Arsenal needed a performance and a result against a European powerhouse, their form in the Women’s Super League letting them down, but Renée Slegers’s side collapsed, relinquishing a 2-0 advantage and all three points to Bayern Munich far too easily to plunge their Champions League defence into tricky waters.
Slegers called the defeat a “big hit”. The head coach said: “We’re not happy, it’s not good enough, we can’t concede three goals so late in a game against Bayern when we have a 2-0 lead.”
Last season, a battling comeback from 2-1 down to a 3-2 victory against Bayern in their final group game avenged their opening 5-2 defeat by the Bavarian side and kickstarted a phenomenal run to the final. It marked a turning point in their season, demonstrating a mental toughness that carried them to a second Champions League title. Their meltdown here showed they are yet to recapture the spirit that ensured success in May.
More than 400 Arsenal fans had made the trip to Munich, many filing into Hofbräuhaus, the city’s famous beer hall, before the game for their pre-match meet-up, ready to try to outdo the 15,000-strong home crowd.
Daphne van Domselaar, the Arsenal goalkeeper, had said her team had “showed everything we had” in their frustrating 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Saturday.
