eight, but Arsenal won the most recent meeting 3-1 in London in November 2025.

What happened

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal kicks off at 19:00 UTC on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, at the Allianz Arena in the Champions League league phase. Bayern are without the suspended Michael Olise, and Arsenal arrive on a run of 14 straight league-phase wins. Update: Bayern coach Vincent Kompany is in hospital after collapsing at training on 23 October.

The fixture is the matchday-three tie in Bayern's 2026/27 league-phase schedule, which the club published after the August draw. Kickoff is set for 21:00 local time, which is 19:00 UTC and 20:00 in the UK. Sports Illustrated's preview names Italy's Davide Massa as referee, with Spain's Carlos del Cerro Grande on VAR.

This is a rematch of last season's league-phase game, which Arsenal won 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. Since then, Arsenal reached the 2026 Champions League final in Budapest, which Paris Saint-Germain won.

Form going into the match

The table below shows each side's results in the first two league-phase rounds, as reported in the published previews.

Team	Matchday 1	Matchday 2	Points	Goals for / against
Bayern Munich	W 5-0 vs Bodø/Glimt (home)	D 3-3 at Viking FK	4	8 / 3
Arsenal	W 1-0 at Napoli	W 3-0 vs Lille (home)	6	4 / 0

Sources: Sports Mole, Sports Illustrated and Opta Analyst previews, published 20-21 October 2026. Points and goal totals are calculated from the listed results.

Bayern's domestic form has been strong. At the weekend they beat RB Leipzig 6-1 in the Bundesliga, with Luis Díaz scoring a hat-trick and Harry Kane scoring his 102nd Bundesliga goal in his 100th league appearance, according to a DPA report. Sports Mole says Bayern are unbeaten in all competitions this season and have scored 25 goals in their last six matches. It also reports that Bayern are unbeaten in 39 home league-phase games since losing 3-2 to Manchester City in December 2013.

Arsenal won 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Opta Analyst says they are one of nine teams with maximum points after two matchdays and the only side yet to concede in this season's competition.

What we know

Olise is suspended. Michael Olise was sent off for two bookable offences in the 3-3 draw at Viking and serves a one-match ban. Previews name Lennart Karl and Serge Gnabry as the likely replacements on the right.
Musiala is expected to be absent. Sports Mole and Sports Illustrated both report that Jamal Musiala is set to miss the game with a thigh or muscle problem.
Kompany has been unwell. Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said the coach had a virus all week and a hip problem. Assistant Aaron Danks gave instructions from the touchline against Leipzig and took the pre-match media duties. Eberl told reporters Kompany "will definitely be present" on Wednesday, while it remained open "which role he can play", according to DPA via the Qatar Tribune.
Arsenal have defensive absences. Previews report that William Saliba (back) and Piero Hincapié (ankle) are out. Martín Zubimendi has recovered from a minor ankle problem.

What we don't know yet

Whether Joshua Kimmich will play. Sports Mole reports that he missed Tuesday's training for personal reasons.
Who starts in Bayern's goal. Manuel Neuer missed the Leipzig game with a foot issue, and previews disagree on whether he returns or whether Jonas Urbig keeps his place.
How actively Kompany will coach from the touchline.
Official starting line-ups, which UEFA usually publishes about an hour before kickoff, around 18:00 UTC.
The result. This article was written before kickoff and will not reflect events after 16:30 UTC.

Background

Bayern and Arsenal have a long history in the Champions League. Opta Analyst counts 15 meetings, and Arsenal have lost eight of them. Bayern won by four-goal margins in Munich in November 2015 and February 2017. Bayern also won the 2023/24 quarter-final 3-2 on aggregate. Arsenal's only win at the Allianz Arena was a 2-0 victory in the 2012/13 round-of-16 second leg, and they were still eliminated on away goals.

Harry Kane, who played against Arsenal for years with Tottenham Hotspur, has 15 goals in 22 matches against them, according to Sports Mole and Opta Analyst. Opta's pre-match model gives Bayern a 46.4% chance of winning, a draw 24.3% and Arsenal 29.3%. That is an estimate from a statistical model, not a forecast of the result.

Elsewhere in sport this week, India opened a five-match T20I series against New Zealand at Hagley Oval, their first meeting since the T20 World Cup final in March (New Zealand vs India, first T20I), and in the NBA, President Trump criticised LeBron James over his conduct during the national anthem before his 76ers debut (Trump's post about LeBron James).

What it means

Each team plays eight games in the league phase, so one result decides relatively little. It does matter for seeding, though. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, and teams ranked ninth to 24th go into a play-off round. A win would keep Arsenal's perfect start and their run of league-phase victories going. A home win for Bayern would put them level on points with Arsenal and partly make up for the dropped points in Norway.

The game is also an early test for both clubs. Opta's tournament model makes them among the favourites for the title, with Arsenal at 20.7% and Bayern at 15.2% before this round. With Bayern missing Olise and Musiala, and Arsenal missing Saliba, both squads will be under pressure in a busy October schedule.

Frequently asked questions

What time does Bayern Munich vs Arsenal kick off?

The match starts at 21:00 local time in Munich on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. That is 19:00 UTC and 20:00 in the UK.

Which players are missing for Bayern Munich?

Michael Olise is suspended after being sent off at Viking FK, and Jamal Musiala is expected to miss out with a thigh or muscle injury. Joshua Kimmich and Manuel Neuer were doubtful before the match, according to previews.