0
Kim Min-jae (second from right) of German pro football club Bayern Munich battles for the ball with Arsenal players during a home match against Arsenal in the 2026-2027 UEFA Champions League (UCL) League Phase Matchday 3, held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 21st (local time). / AFP, Yonhap

German pro football club Bayern Munich, with Kim Min-jae (30) playing only the first half, drew 2-2 against English champion Arsenal in a 2026-2027 UEFA Champions League (UCL) home match.

Bayern played to a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the UCL Phase Matchday 3 held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on the 21st (local time).

Kim Min-jae, a starting defender for the South Korean national football team, had started in the previous two consecutive UCL matches, but in this match he was substituted for Jonathan Tah after playing only the first half, which ended deadlocked at 1-1.

Both Bayern and Arsenal kicked off burdened by setbacks. Bayern was missing Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich due to a red card in the previous match and a family funeral, respectively, while Luis Diaz was left out of the starting lineup. For Arsenal, Bukayo Saka, the team's co-leading scorer, complained of thigh pain just 10 minutes into the match and was replaced by Eberechi Eze.

After conceding an opening goal to Eze in the 25th minute of the first half, Bayern's troubleshooter was once again Harry Kane. Assisting Alphonso Davies' equalizer in the 35th minute with a penetrating pass splitting the midfield, Kane scored a go-ahead goal in the 16th minute of the second half via a penalty kick he earned himself. Earlier, Kane threatened the opposing goal with a menacing shot that struck the arm of Arsenal's Jurrien Timber, drawing a handball and penalty decision.

With this, Kane continued his nemesis relationship against Arsenal by logging 16 goals in 23 career matches against them, and scored in his 10th consecutive UCL match, moving within one goal of Cristiano Ronaldo's (Al-Nassr) UCL record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches set while with Real Madrid (Spain).

In the 37th minute of the second half, Arsenal leveled the score at 2-2 as Declan Rice, exchanging passes with Viktor Gyokeres, found the net with a low-driven shot.

Arsenal remained undefeated, sitting in 7th place with 7 points (2 wins, 1 draw), while Bayern placed 14th with 5 points (1 win, 2 draws).

                                                                                                          Cho Seong-jun