It’s hard to know exactly where to start with the takeaways from this goal fest. Harry Kane’s exceptional form? Perhaps the record-breaking run spanning over two decades? Or how about the legendary Thomas Müller? fcbayern.com has collated all the most important facts and figures from the 9-2 victory over Dynamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
The streak just keeps on going
By thrashing Zagreb 9-2 in their opening game, Bayern have begun this Champions League season as they have done so many times before; with a convincing win. It may be a new start for Europe’s top club competition, but it’s the same old Bayern. In the first match of this year’s reformed Champions League, FCB upheld a long tradition and celebrated a victory in their opener – and how! The past 21 times in which they’ve participated in this competition, the German record champions have won their first match every single time – that’s a record like no other!
Clinical Bayern
The tally achieved by FCB against Zagreb made them the first team in Champions League history to score nine goals in one match. The last time Bayern accomplished this in European competition was over 40 years ago, when they beat Anorthosis Famagusta 10-0 in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup season. With a combined total of 11 goals, the 9-2 scoreline is the second highest in the history of the competition, after only Dortmund’s 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in November 2016. This was also the Munich side’s joint highest margin of victory in the Champions League, tied with the 7-0 wins over Shakhtar Donetsk (2015) and FC Basel (2012).
All about Kane
The fact that Bayern managed to score so many goals was once again down to Harry Kane. On top of his hat-trick against Kiel on Saturday, he grabbed another four goals against the side from Croatia. Seven goals in four days – not bad! It was the Englishman’s first time scoring four goals in a Champions League game. The only other time he has achieved this tally in a competitive appearance at club level was when Tottenham beat Leicester 6-1 in May 2017. Naturally, receiving UEFA’s Man of the Match award after grabbing so many goals was just a formality for the striker.
Of course, Kane was once again able to rely on the support of his team-mates. In addition to a goal courtesy of a rebound from a long-ranged effort by Joshua Kimmich, the striker also scored three times from the penalty spot. No other player has ever achieved that in the history of the Champions LEague. The England captain scored his 30th to 33rd Champions League goals on the night, overtaking Wayne Rooney (30 UCL goals) as England’s record scorer in the competition. What an evening for the 31-year-old!
Olise with perfect debut
Incidentally, Kane may have already found a successor – at least in part. Michael Olise celebrated his Champions League debut against Zagreb and immediately got himself on the scoresheet. Of course, Kane scored his first goal for Bayern in Europe’s premier club competition on the first matchday of last season. But Olise followed suit and added another goal to become the first Frenchman since Thierry Henry in 1997 to score twice on his Champions League debut.
Legend Müller breaks another record
It’s just over two weeks since Thomas Müller broke FC Bayern's record for number of competitive appearances, with his 710th coming in the Bundesliga match against Freiburg. But now, he's also the man with the record in the Champions League! The FCB veteran made his 152nd Champions League appearance against Zagreb – no other player can boast such a number for an individual club.
Undefeated in opening round for almost seven years
The victory over Zagreb also meant that the Munich side carried over a record from the old Champions League format into this new season: Bayern have now not lost in their last 41 opening-round matches, 40 of which were in the old group stage (37 wins, four draws). At home, this streak spans 31 games. The last home defeat before the knockout stages came almost 11 years ago in 2013, when FCB lost 3-2 to Manchester City in an insignificant final group match. Today’s Bayern coach Vincent Kompany was on the bench for 90 minutes of that game, and now he has played a major part in extending Bayern’s streak in the Champions League on his managerial debut.
Highlights from the game are available here:
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