Arsenal waste rare Champions League advantage as Mikel Arteta handed Bayern reality check

Those sitting in blocks 20 to 23 in the South Stand of the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday will have had a slightly strange and unique experience.

Those seats are usually reserved for away fans but there was not a Bayern Munich supporter on show in Arsenal’s midweek Champions League quarter-final first leg. The sold-out venue was, in principle at least, entirely made up of home fans to roar their side to a 2-2 draw.

UEFA handed a one-match ban to Bayern supporters after some threw fireworks onto the pitch in their club’s 3-0 second leg win over Lazio in the previous round. The fanbase had received a suspended ban in December for doing the same thing against FC Copenhagen.

It meant the whole ground erupted when Bukayo Saka opened the scoring and Leandro Trossard fired home a second-half equaliser but also deathly quiet when Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane found the net for Bayern.

Perhaps ultimately, it was the visitors who went home the happiest. Bayern are enduring a torrid season for their standards. The Bavarians lost the German Super Cup back in August, were dumped out of the DFB Pokal by lower league opposition and are about to lose out on the Bundesliga title for the first time in 11 years.

They suffered a 1-0 first leg defeat to Lazio in the previous stage of the Champions League too, before turning it around in the second leg. But Arsenal may reflect on the 2-2 scoreline as a decent result but also a missed opportunity.

Arsenal and Mikel Arteta handed Aston Villa boost as Unai Emery faces triple midfield nightmare

Destroying the ridiculous Leandro Trossard myth threatening to undermine his Arsenal career

As seen during and after the pandemic, support makes a massive difference. The lack of away support will have had a mindset