It’ll all feel a little bit different from previous years when Bayern kick off their Champions League journey at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night. Not only has the famous anthem been slightly changed, but so has the entire format for the 33rd edition of Europe’s top club competition. It sees 36 teams now compete in one big league instead of four previous groups of eight.
New format, same old habits
Despite the changes, Bayern’s goals remain very much the same, with three points a must to begin things. “A win is always important, especially in the opening game,” said Joshua Kimmich, who has always fulfilled that expectation with his teammates in recent years. That’s because Bayern have won their first Champions League fixture in each of the last 20 campaigns, doing so by a remarkable aggregate score of 51-5. No other team in the competition’s history can even come close to that winning run, which will hopefully be extended further.
Take a look back through Bayern’s winning run in Champions League openers:
Bayern have “always got off to a good start in the past, but that means nothing for Tuesday. We need to go out and show that as a team,” demanded Harry Kane. The striker was among the goalscorers in last season’s opening 4-3 victory against Manchester United, proving once again that even the biggest names can’t stop this remarkable run. Back in 2022, FCB started with a 2-0 win away at Inter Milan, having claimed a 3-0 success in Barcelona the year before. Many other big names have tried and failed to make Bayern stumble at the first hurdle, such as Roma (2-0 at home in 2010), Manchester City (1-0 at home in 2014), Benfica (2-0 away in 2018) or Atletico Madrid (4-0 at home in 2020).
It all began in Glasgow
The origins of this historic sequence can be traced back to Glasgow in September 2003 when two late goals from Roy Makaay saw Bayern battle to three points and a 2-1 win away at Celtic. It was actually the Dutch striker who inflicted the club’s last opening defeat, netting a hat-trick the year before while still at Deportivo La Coruna (3-2). That season was also the only time ever that the Bavarians have failed to get out of the group stage. Conversely, it means Bayern have always reached the knockout stage since starting this run of Matchday 1 wins.
But what about things now in the new format? One of the reasons for UEFA’s decision to reform things was to keep the race for the round of 16 open longer, which is something Kimmich has also recognised. “Even though we’ve not played the format, it feels like every game counts a bit more,” the 29-year-old explained. “It’s not like in the past where a good start means you’re already through.” Since the top eight in the league qualify automatically for the last 16, it means you “always have a chance in the play-off”, according to Kimmich, talking of the potential need to play a two-legged tie in February to progress into the knockout stage.
Excitement for Tuesday
However, that’s all in the future. The focus for Bayern is now solely on facing Zagreb. “It’ll be important to approach every game 100 percent serious, and we want to start with a win on Tuesday,” stated Kimmich. Sporting director Christoph Freund had a similar view on things: “Every game starts from zero. We need to go into them with conviction and concentration, and then we can look ahead to the next game.”
And Bayern don’t just have that historic run to defend against the Croatian champions. They also still boast a perfect record under Vincent Kompany with four wins from as many competitive fixtures. “We want to maintain that momentum. We’ve started the season well,” said Kane. “Everyone’s excited to get going in the Champions League, and at home is the perfect opportunity for it.”
Bayern legend Ivica Olic explains more about what to expect from Dinamo Zagreb:
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