Arsenal enter their Champions League second leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, March 17 at 8:00 PM at the Emirates Stadium having rescued a 1-1 draw in the first leg that flattered neither side, and the Gunners’ home record in European competition will need to do the work that the away performance in Germany most certainly did not.
Robert Andrich headed Leverkusen in front from a corner just 45 seconds into the second half at the BayArena on March 11, ending Arsenal’s remarkable record of being the only side not to have trailed at any point in this season’s Champions League, a record that had stood across all eight league phase matches and into the knockout rounds.
The goal came from a corner, which is particularly notable given Arsenal’s reputation as one of the elite set-piece teams in European football, and it was the first time they had conceded from a corner in the Champions League since facing Sporting CP in November 2024.
Arteta pulled Bukayo Saka at just before the hour mark and introduced Noni Madueke, whose directness created the foul from Malik Tillman that gave Havertz the penalty opportunity in the 89th minute, a substitution sequence that ultimately rescued the result even if the deeper tactical issues it revealed will need addressing on Tuesday.
Leverkusen’s teenager Christian Kofane, aged 19 years and 228 days, was the most dangerous player on the pitch for long stretches of the first leg, becoming the second-youngest player to start a Champions League knockout game for the German club, and his combination with Alejandro Grimaldo on the left side gave Arsenal’s right flank persistent problems that the returning Timber will be asked to address.
Arteta addressed the challenge directly before the second leg: “We know what we have to do in front of our crowd. Hopefully we are going to do it.”
Leverkusen arrive at the Emirates having drawn 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga at the weekend, confirming they can perform competitively against the highest level of opposition even away from their own ground and in form that belies any suggestion they will travel to north London simply to absorb pressure.
Exequiel Palacios reflected that confidence in the build-up to Tuesday: “It will be a different game to the first leg, but we have belief in ourselves and in our game. Like always, I will try to contribute with my passion and energy to ensure that we, as a team and as a club, keep progressing.”
The statistical underpinning of Arsenal’s home European dominance is stark: 16 wins and five draws in their last 22 UEFA matches at the Emirates, with only a single defeat, and all four Champions League home games this season won, with 12 goals scored and almost nothing conceded.
Leverkusen’s Champions League record in this round is also stark in the opposite direction: they have failed to progress from the round of 16 in the competition in every single one of their previous seven appearances at this stage, a historical weight that will sit in the mind of anyone at the BayArena who has studied the competition’s recent history.
