FC Bayern Women begin the new Champions League campaign on Wednesday with a home match against Arsenal WFC. Kick-off at the FC Bayern Campus is at 18:45 CEST on Wednesday 9 October. The Matchday 1 clash with the Londoners is being broadcast by DAZN in a free live stream. State of play, quotes and team news – our preview has all the info.
The state of play
Seven matches, seven wins – that's FCB Women's record so far this season. The Munich girls have won all their games in the Supercup, DFB Cup and in the Bundesliga, including the home match against 1. FC Köln on Saturday, when Klara Bühl scored the only goal of the day in a 1-0 win.
The head-to-head record between these two teams is even with one win apiece from two games. Both of those took place in the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 competition, with Bayern winning 1-0 in the first leg but losing 2-0 in the return leg in the English capital.
The opponents: Arsenal
The visitors from London have started with two draws and one win in the Women's Super League. The narrow 1-0 victory over Leicester City was sandwiched between a 2-2 opening draw against Manchester City and a goalless stalemate against Everton on Sunday. That leaves Jonas Eidevall's side in sixth place in the table with five points.
The Gunners saw off Scottish outfit Rangers (6-0) and Norwegian representatives Rosenborg (1-0) in qualifying before a two-legged play-off against BK Häcken from Sweden. After losing 1-0 in the first leg, the Londoners produced an improved performance in the second leg to win 4-0 and progress to the group stage. Incidentally, the Arsenal squad contains two ex-FCB players in Amanda Ilestedt and Manuela Zinsberger.
The team news
Alexander Straus is without long-term absentees Lena Oberdorf (cruciate ligament), Katharina Naschenweng (knee) and Franziska Kett (ankle).
The pre-match quotes
Head coach Alexander Straus: "Arsenal are strong opponents, whose depth in the squad is second to none. We know their quality in attack but we've also identified some weaknesses where we can hurt them. We're here to compete against the best in Europe. If we believe in ourselves and produce our quality on the pitch, I'm sure we can get a result."
Captain Glódís Viggósdóttir: "The mood in the team is good and we're excited for the upcoming games. We want to go out and play a good game at home in front of our fans. Arsenal are a team who want to have the ball and can be very dangerous in attack, so we need to stay compact and can't offer them any spaces."
Bundesliga Matchdays 9 and 10 have been set in stone:
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