Henry Names Arsenal As UCL Favourite After Bayern Demolition

Thierry Henry has backed Arsenal as one of his top two favourites to win the Champions League this season, alongside Bayern Munich, after watching the German giants demolish Atalanta 6-1 in Tuesday’s last-16 first leg.

The Arsenal legend was providing analysis for CBS Sports when he made his assessment of the remaining contenders, praising both the Gunners and Bayern while expressing doubts about Barcelona’s consistency.

Henry Praises Bayern’s Balance

Henry was particularly impressed by Bayern’s complete performance against Atalanta, with five different players finding the net in a dominant display that saw Michael Olise score twice.

“I think that Bayern is way more balanced than Barcelona in terms of how they attack, how they shift places,” Henry assessed. “You will see, whoever it is – it can be the winger inside, the striker like we saw with Nicolas Jackson on the right – [Bayern] know what they need to do, they press well, they’re very difficult to beat at times.”

The praise comes as Arsenal prepare for their own last-16 first leg against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, with the north London side entering the knockout phase as the only team to win all eight of their league phase matches.

Barcelona Concerns Despite Talent

While Henry acknowledged Barcelona remain among the “hot favourites” to lift the trophy, he highlighted their inconsistency as a major concern following their dramatic 1-1 draw at Newcastle, where they needed a 96th-minute Lamine Yamal penalty to rescue a point.

According to the Evening Standard, Henry pointed to Barcelona’s erratic form across competitions as evidence of their unreliability at the highest level.

“It looks like at Barcelona sometimes, you have the tie against Atletico in the Copa del Rey where they lost 4-0 and it could’ve been 6-0 or 7-0 to Atletico, then you bring it back to Barca [to win 3-0] and then it could have been 6-0, 7-0, 8-0 to you,” he explained.

Arsenal’s Perfect Record Counts

Henry’s backing of Arsenal reflects the club’s flawless Champions League campaign so far, with Mikel Arteta’s side the only team to achieve a perfect eight wins from eight in the league phase.

The former striker concluded his analysis by stating that Barcelona “need to find that consistency and that balance if they want to win and be considered one of the hot favourites,” before adding: “But that balance sometimes that they don’t have make me turn a tiny bit more to Bayern and Arsenal.”

Fellow pundit Jamie Carragher supported Henry’s assessment, suggesting both Bayern and Arsenal would defeat Barcelona in a head-to-head encounter. Arsenal will look to justify their legend’s faith when they face Bayer Leverkusen in Germany on Wednesday evening.