Pernille Harder ended her Champions League goal drought to inspire a 5-2 comeback victory for Bayern Munich over Arsenal.
Jonas Eidevall’s side arrived in Bavaria off the back of a disappointing goalless draw with Everton in the WSL – but the visitors struck first through Mariona Caldentey (30).
Bayern responded before half-time through Glodis Viggosdottir’s looping header (43), and the reigning German champions led through Sydney Lohmann’s drive 11 minutes after the restart.
Katie McCabe collected her second assist of the night when Laia Codina met her corner (65), but Harder then wrestled control of the contest in devastating fashion.
The former Chelsea forward, who had failed to score a Champions League goal previously for Bayern across six appearances, headed the hosts back in front from Carolin Simon’s corner (73).
It was the first of three goals in a devastating 13-minute spell for the Dane as the Arsenal defence crumbled late on to increase the pressure on Eidevall.
Problems mounting for Eidevall
Mariona Caldentey celebrates scoring her team’s first goal
Arsenal were knocked out in qualifying by Paris FC last year but, after they navigated fixtures with Rangers, Rosenborg and a two-legged round with Hacken, the Women’s Super League outfit were unable to claim any points from their Group C opener.
It was only the third time the two teams met after their first encounter during the 2022/23 Champions League campaign. Bayern won the first leg 1-0 before Arsenal got their revenge in the return fixture to advance to the semi-final.
They had been held to a frustrating 0-0 WSL draw by Everton on Sunday but Leah Williamson and Stina Blackstenius returned to the starting line-up. On Wednesday, the Gunners needed to reignite that fighting spirit having been far from their blistering best this term.
It was Bayern’s England international Georgia Stanway who went closest early on with a long-range strike which was comfortably saved by Manuela Zinsberger before the visitors should have taken the lead.
Bayern Munich celebrate a handsome win over Arsenal
McCabe’s superb left-footed free-kick found Codina but her weak effort was simple for Maria Luisa Grohs in the 14th minute.
The visitors continued to press for the opener and did make their dominance count when they went ahead on the half-hour mark.
Once again McCabe was involved as her cross from the left was guided into the bottom corner on the volley by Caldentey.
It sparked Bayern into life and, after Zinsberger had denied Giulia Gwinn, the hosts equalised with two minutes of the half left when Stanway’s superb cross was headed in by captain Glodis Viggosdottir.
Bayern continued to be on the front foot after the break and went ahead when Klara Buhl passed into Sydney Lohmann, who rifled in at the near post in the 56th minute.
Arsenal produced an instant reply as Codina headed in McCabe’s corner nine minutes later but Eidevall immediately replaced McCabe and the away side collapsed during the final 20 minutes.
Harder failed to score in her six Champions League games for Bayern last season but broke that duck in the 73rd minute when she nodded home from a Carolin Simon corner.
It was 4-2 five minutes later when Harder sent another effort beyond Zinsberger from Buhl’s cross before she completed her hat-trick with 86 minutes on the clock.
After Zinsberger had saved Harder’s initial effort from a Gwinn delivery, the ex-Chelsea attacker poked in the rebound to conclude a miserable night for Arsenal.
Analysis: A game of two halves
Mark Parsons speaking on Sky Sports News:
“It was a game of two halves. Arsenal started the game really well, the first 20-25 minutes. They had two or three big chances but they only took one.
“At half-time, the goal for Bayern just before the break changed everything for Jonas – it changed the half-time team talk for Bayern.
“From the moment the second half started, Bayern were in a different gear and Arsenal didn’t know how to slow them down. They were creating chances, especially on the transition when Arsenal lost the ball. In the end, the game ran away from them.
“Five-two feels a little bit unfair, but in the second half, Bayern were very dominant.”
When are the Champions League group stages?
Here are the remaining dates for the fixtures:
Matchday 2: 16/17 October Matchday 3: 12/13 November Matchday 4: 20/21 November Matchday 5: 11/12 December Matchday 6: 17/18 December
