Since 2002, German giants, Bayern Munich, have never lost an opening day match in the UEFA Champions League. They have maintained their record with yet another opening match week win. Under the management of Vincent Kompany, the Bavarians thrashed the Croatian side, Dinamo Zagreb, with a record breaking win by a score line of 9-2.
In 2002, Deportivo La Coruna defeated Bayern Munich, where Roy Makaay scored against the German giants. According to Bavarian Football Works, Bayern Munich signed Makaay after this performance. Since this incident, the Bavarians have never lost an opening match week fixture of the UEFA Champions League.
Vincent Kompany is proving the doubters wrong with this statement victory against a consistent European side like Dinamo Zagreb. The club has produced some of the finest European footballers in the recent years, which includes Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, and Mislav Orsic.
Before the match, the reporters asked Kompany about his new job, to which he replied that he was born in Brussels, but his father was a refugee who came to Belgium from Congo. Although there were so many challenges, Kompany still became a world-class footballer, who captained Manchester City and the Belgium National Team, and helped City to win the Premier League multiple times. The Belgian is now managing one of the biggest clubs in the world.
The Belgian added that winning and losing is part of the game; whether it is a victory or a defeat, one always improves by learning new things. Vincent believes that everyone should do what they strongly believe in. After the match against Dinamo Zagreb, the Belgian manager has proved his philosophy to the entire world.
Bayern vs. Dinamo Zagreb: As it happened
From the start, Bayern Munich were dominating the Croatian side. At the beginning of the match, Pavlovic won a penalty for the Bavarians. Then, “goal-machine” Harry Kane scored the opening goal of the game. After that, Kompany’s men kept on scoring one goal after the other, in which Kane scored four goals, three from penalties and one from open play.
There was a situation where Serge Gnabry delivered a floated cross into the box, and Jamal Musiala redirected the ball with his chest. The ball fell in front of Raphael Guerriero, who without a second thought, smashed the ball back at the back of the net. It was one of the best moments of the entire game, from Musiala’s incredible pass to Guerriero’s stunning volley, everything was just simply sublime.
Joshua Kimmich took a long-range shot, but the Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper saved it. Unfortunately for the Croatian side, the ball fell at the feet of Bayern’s new signing, Michael Olise, who scored in his UCL debut.
Players like Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sane also added their names to the list of goal scorers, where the former scored a header and the latter scored from outside the box. On the other hand, new signing, Michael Olise, scored two goals in his Champions League debut. Although Petkovic and Ogiwara scored two goals for Dinamo Zagreb, it was too difficult for the Croatian side to think of a comeback. The goal deficit became too large to compensate for Zagreb.
Under the management of Vincent Kompany, Bayern are looking in a different shape. They are looking more sharp and efficient in front of the goal than last season. After the departure of Robert Lewandowski in 2022, Harry Kane has perfectly taken the responsibility to score goals for Bayern. Since his arrival in 2023, the England captain has been unstoppable. It seems that the 31-year-old English forward is on a mission to create goalscoring records.
This season, Bayern Munich have a great amount of talent in their squad. In the attacking front line, they have Michael Olise, Harry Kane, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, and Jamal Musiala. If the wingers can provide goalscoring opportunities to Kane, he will score most of them. If Bayern Munich keep on playing like this, they might end up winning the UEFA Champions League, as they are already considered as one of the favorites to lift the trophy this season.
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