Kompany praised Arsenal's outstanding performance on set pieces: "This is the most difficult task at present."

2025-11-26 05:21

Defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich will travel to the Emirates Stadium for a crucial fifth-round match in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, facing Premier League leaders Arsenal. Vincent Kompany stated that Mikel Arteta's team excels on set pieces and described this as Bayern Munich's toughest challenge yet.

Thanks to Diaz's brace, Bayern Munich defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the last round of the Champions League. After securing their fourth consecutive victory, Bayern Munich sits atop the league table with 12 points, level on points with second-placed Arsenal.

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said at a press conference, "We won the first four games, which is of course very important. So far, we have achieved our planned goals and hope to continue."

"But facing Arsenal will be our toughest task so far. However, we are very happy, as this is why we are here and what we want to challenge."

As for Arsenal, the Gunners successfully prepared for their Champions League challenge by defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 in the earlier Premier League North London derby.

Kompany continued, "As managers, we all want to win trophies, but we also know very well how the team needs to be organized and trained, and few teams can defend in the penalty area as well as Arsenal."

“It’s hard to find a more organized team than them when it comes to set pieces. They’ve been working with Arteta for a long time, that’s very obvious. I’m looking forward to this challenge, and we’re in a good phase right now.”

In addition, thanks to goals from Lennart Karl, Olise, Upamecano, Kane and Jackson, Bayern Munich defeated Freiburg 6-2 in the earlier Bundesliga match, successfully challenging Arsenal with a victory.

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane said, "Winning the Champions League would mean a lot to me and would be an incredible achievement. We learned a lot last season, such as how to put pressure on Barcelona in the match."

“Over the past eight or nine months, we have become more consistent and better. We watched the previous games and saw the match against Barcelona as a turning point because we learned a lot from that game.”