BAYERN BLOWN AWAY

LONDON — Mikel Arteta praised his Arsenal players after they outplayed Europe's "best team" Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday to pull clear at the top of the Champions League table.

The Gunners dominated the second half against the six-time European champion to finish as worthy winners.

Bayern's 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl canceled out Jurrien Timber's opener late in the first half, but Noni Madueke restored Arsenal's lead with his first goal for the club, and fellow substitute Gabriel Martinelli took advantage of a huge blunder from Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer.

The Gunners now have five wins out of five in the Champions League and are well on course to qualify automatically for the last 16.

They are three points clear of a clutch of teams, including Bundesliga leader Bayern, which traveled to London with four wins out of four in the Champions League.

"I have to praise our players, because I think they had an incredible match against, in my opinion, the best team in Europe," said delighted Arsenal manager Arteta.

"Individually, we were immense in resolving all of the challenges that this team brings to the table."

The Spaniard added: "We know that the margins are super small. We started the week really well against Spurs (a 4-1 league victory on Sunday), and today is another massive victory, but that's it. Now I will go home, have a nice dinner, and tomorrow morning we'll start to prepare for Stamford Bridge (against Chelsea)."

Arteta said it would be useful to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League quickly, but warned there were tough challenges ahead.

"The energy that we created in the stadium, what the team transmits, the energy that we bring, the quality that we play with, it's incredible and we have to maintain that, because it's still very early," he said.

There is a growing sense that Arsenal could be on the brink of something special after coming up short in the past few seasons, with three consecutive second-placed finishes in the Premier League.

But Arteta said it would be straight back to work on Thursday, with preparations for Sunday's match against in-form Chelsea, which is second in the Premier League.

The strength of Arsenal's squad was demonstrated by the fact that two of the goals came from substitutes Madueke and Martinelli.

The Gunners are also missing a host of senior players including Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres.

"I look at the players and they are coming in and they can change the game, so that's what you're required to do," said Arteta.

"At this level, we certainly have improved that, not only with the quality, but with the mindset of the players coming in as well, and that's something that is making a huge difference for us."

'No panic'

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane suffered a rare off night, as the German champion was clinically outscored by Arsenal.

The England skipper, however, said there would be no panic, and predicted that the two sides could well clash again at the business end of the tournament next spring.

"It was a tough game, which is kind of what we expected. It was a good battle in the first half, and was fairly even," said Kane, who has bagged 29 goals in all competitions for club and country so far this season.

"Second half, we didn't quite have the same energy or intensity and we lost too many duels. It's our first loss of the season. We don't want to panic too much about it, but we will learn from it for sure.

"I'm sure we'll see (Arsenal) again in the later stages of the Champions League."

During his record-breaking career at Tottenham Hotspur, Kane bagged 14 goals in 17 North London derbies in the Premier League. He also scored a penalty for Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Arsenal two seasons ago, when the Bundesliga side won 3-2 on aggregate.

But Arsenal has grown in stature since then, with a huge summer spend giving them a squad depth that not even Bayern can match.

"We are different, they are different as well. It was a different stage of the competition, and it was thin margins by which we went out," Arteta said when asked the difference between his side now, and the one from two years ago.

"We learn, we are better."

Arsenal tops the Premier League by six points and is now three points clear at the top of the Champions League table. However, man-of-the-match Declan Rice insisted there was no chance of Arsenal getting complacent.

"That's just a lot of talk. The Champions League — you're either in or you're out," he said. "At the moment, it's only the league phase, anything can happen. Look at last season, Liverpool finished top, then they faced (Paris Saint-Germain) and they were out.

"We just have to take it one game at a time, stay focused and be ready for whatever is thrown at us, because, on our day, I think we can beat anyone."

Agencies