John Obi Mikel knew. After the Chelsea icon pulled out Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final opponents at the draw last month, a hint of a wry smile appeared on his face.
On paper, the Gunners should have been fairly happy with Mikel. Bayern Munich are far from the force they once were, and Arsenal managed to avoid trickier ties against Real Madrid and Manchester City.
However, as the Nigerian’s priceless reaction suggested, this particular tie comes with irresistible added spice. Indeed, a sizeable proportion of Gunners fans will have broken into cold sweats when they saw Bayern’s name pop out as they knew it meant that one of the club’s most troublesome adversaries would be returning to his old stomping ground.
The King of North London?
Kane will have a long list of fond memories to draw on when he does take the field again at Arsenal’s home. On his very first visit to the Emirates in a Spurs shirt, he netted a fine goal, bouncing the ball over Petr Cech’s legs after being sent clean through by Danny Rose’s long pass.
This display set the tone for Kane’s visits to N7, with the England skipper failing to score on just two of his eights league trips to Arsenal while at Tottenham. He also notched an assist when Spurs bested the Gunners 2-0 in the EFL Cup quarter-finals away from home.
And while he couldn’t replicate this in the Premier League – failing to ever inspire his side to a Premier League triumph at the Emirates – Kane had plenty of success downing Arsenal on his own patch.
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Dream derby debut
This impressive knack started on his maiden north London derby appearance back in 2015. At that point, Kane had only just begun to establish himself as a Premier League player. Beginning the season playing second fiddle to Emmanuel Adebayor, Mauricio Pochettino was suitably encouraged by a string of substitute camoes to give him a run in the first team.
By the time Arsenal came to town in February, he already had 10 Premier League goals to his name, including a fine brace and assist when Chelsea visited White Hart Lane. This provided a warning as to what he would get up to against the Gunners.
Within five minutes he forced David Ospina into a world-class save with a trademark, curling shot from just outside the box. And after Mesut Ozil rather fortuitously put Arsenal ahead soon after, it was Kane who led the fightback, levelling up the scores with an instinctive finish at the back post on the hour. He would then settle the derby, rising triumphantly to nod Erik Lamela’s cross into the top corner with just four minutes of normal time remaining.
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Record-breaker
Reflecting on his derby debut several years later in an interview with the Players’ Tribune, Kane recalled: “The winner in the 86th minute was something that I’d never even dream of visualising before a match. It was a header – probably the best header I’ve ever scored – and that feeling when it hit the back of the net, I’ve never felt a rush like that in my whole career.”
Kane would soon get used to ruining Arsenal’s day, though. The following season, he would net in each of the pair’s Premier League meetings, which both ended in draws. Then, in 2018, Kane avenged his first-ever north London derby defeat a few months prior by scoring the winner in the return fixture – another unstoppable header.
As the seasons dragged on, the England captain continued in this vein, with his goal in a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in 2020 being particularly special, moving him above Adebayor and Bobby Smith as the fixture’s all-time top scorer. By the time he departed for Bayern a few years later, he had an outstanding 14 goals to his name against the Gunners, with only Leicester and Everton conceding more Kane strikes to date.
Alternate timeline
That Spurs’ talisman consistently raised his game against his beloved side’s bitterest rivals is hardly surprising. However, there is also a personal side to Kane’s spiteful relationship with the Gunners.
As a nine year old, he was released by Arsenal, something that Kane has confessed to still using as motivation to this day.
Speaking back in 2018, he said: “I remember the first time we played against Arsenal [for Tottenham’s academy team] and even back then, I had a chip on my shoulder. It might sound ridiculous. I was only eight when they let me go, but every time we played them, I thought, ‘Alright, we’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong’.
“Looking back on it now, [being released by Arsenal] was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me a drive that wasn’t there before. For me, the rejection is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
In a not-so-inconceivable alternate timeline, Kane might have even been playing in an Arsenal shirt on Tuesday, which always adds another layer of intrigue whenever he lines up against the Gunners. And that’s not the only interesting plotline ahead of this Champions League quarter-final.
