'I'm impressed' - Harry Kane says 'fearless' Vincent Kompany is helping Bayern Munich stars 'understand' football

After humbling Freiburg 6-2 in the Bundesliga last Saturday, Kompany's Bayern are all set to face Premier League heavyweights Arsenal in their fifth Champions League tie on Wednesday evening. The Bavarians have been in sensational form this season, losing just once across all competitions, while maintaining a 15-game winning record at the start of the season, a first for any European club. As they travel to the Emirates Stadium, they will be eager to conjure some magic to emerge as a strong obstacle against Mikel Arteta's army.

The Gunners have not conceded a goal in the Champions League so far and sit level on points and goal difference with the German giants at the top of the Champions League table. However, Kane believes his side are in the right "mindset" heading into the clash with his former north London derby rivals thanks to the impressive methods of their Belgian coach.

The former Tottenham striker said at a press conference: "The way we play, the way we train, the way he treats the team, the way he goes forward, the way you should behave. These are qualities. He is fearless. We press, stand high, that's the mindset. He gives everyone a lot of self-confidence. Not only me, but also others have improved under him, understand the game better now. I'm impressed." 

In the 2025-26 season, Arteta and his coaching staff have focused on utilising the set-pieces by turning them into a dangerous goal-scoring threat. As of late October, they had already scored 11 goals from such movements. "Football is developing. Arsenal are very strong at set-pieces. As always, we have prepared, looked at where they are strong and how we can prevent that. We simply have to avoid set pieces. If they do surrender, we have to defend well," opined the Englishman.

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While Arsenal have not won much silverware in recent times, their prosperity under Arteta's mentorship has already stunned opposition teams. For Kompany, Arsenal are a hard nut to crack. He said: "It's probably the hardest task at the moment to play against Arsenal. But we're happy about that, that's why we're here." 

While the Belgian tactician might be happy to arrive at the Emirates as the table toppers, they are a side who have struggled in set-pieces, and will take on a side adept at such actions. He claimed: "We haven't shown our normal strength in the last few games. That doesn't mean that you're not good, but you have to do better in these situations now. We have analysed this. I don't like to think too much about defence, but how we can play our game. It will be difficult to score our goals. We have to be better defensively at set-pieces, just as we are offensively. At some point, the defenders simply have to head the thing away."

Before shifting base to Munich, Kane was a key player at Tottenham. To date, he has faced the Gunners 21 times, emerging victorious on eight occasions, losing seven, and drawing the remaining six. He notably has 15 goals against Arteta's side and will teammates like Lennart Karl and Michael Olise he will aim to add to that tally on Wednesday.

"I've won and scored many goals here. Hopefully [on Wednesday] too," he said. "Arsenal has more experience than when we last met. They're harder to break down defensively now. They've improved. This will be a good test for us."