LONDON: Arsenal beat Bayern Munich for the first time in a decade to maintain their 100 percent record in this season's Champions League. A 3-1 victory on Wednesday night sent them top of the group.
Jurrien Timber headed Mikel Arteta's side in front from a corner after 22 minutes only for Bayern teenager Lennart Karl to equalise in style before half-time.
Arsenal dominated the second half though and showed their immense squad depth as substitutes Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli scored the goals to make it five wins from five.
It proved a quiet return to north London for prolific Bayern striker Harry Kane as his side suffered their first defeat of the season in all competitions.
With Inter Milan dropping points, Arsenal are now the only team in the competition with a maximum 15 points and look all but assured of a place in the last 16.
Six points clear at the top of the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively and boasting flawless records after four games in the Champions League, Arsenal and Bayern Munich have been Europe's stand-out teams this season.
The sides met in the quarter-finals two years ago with Bayern coming out on top, but Arsenal have moved to another level since that clash and went into Wednesday's game on a 15-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
With last-16 spots already looking safe for both clubs, the 15th meeting between them lacked jeopardy but bragging rights and psychological blows were up for grabs.
It was Arsenal who emerged with both, thanks to a win that will reverberate around Europe.
Bayern, backed by a vociferous travelling army, looked confident early on but were stunned in the 22nd minute when Arsenal scored the kind of devastatingly simple goal that has become their trademark.
Bukayo Saka swung in a corner, Myles Lewis-Skelly got the slightest of nudges on Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer and Timber rose to glance a header into the net.
The lead lasted only 10 minutes though as Bayern responded with another move right off the training ground.
After a long passing sequence, Joshua Kimmich's raking pass found Michael Olise whose volleyed pass across the face of goal was met by 17-year-old Karl who became the first player to score against Arsenal in the Champions League this season.
While Kane was largely peripheral, Karl was impressive and should probably have scored again early in the second half when he burst into the area but shot straight at goalkeeper David Raya.
Bayern's defence was creaking though and Arsenal's pressure paid off in the 69th minute when Riccardo Calafiori fired in a cross from the left that fellow substitute Madueke turned in for his first goal for the club.
Neuer than had a moment to forget when he charged out of his goal eight minutes later trying to cut out Eberechi Eze's pass but got nowhere near the ball and Martinelli was left with the simple task of shooting into an empty net.
Liverpool's miserable season hit another low when they slumped to a 4-1 defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, their first loss in their last 14 games at Anfield in the group stage of Europe's elite competition.
Couhaib Driouech bagged a double, while Ivan Perisic -- from the penalty spot -- and Guus Til also scored to leave PSV 15th in the Champions League table with eight points. Liverpool, who have lost nine of their last 12 games across all competitions, dropped to 13th on nine points.
The Reds got off to the worst possible start when a bizarre handball from captain Virgil van Dijk led to a PSV penalty in the sixth minute, with Perisic sending Giorgi Mamardashvili the wrong way and slotting home.
The goal seemed to spark Liverpool to life and Dominik Szoboszlai tapped in a leveller in the 16th minute after keeper Matej Kovar saved Cody Gakpo's shot but palmed the ball into the path of the Hungarian.
Til restored PSV's lead in the 56th minute with a perfectly timed run onto Mauro Junior's through ball and just ahead of Milos Kerkez to poke it into the net past Mamardashvili.
Substitute Driouech gave PSV a two-goal cushion in the 73rd after Ricardo Pepi launched a shot off the post and Driouech stroked in the rebound. Driouech completed his double in injury time when he easily tapped home a cross from Sergino Dest.
Liverpool had 26 attempts to nine for the visitors on Wednesday, including a Van Dijk header that hit the underside of the crossbar. Cody Gakpo also missed a sitter from the back post and Hugo Ekitike was denied by a fine save from Kovar.
But the Reds looked nothing like the team who roared to the Premier League title last season and countless disgruntled fans had left before the final whistle sounded on another loss, with Liverpool already losing more games at Anfield this season than they did during the entire 2024-2025 campaign.
It was the third successive game the Reds had lost by three goals amid Liverpool's worst run of play since a similarly dreadful stretch during the 1953-54 season.
