Champions League matchday 3: Bayern 2-2 Arsenal, Real Madrid stay perfect, Como thrash Manchester United – and the table after three rounds

The second half of Champions League matchday 3 on Wednesday 21 October finished the round, and the league table now has five clubs with three wins from three: Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Aston Villa and Real Betis. The game of the night in Munich ended level, Real Madrid kept rolling before El Clásico, and Manchester United suffered a heavy defeat at Como.

Bayern 2-2 Arsenal: Rice rescues a point after Kane’s penalty

This was the meeting of last season’s semi-finalists Bayern and the beaten finalists Arsenal, who lost the final to PSG on penalties in Budapest in May. It lived up to the billing. Arsenal lost Bukayo Saka to a thigh injury after ten minutes, and his replacement, Eberechi Eze, scored in the 25th minute from Martin Ødegaard’s pass, a goal first ruled offside and then given after a VAR check.

Bayern, without the suspended Michael Olise and Joshua Kimmich, who was absent after a family bereavement, levelled in the 35th minute when Harry Kane slipped in Alphonso Davies. Kane put Bayern ahead from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after Jurriën Timber handled. It was Kane’s 16th goal in 22 games against Arsenal, and he became only the second player after Cristiano Ronaldo to score in ten consecutive Champions League matches.

Arsenal had more of the ball and more shots, and they were rewarded in the 82nd minute when Declan Rice finished a move involving Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyökeres from a tight angle past Manuel Neuer. Both goalkeepers had busy nights: David Raya clawed a Davies header off the line, and Neuer saved from Bruno Guimarães and, late on, from Timber.

The draw keeps Bayern unbeaten in the competition and extends their run without defeat in home group-stage or league-phase games to 40. Arsenal, on seven points, avoided a first defeat in 14 games at this stage. The worry for Mikel Arteta is Saka: “It doesn’t look good at all,” he said after the game.

Real Madrid 4-1 RB Leipzig: Diomandé scores against his old club

José Mourinho’s Real Madrid won their third Champions League game in a row and their fourth straight in all competitions. Bernardo Silva scored his first goal for the club late in the first half, following up after Arda Güler’s shot was saved. Güler made it 2-0 in the 52nd minute after Kylian Mbappé headed Jude Bellingham’s cross across goal.

Mbappé then curled in the third from a pass by Yan Diomandé, the former Leipzig winger who became Madrid’s record signing in the summer for a reported €140 million. Tidiam Gomis pulled one back for Leipzig before Diomandé volleyed Brahim Díaz’s cross into the top corner. Mbappé now has 73 Champions League goals. Vinícius Júnior started, despite serving a four-match LaLiga ban, and was replaced by Diomandé with about 20 minutes left, a decision that may hint at Mourinho’s plans for Sunday.

Como 4-1 Manchester United

The shock of the night came by Lake Como. Nico Paz scored inside two minutes with a curling shot from the edge of the area, set up Anastasios Douvikas for the second and scored again in the 57th minute. Jacobo Ramón added a fourth before Joshua Zirkzee, on as a substitute, scored a consolation. Como have six points from three games; United have three after a second straight defeat, having also fallen behind early in Madrid a week earlier.

The rest of Wednesday’s results

Aston Villa 3-1 Viking and Real Betis 1-0 Feyenoord: both clubs stay perfect on nine points. Inter 1-0 Shakhtar Donetsk: Inter’s first points of the league phase after two defeats. Club Brugge 3-0 Lens. Lille 2-4 Galatasaray: Soriba Diaoune scored twice for Lille, but Galatasaray came back to win. Sporting CP 2-3 LASK: Sporting lose their perfect record.

Champions League table after matchday 3

Nine points: PSG, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Aston Villa, Real Betis. Seven points: Arsenal and Stuttgart. Six points: among others Barcelona, Manchester City, Sporting CP and Como. Five points: Bayern Munich. Still looking for their first point after three games: Porto, among others. The top eight go straight to the round of 16, and teams ranked 9th to 24th go into a two-legged play-off. In 2024-25, the first season of this format, eighth place needed 16 points.

What’s next

Matchday 4 is played on 3 and 4 November. Before that, the weekend brings El Clásico at Camp Nou on Sunday 25 October, with Real Madrid now on a four-game winning run and Barcelona coming off their first defeat of the season in Paris. You can follow the live Champions League table and every result in the SportPulses football section.