Arteta's worried face says it all on Saka

Saka went down clutching the back of his leg in a Champions League tie that had already swung back and forth twice, and the sight of Arsenal's most important attacker being helped off was enough to drain the colour out of a result that, on another night, would have felt like a decent point away at Bayern Munich.

Arteta didn't dress it up afterwards. Asked about the injury, he said it "does not look good at all", which from a manager who tends to keep his cards close is about as direct a red flag as Arsenal fans are going to get before scan results come back. GiveMeSport has pointed to injury-expert estimates on how long Saka could be sidelined, though the precise timeframe isn't confirmed yet and won't be until Arsenal's medical staff have had a proper look.

Why this one stings

Saka isn't just a name on the team sheet, he's the player Arsenal build attacks around. Last season he produced 7 goals and 10 assists in 2,218 minutes in the Premier League, the kind of all-round output that makes him close to irreplaceable in Arteta's setup.

Arsenal sit second in the Premier League on 18 points from seven games, with six wins and just the one defeat. Losing Saka for any length of time, on a run like that and with a Champions League campaign to juggle alongside it, is the sort of blow that tests squad depth rather than just dents morale.

What Arteta might do

The obvious fix is reshuffling the front line, whether that's shifting a winger inside, adjusting the shape to compensate for the loss of Saka's end product on the right, or leaning more heavily on central combinations to make up the difference. None of that solves the specific problem Saka creates, which is a player who can win a game on his own from a standing start, but Arteta has shown before he's willing to tweak system rather than just swap a name for a name.

For now, Arsenal are in wait-and-see territory. The draw at Bayern keeps the Champions League campaign ticking over, but the question coming out of Munich is whether Arsenal can cope without their best attacker, and for how long.