With a strong start and an even better finish, Bayern took home the first three points of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season on Friday evening. A rare brace, a tireless provider and a dream debut for a new signing all played a big part in the success – fcbayern.com has compiled all the facts on the opening match at Werder Bremen.
Lightning start from Bayern
Of their 16 appearances in the official Bundesliga opening match, Bayern remain undefeated and celebrated their 13th victory. “A super start," as head coach Thomas Tuchel put it after the final whistle. The foundation for this was laid by Leroy Sané with the opening goal in the fourth minute: this was the 18th time that the first goal of a new Bundesliga season was scored by one of the German record champions' players (including in ten of the past eleven seasons) – that is also a record. In addition, the Munich team scored in each of their most recent twelve matches on Matchday 1, setting a club record.
Sané scores twice
Speaking of Sané: The Bayern winger scored the second-fastest goal in a Bundesliga opening match with his goal to make it 1-0 after three minutes and 13 seconds – only Hertha's Bart Goor was faster in 2002 (first minute against Dortmund). And as the 27-year-old refused to let up for the rest of the match, he crowned his strong performance with another goal shortly before the end – it was his first Bundesliga brace in his 144th game in this competition. Incidentally, Sané had also scored his last goal in the top flight against Bremen, on Matchday 31 of last season, when Bayern won 2-1. The attacker thus continued a strong pattern: FC Bayern have never lost a Bundesliga match when Sané has scored (18 wins, four draws).
The eternal Müller
Thomas Müller came into the game in the closing stages of the opening match (84th minute) and immediately set a record. The Bavarian-born legend became the first man to play in 16 Bundesliga seasons for the German record champions. At the start of his record season, everything remained the same for Bayern's longest-serving professional: Müller set up Sané to make it 3-0 in the 90th minute and thus collected his 17th assist – in Bundesliga games against Werder Bremen alone. No other player has managed that against the same club since detailed data collection began in 2004/05.
Dream debut for Kane
At the start of the 2023/24 Bundesliga season, (almost) all eyes were on Harry Kane, who not only made his starting debut for FC Bayern, but also his debut in Germany's top division. Fortunately, there was no sign of any teething problems for the English newcomer, who, with his goal to make it 2-0 in the 74th minute, has now scored in each of his six most recent league appearances (five in England, one in the Bundesliga) and thus set a personal best.
Bremen pattern continues
FC Bayern remained unbeaten in their 32nd consecutive competitive match against SV Werder Bremen, extending the longest such streak in German professional football. Bayern won away in Bremen for the 15th time in a row, which is also a record in German professional football against a single club.
Here's the reaction to the opening victory in Bremen:
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