Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal Lineups March 2026
Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal Lineups March 2026 – An exciting match will take place in the round of 16 of the 2025/2026 Champions League season when Bayer Leverkusen host Arsenal in the first leg of the knockout phase.
This duel attracts the attention of many football fans because it brings together two teams that have recorded history as “Invincibles” in the 21st century.
This match is predicted to take place at a high tempo because both teams have a fairly aggressive attacking style of play.
The atmosphere at BayArena is also certain to be very lively when these representatives of Germany and England face each other in an important duel in the most prestigious competition in Europe.
This match is scheduled to take place at BayArena, on Wednesday, 10 March 2026 at 18.45 local time.
The 2023-24 Bundesliga champions managed to pass the two-legged playoff round against Olympiacos to secure their place facing The Gunners, who performed very perfectly in the league phase.
Now, before this match begins, let us take a look at the prediction from Mansion Sports for the Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal lineups March 2026 below.
Team Conditions Ahead of the Match
Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen once made history by completing a league season without defeat, exactly 20 years after Arsenal recorded the Invincibles record under Arsene Wenger.
However after the era of Xabi Alonso and Florian Wirtz ended, Leverkusen’s performance indeed experienced a noticeable decline since they ended Bayern Munchen’s long dominance in the Bundesliga.
The coaching period of Erik ten Hag which was less successful became a part that supporters do not particularly wish to remember.
However the former Denmark national team coach, Kasper Hjulmand, succeeded in stabilizing the team’s performance again both in domestic and European competitions, so that Leverkusen returned to the round of 16 for the second consecutive season.
After finishing only in 16th place in the league phase, Leverkusen had to go through the playoff round. A 2-0 victory over Olympiacos in the first leg away from home placed Die Werkself in a very comfortable position.
A goalless draw at BayArena in the second leg was enough to ensure their progress to the next round.
Nevertheless, that result also became part of a sequence of less consistent performances for the hosts.
In the last five matches in all competitions, Leverkusen only secured one victory.
In their last Bundesliga match they even had to settle for a 3-3 draw against Freiburg in a very dramatic match.
Even so, their home record at BayArena in the last two months has been quite different.
Kasper Hjulmand’s squad managed to record six home matches without defeat with only one goal conceded in a total of 540 minutes of play.
Leverkusen also once held Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in Germany in 2002. However after that Arsenal managed to record two major 4-1 victories separated by a span of 22 years, one occurring during the same Champions League campaign and another in a pre-season match in 2024.
Arsenal
Arsenal are often considered to always be strong candidates but rarely succeed in becoming champions in European competitions, except for one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup title in 1994.
However this season, The Gunners have performed extraordinarily since the beginning of the competition by securing eight consecutive victories in the league phase.
Mikel Arteta succeeded in bringing Arsenal to important victories against several major teams such as Atletico Madrid, long-time rival Bayern Munich, as well as the 2024-25 finalists Inter Milan.
With that performance, Arsenal successfully secured first place without significant competition.
They also recorded the best statistics in the league phase which was followed by 36 teams, both in terms of goal productivity with 23 goals and defense which conceded only four goals.
The knockout phase draw was also quite favorable for Arsenal because they will not face Real Madrid, Liverpool, PSG, Bayern Munich, or Manchester City before the final.
That situation makes the hope that 2026 could become the season when Arsenal finally lift the Champions League trophy even greater.
Arsenal also still have the opportunity to achieve a quadruple which has never happened before. Even so, they still receive criticism related to their style of play which is considered too pragmatic, such as time management in matches and dependence on set-piece situations. However as long as victories continue to come, that matter does not become too problematic for the team.
Arsenal travel to Germany with the capital of four consecutive victories in all competitions. In the last match, their second team managed to defeat Mansfield Town with a score of 2-1 in the FA Cup.
That result also made Arsenal score two goals or more in eight of their last eleven away matches.
Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal Lineups March 2026
Bayer Leverkusen (3-4-2-1)
Bayer Leverkusen are also not in their best squad condition for this first leg. Mark Flekken who suffered a knee injury, Loic Bade with a hamstring injury, Arthur who suffered a ligament injury, Lucas Vazquez with a calf injury, Eliesse Ben Seghir who also suffered a calf injury, as well as Nathan Tella with a leg injury still have to undergo recovery.
Patrik Schick is almost recovered from a muscle problem and is expected to be included in the match squad. However the young talent from Cameroon, Christian Kofane, is likely to become the main spearhead.
Former Liverpool defender, Jarell Quansah, who has recently been linked with the possibility of returning to Anfield is expected to play as the main central defender in Leverkusen’s three-defender formation.
Meanwhile left wing-back Alejandro Grimaldo remains a dangerous threat through set pieces, as seen from his beautiful free kick when facing Freiburg last weekend.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Several main Arsenal players indeed did not appear when facing Mansfield last weekend.
However four of them, namely David Raya, Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice, and Gabriel Magalhaes, were actually only rested and are expected to return to the match squad.
William Saliba who suffered an ankle injury, Riccardo Calafiori, and Leandro Trossard who suffered a knock have also returned to training.
However Martin Odegaard who suffered a knee injury, Ben White who suffered a knock, as well as Mikel Merino who suffered a leg injury still have to remain sidelined.
Riccardo Calafiori was actually expected to play, but for this match he will likely be replaced by the player on loan from Leverkusen, namely Piero Hincapie who still meets the requirements to face his parent club.
Meanwhile the scorer of the winning goal in the last match, Eberechi Eze, is expected to appear from the first minute replacing the injured Trossard.
This match is predicted to take place very interestingly because both teams possess high player quality as well as different tactical approaches.
Information regarding the Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal lineups March 2026 is certainly an important matter for football fans to see what strategies will be implemented by both teams.
With the atmosphere of BayArena which is famously intense, the duel between Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal has the potential to become one of the most exciting matches in the Champions League round of 16 this season.