Curse needs breaking
For all of his inspirational brilliance and incredible goal-scoring, one thing that has haunted Kane throughout his career is a lack of major silverware. Despite going close for both club and country during, he has never lifted a major trophy.
Getting that monkey off his back was likely the deciding factor in his decision to join Bayern this summer. However, fail to progress against Arsenal and Kane’s chances of having a winners’ medal draped around his neck at club level this season will be over.
At the beginning of the campaign, this reality would have been unthinkable. Bayern’s stranglehold over German football has scarcely subsided over the past two decades, with Die Roten lifting the Bundesliga title in the previous 11 seasons prior to his arrival.
But following a disastrous defeat to Heidenheim on Saturday, they now trail Xabi Alonso’s near-perfect Bayer Leverkusen by a colossal 16 points. They also exited the DFB-Pokal all the way back in November, succumbing to a shock 2-1 loss away at third-tier Saarbrucken.
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Wounded animal
That Kane’s personal performances have been exemplary throughout this horrific season will only make the fact that Europe remains his only shot at glory even more frustrating. He is currently averaging over a goal per game for Bayern, scoring 38 times in 37 matches, while also comfortably being into double-digits for assists.
He genuinely could not have done any more to help his side arrest their slide, with Bayern’s issues stemming from a midfield with more holes in than a block of Swiss cheese and a defence that has often looked like they are meeting for the first occasion each time they take to the field.
With things close to breaking point, Kane will be like a wounded animal ahead of the two games, desperate to attack his former foes and prevent his first season in Germany from descending into true catastrophe.
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World-class opponents
The only issue with Kane’s plan is that he’ll be coming up against a centre-back pairing – and a team as a whole – that are right at the top of their game defensively. Channelling the spirit of 1990s boss George Graham, Mikel Arteta has made the Gunners one of the toughest teams to beat in Europe since the turn of the year.
No Premier League side has faced fewer shots in 2024 (87) than Arsenal – and it’s not even close. Shutting Brighton out on Saturday represented the Gunners’ fifth away clean sheet on the bounce. Incredibly, no Premier League side has managed as many in total over the course of the entire season.
At the heart of this success are William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, who work together sublimely as a pairing. Unflustered in possession, while also excelling at the defensive bread and butter lacking in many of their contemporaries, they boast a growing list of victims this season.
Erling Haaland hasn’t scored past the pair in either of his meetings with Arsenal this term, and the Norwegian could not even muster a shot when the two teams faced off at the Emirates. Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, two of the Premier League’s best No.9s, have also struggled to get anything out of Arsenal, suggesting Kane will be made to work very hard for his openings across both legs.
The plucky underdog?
This growing steeliness at the back, combined with Bayern’s shocking recent form, has changed how this tie is being viewed as we edge towards kick-off. When the initial draw was made, Arsenal had just limped past Porto. Across those two games, they perhaps showed their naivety by almost succumbing to the cynical Portuguese side, before David Raya helped them get the job done on penalties.
And while Bayern were far from their usual, convincing selves against Lazio in the last 16, they initially felt like the favourites for this subsequent tie thanks to their superior experience at the sharp end of European competitions. Manager Thomas Tuchel is a Champions League winner, after all.
Now, though, Arsenal increasingly feel like the senior partners in this pairing. Though they lack continental experience, the Gunners have put in a string of highly professional performances of late, and are in a strong position in the Premier League title race. It could not contrast more to Bayern’s recent floundering, with club director Max Eberl admitting as much after Saturday’s damaging Heidenheim defeat.
“I already said after the Dortmund game that we would have a test of character in Heidenheim,” he said. “We passed it in the first half and failed in the second half. Now we have the Champions League game against Arsenal. All respect to Heidenheim, but they are a bit better than Heidenheim in terms of football. In terms of attitude, they have the same level as Heidenheim. There’s a lot coming up.”
He added: “We should all be a little ashamed today. And we should make sure that we represent the Bavarian coat of arms in a more dignified manner relatively quickly.”
If Die Roten are going to upset the odds and progress, Kane will likely have to carry them to victory, as he has done so many times previously this season.
