{"id":807764,"date":"2026-10-19T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T17:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807764\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T17:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T17:32:10","slug":"konsa-bullish-about-arsenals-champions-league-hopes-as-bayern-clash-looms-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/807764\/","title":{"rendered":"Konsa bullish about Arsenal\u2019s Champions League hopes as Bayern clash looms | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Ezri Konsa, it was just a wonderfully satisfying challenge. The Nottingham Forest striker Liam Delap had stolen in behind him up the inside left channel on Sunday. There were 93 minutes gone, Arsenal<\/a> were 1-0 up and it was now or never for Forest. Konsa decreed that it would be never, curving his covering run back, matching Delap for pace and stretching into the perfect block tackle.<\/p>\n

So, another win for Arsenal<\/a>: their 10th in 11 matches this season. Another clean sheet. And for Konsa, a continuation of what has been a dreamlike couple of months. Do points-saving last-minute challenges mean more when the defender is actually a fan of the club, too? Basically, yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been asked this a lot,\u201d Konsa says with a smile, when the subject of his boyhood allegiance is raised. \u201cAnd, yes, I was [an Arsenal supporter]. I had a lot of Arsenal kits when I was younger. You dream of playing for big clubs like this. When you\u2019re a kid, you see the likes of Arsenal, growing up, and the amount of quality players they\u2019ve had throughout the years and to be here \u2013 and not only to be here but to be here with close friends \u2013 makes it even more special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Konsa is talking about Eberechi Eze, in particular; another boyhood Arsenal fan, with whom he is especially tight. Many supporters have seen the clip of Eze greeting Konsa at the training ground after the latter had completed his \u00a351m move from Aston Villa<\/a> and how they crack up with laughter before embracing. It is infectious. But Konsa knows a clutch of other Arsenal players from England duty \u2013 Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White \u2013 and he credits them with helping him to settle in.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old\u2019s adaptation has been quick and it has needed to be with William Saliba injured<\/a>. After making his Arsenal debut as a substitute at Villa<\/a> \u2013 Konsa\u2019s scriptwriters have been hard at work \u2013 he has played in every minute of the club\u2019s Premier League and Champions League matches. The victory at Forest, where Arsenal had drawn 0-0 in each of the previous two seasons, was significant. It was not a performance of any attacking pace or spark<\/a>. Perhaps it made the points feel more precious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hadn\u2019t won here in two seasons, the boss was going on about it,\u201d Konsa says. \u201cIt\u2019s something we wanted to change as players and these are the games you have to win. If you want to win titles, you have to come away to tough places like this and get three points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ezri Konsa does battle with Liam Delap during Arsenal\u2019s 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Things are about to get even more interesting for Konsa and Arsenal because on Wednesday they face Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena<\/a> in the Champions League. \u201cIt\u2019s against my international teammate as well,\u201d Konsa says, and he is straight into an appreciation of Harry Kane, the England captain, who has been on fire since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023. Kane\u2019s scoring record for the club bears repeating: 155 goals in 157 appearances.<\/p>\n

Konsa has a good record against Kane, having faced him seven times, six of them for Villa against Spurs. The seventh and most recent came in October 2024 when Konsa was in the Villa team that beat Kane\u2019s Bayern 1-0 at Villa Park<\/a> in the Champions League. It was Villa\u2019s first home match in the competition for 41 years. The defender has four wins against Kane\u2019s teams and three losses. Kane has only scored twice against him, both from penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Villa-Bayern game \u2026 to beat them at home and keep a clean sheet \u2026 it was very special for the players and the fans,\u201d Konsa says. \u201cI don\u2019t really look much at those kind of stats [against individual players] but I am relishing the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The dynamics against Bayern appear different for Konsa this time. It was a famous victory for Villa that night, in part because of the tie\u2019s history; the club beat Bayern 1-0 in the 1982 European Cup final. Villa were underdogs as they felt their way back into Europe\u2019s elite competition. Arsenal will kick off as Bayern\u2019s equals and among the favourites to win the tournament, having lost on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> in last season\u2019s final.<\/p>\n

Konsa won the first trophy of his career a week before that when he was in the Villa team that defeated Freiburg in the Europa League final<\/a>. He says he has felt the determination of the Arsenal squad to go one step further in Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne hundred per cent,\u201d Konsa says. \u201cAs players, the standards we have, the goals we have \u2026 we want to win everything \u2013 the Champions League, the Prem. Whatever trophies are in front of us. When I came to Arsenal, I wanted to win. I was hungry to win. Last season I got my hands on the Europa League and this season I want more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Ezri Konsa, it was just a wonderfully satisfying challenge. The Nottingham Forest striker Liam Delap had stolen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-807764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}