They expected a tough challenge from PSV, who are six points clear atop the Eredivisie with 11 wins in 13 games.
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe scored four goals, including the second fastest hat-trick in Champions League history, to earn them a 4-3 comeback victory over hosts Olympiacos.
Mbappe's first three goals came in a spell of six minutes and 42 seconds in the first half but it was a tough encounter for the Spaniards before they earned their first victory at Olympiacos on their fifth attempt, and ended a three-game run across all competitions without a win.
Real moved up to fifth place in the standings on 12 points, with the top eight earning automatic qualification for the knockout stage and with three matchdays remaining. Olympiacos dropped to 33rd on two points.
The visitors opened their account when Mbappe beat two defenders to slot in from Vinicius Jr's assist in the 22nd minute, cancelling out Chiquinho's goal that gave the hosts an eighth-minute lead.
He then headed in an Arda Guler cross two minutes later, and before the Greeks had time to recover from the double strike, the France forward completed his hat-trick with another fine finish.
The Spaniards were in complete control for the rest of the first half and also hit the woodwork through Aurelien Tchouameni but the hosts cut the deficit seven minutes after the restart through Mehdi Taremi's close-range header.
Mbappe looked to have restored order with a tap-in from yet another Vinicius Jr assist for his fourth goal on the hour mark but Olympiacos refused to give up.
They scored again through Ayoub El Kaabi's 81st-minute header and had Real firmly pinned in their own half as they piled on late pressure.
Holders Paris St Germain showed a never-say-die attitude as they twice came from behind to beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-3, with two moments of brilliance from Vitinha steering Luis Enrique’s side to victory.
PSG looked fragile at the back, conceding twice from defensive lapses and showing some of the same issues that contributed to their 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the previous round, but they responded with greater control and efficiency to turn the match around at the Parc des Princes.
Vitinha bagged a hat-trick with two fine strikes and a penalty, while Pacho and Fabian Ruiz also scored for PSG, who were made to work after Tottenham twice led through Richarlison and Randal Kolo Muani, the France forward finishing with a double.
After four victories in five games, PSG, who finished with 10 men after Lucas Hernandez was sent off in stoppage time, are second in the league phase standings, on course for direct qualification to the last 16, while Tottenham are 16th on eight points.
Fabian Ruiz went close with a left-footed attempt that drifted just wide in the eighth minute, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also curled a shot narrowly past the post as both sides started brightly.
On captain Marquinhos’s 500th appearance for the club, PSG appeared to miss the absent Achraf Hakimi, with midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery filling in at right back.
Ousmane Dembele, recently back from injury, began on the bench while academy graduate Quentin Ndjantou started up front.
Tottenham looked assured and went ahead 10 minutes before the interval when Richarlison nodded in after Kolo Muani had headed a cross into his path.
PSG reacted immediately and equalized on the stroke of half-time, Vitinha firing home a superb first-time effort from outside the area after being set up by Ndjantou. Both teams scored with their first shot on target.
The hosts were caught cold early in the second half as Kolo Muani scored against his former club, lashing in a volley after Pacho’s weak clearance. Tottenham’s lead was short-lived, though, with Vitinha producing another fine finish as he curled a shot into the far corner in the 53rd minute.
Six minutes later, Hernandez dispossessed Pape Matar Sarr and the loose ball ran to João Neves, whose composed back-heel teed up Ruiz for a clinical strike. Pacho then slammed in PSG’s fourth from a crowded goalmouth to give the home side a two-goal cushion.
Atalanta scored three times in five minutes to crush Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 away, with the visitors' second-half blitz leaving the hosts shell-shocked and battling for survival in Europe.
Jose Maria Gimenez rose highest to head home a dramatic winner in added time, securing Atletico Madrid a stirring 2-1 victory over Inter Milan in a thrilling clash at the Metropolitano Stadium.
With the match poised at 1-1 after Piotr Zielinski had levelled for the visitors following Julian Alvarez's early goal, Gimenez leapt above Inter's defenders in the 93rd minute to nod Antoine Griezmann's precise corner into the net, sending the home crowd into raptures on a chilly night in the Spanish capital. Agencies
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