Bayern’s goalkeeper was unfortunate against Arsenal – but t-online columnist Stefan Effenberg defended the 39-year-old. And sees a danger for the German record champions.
It has to be said clearly: FC Bayern’s 1:3 defeat at Arsenal was a completely deserved defeat. But if there is one positive takeaway from this Wednesday evening in London, it is that both coach Vincent Kompany and his players clearly addressed this fact after the game.
Because they will also have recognized: Despite top-class opponents so far this season – Chelsea and PSG in the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga – this was the most difficult test so far. Bayern recently stumbled a bit in the league with a 2-2 draw at Union Berlin and in the early stages with a 6-2 draw against SC Freiburg. Now there was the first defeat against the ultimate opponent in 2025/26. But: Nothing was broken as a result. Bayern have more than doable tasks with Sporting, Union St. Gilloise and PSV Eindhoven in the last three games – that must be enough for direct qualification to the next round.
But the focus in London was someone who had an unfortunate evening: Manuel Neuer. When the score was 0-1, there was a scramble for him in the Bayern penalty area before the corner, and quite a few people even claimed that Neuer had been fouled – but anyone who knows that a tougher pace is usually the order of the day in the Champions League should not be surprised that the scene was not punished. Of course, he normally solves this situation without any problems, and he knows that himself. And the third goal he conceded, when he ran far out of the goal in his typical style but couldn’t clear the ball in front of Gabriel Martinelli in his own half? This is the risk that he has taken successfully hundreds of times in his great career – and for which he has also been celebrated hundreds of times.