What a game that was! Unbelievable! It was thrill-a-minute stuff on Tuesday evening as FC Bayern steamrollered Dinamo Zagreb to kick off the 2024/25 Champions League campaign. At the final whistle, the scoreboard displayed a 9-2 win that impressed not just the fans in the sold-out Allianz Arena, but the players too. "All in all, it was an incredible night tonight," enthused Harry Kane, who has netted eight (!) of the Munich men's 17 goals in their last three competitive matches. The four-goal haul man's clinical finishing from the spot played a key role in Bayern's historic victory, which went down as the third-biggest win in the history of Europe's premier club competition - only on one occasion have the Reds scored more goals in a European tie.
We've listed the biggest Bayern victories in European competition for you:
28 September 1983: Bayern hit double figures against Famagusta
It was the night FC Bayern celebrated their biggest win to date in European football: after a narrow 1-0 away win in the first leg, they beat Anorthosis Famagusta 10-0 in the second leg of the first round of the UEFA Cup. In front of 8,000 spectators in their home at the Olympiastadion, Klaus Augenthaler (3), Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (2), Michael Rummenigge, Wolfgang Dremmler, Wolfgang Kraus, Sören Lerby and Karl Del'Haye scored for the Reds, who did not give the club from the east coast of Cyprus the slightest chance. The German record champions were knocked out in the third round against eventual tournament winners Tottenham Hotspur (1-0, 0-2).
24 October 1972: Gerd Müller show against Nicosia
11 years earlier, another Cypriot club had already suffered a heavy defeat in Munich. In November 1972, Omonia Nicosia crashed to a 9-0 defeat in Bavaria. In the round of 16 second leg of the European Cup, Bayern left them with no chance, with Gerd Müller in particular in a scoring mood and grabbing a five-goal haul. Edgar Schneider (2), Uli Hoeneß and Franz ‘Bulle’ Roth also got on the scoresheet. Bayern were once again knocked out of the competition by the eventual trophy winners Ajax (0-4, 2-1), who proved to be just too good for coach Udo Lattek's team in the quarter-finals.
14 September 1977: Mjøndalen no match for FCB
FC Bayern got their European campaign off to a brilliant start back in 1977, when Norwegian first division side Mjøndalen IF visited Munich in the first round of the UEFA Cup - and were sent packing after an 8-0 defeat. Branko Oblak's opener and a brace from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge were the first steps towards a resounding win in front of the home crowd. By Uli Hoeneß' goal to make it 5-0, any hopes the visitors had of pulling off a surprise had been dashed. As if that wasn't enough, Gerd Müller followed it up with a hat-trick to inflict a bitter defeat on the previous year's runners-up in the Norwegian top flight.
17 September 2024: Bayern's goal-fest against Zagreb
The spectacular 11-goal rout of Dinamo Zagreb will go down as the fourth-highest European win in FC Bayern's club history. Man of the match Harry Kane scored three times from the spot and poached another goal against the reigning Croatian champions, almost single-handedly deciding the game. New signing Michael Olise (2), Raphaël Guerreiro, Leon Goretzka and comeback man Leroy Sané also netted for the Bavarians. A magnificent start to the new Champions League campaign, which will ideally end where it began for the Reds: The final will take place on 31 May 2025 at the Allianz Arena.
13 March 2012: Gómez's finest hour against Basel
Back in 2012, FC Bayern celebrated a historic victory on their way to the ‘Finale dahoam’. In the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie, the men from Munich sent Basel packing from the Arena with a 7-0 win after the Swiss side had won the first leg 1-0. Curiously, the German record champions' centre-forward also grabbed a four-goal haul back then: Mario Gómez achieved against Basel what Harry Kane did against Zagreb. The striker scored goals three, four, five and six; his attacking partners Arjen Robben (2) and Thomas Müller helped make it a perfect evening.
11 March 2015: Six Bayern scorers against Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayern achieved the same result almost exactly two years later against Shakhtar Donetsk, also in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, when six FCB players got on the scoresheet in the 7-0 win against the reigning Ukrainian champions (first leg: 0-0). In addition to attackers Thomas Müller (2), Franck Ribéry, Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze, centre-backs Jérôme Boateng and Holger Badstuber also found the back of the net. Coach Pep Guardiola's team were knocked out in the semi-finals against Barcelona (first leg: 0-3, second leg: 3-2).
14 August 2020: An unforgettable night in Lisbon
Even four years later, every Bayern fan can still remember the moment in which Alphonso Davies weaved around the Barça defence like they were slalom poles and laid the ball off to Joshua Kimmich, who was in front of goal. The 8-2 in the Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona was a memorable match in many respects. On the one hand, the Munich side showed in no uncertain terms that the only way to lift the trophy this year was by beating them. On the other hand, the manner in which they swept aside such renowned opponents made the whole of European football fear this team. In the end, coach Hansi Flick's team proved to be unstoppable and were crowned champions in the final against Paris St Germain (1-0).
10 March 2009: Van Bommel & Co. overwhelm Sporting
A glance at Bayern's starting XI for the Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon in 2009 is enough to make the fans' hearts beat faster. Between the sticks it was Jörg Butt, Lúcio and Philipp Lahm kept their opponents in check in defence, Mark van Bommel swept aside anything that got in his way in the centre of midfield and the German-Brazilian wing-back pairing of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Zé Roberto ran riot on the wings. The Reds showed their quality on the pitch in the second leg of the round of 16 tie against the Portuguese giants, crushing the visitors 7-1 in front of their home crowd.
21 October 2014: Bayern's seven-goal salvo in Rome
Francesco Totti, Daniele de Rossi and Co. got themselves into a real pickle in front of their own fans at the Stadio Olimpico. The Roma supporters' disappointment after the 7-1 home defeat against FC Bayern was huge. The Giallorossi failed to make any headway against the German record champions for 90 minutes and were already 5-0 down at the break. With their goals, Arjen Robben (2), Mario Götze, Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller, Franck Ribéry and Xherdan Shaqiri provided a demonstration of power par excellence. The Reds ultimately finished top of the group ahead of runners-up Roma.
8 March 2022: Lewandowski hat-trick paves the way
Following the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the round of 16, RB Salzburg were certainly hoping to get a result in the second leg at the Allianz Arena. However, their hopes were quickly dashed. Bayern made short work of the Austrians and were 4-0 up at the end of the first 45 minutes thanks to a hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski and a Serge Gnabry strike. Thomas Müller (2) and Leroy Sané added to FCB's tally in the second half, while Maurits Kjaergaard's goal to make it 5-1 only had a cosmetic effect. The final score was 7-1.
Check out the key moments from the Zagreb clash in our match report:
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