ENGLAND CAPTAIN Harry Kane scored four goals, including three penalties, as Bayern Munich beat Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 at home on Tuesday — becoming the first team to score nine goals in a Champions League match.
Kane opened the scoring from the spot after 19 minutes and a second-half hat trick took him to 33 Champions League goals, the most of any Englishman as he overtook Wayne Rooney’s mark of 30.
The comfortable scoreline masked a difficult period after the break when Bayern lost goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to injury and Zagreb rallied, scoring two goals in two minutes to cut the gap to 3-2 after five second-half minutes.
Former Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise scored a brace on his Champions League debut while Raphael Guerreiro, Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka also grabbed goals for Bayern.
The six-time Champions League winners had won every one of their past 20 opening matches in the competition dating back to 2002-03.
The score is one goal better than Bayern’s record 8-2 win over Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the competition in 2020.
The big win brought more than bragging rights for the German giants, with goal difference likely to be even more important under the new Champions League single league format.
Bayern were dominant early but it went unrewarded, with goals by Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry struck off for narrow offsides, until VAR found a foul on Aleksandar Pavlovic, bringing Kane to the spot.
The England captain converted the penalty, sending Ivan Nevistic the wrong way. Bayern then grabbed hold of the match with two goals in a five-minute period late in the first half.
Guerreiro slammed in an excellent chested assist from Musiala on 33 minutes, before Olise headed in a Joshua Kimmich corner for a goal on his Champions League debut.
Neuer, who had ventured close to the halfway line to snuff out a Zagreb counter in the opening minutes, was substituted at half-time and the change seemed to spook the home side.
Bruno Petkovic’s 48th-minute goal came out of nothing, the captain turning in Ronael Pierre-Gabriel’s pass.
When Takuya Ogiwara scored on the counter just two minutes later, the home fans began to wonder if last season’s wobbles — when Bayern went trophyless for the first time in 11 seasons — were back.
Kane was however next to score and his three strikes in 22 second-half minutes brought his total with Bayern to 53 goals in 50 games, while a second for Olise and goals from Sane and Goretzka secured a dominant win for the home side.
Two-time Champions League winner Thomas Mueller was subbed on in the second half for his 152nd appearance in the competition, the most for any one club, overtaking Barcelona’s Xavi.
Elsewhere, Kylian Mbappe scored on his first Champions League appearance for Real Madrid as the holders started their trophy defence with a 3-1 win over Stuttgart on Tuesday.
Antonio Rudiger headed home in the 83rd minute for the record 15-time champions after Deniz Undav had levelled Mbappe’s opener just seconds into the second half.
Endrick, another Champions League debutant, wrapped up Madrid’s win with a low drive in stoppage time.
Stuttgart had the better of an entertaining opening period but Carlo Ancelotti’s team have a habit of grinding out victories when up against the wall and they took the three points despite the visitors’ impressive efforts.
Ancelotti selected full-back Dani Carvajal in central defence with Eder Militao not fit enough to start, while Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni returned from injury to play in midfield.
Madrid have lacked a certain balance after stalwart Toni Kroos retired in the summer and the game lurched from end to end under the Santiago Bernabeu lights.
Bundesliga side Stuttgart had more of the ball and the most dangerous chances in the first half, with Enzo Millot heavily involved.
The French midfielder dragged an early shot wide and forced Thibaut Courtois to tip over his dangerous effort from range, the best of a handful of saves by the Belgian.
At the other end Mbappe had two shots saved by Alexander Nubel as he sought his first Champions League goal for Madrid.
Rodrygo had a shot narrowly deflected over while Madrid were awarded a penalty when Maximilian Mittelstadt appeared to catch Rudiger with a clumsy swipe, but the referee cancelled the decision after a VAR referral showed no contact was made.
Courtois thwarted Angelo Stiller and Undav hit the crossbar for Stuttgart, but they were brought crashing down to earth at the start of the second half.
Just 21 seconds after the interval Mbappe found the net with his fifth goal for the club, teed up unselfishly by Rodrygo. It was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it and many did, still on their way back to their seats from the Bernabeu bars.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker was not able to win the club game’s biggest prize while playing in France and his desire to lift the trophy matches Madrid’s obsession with it.
Stuttgart did not get the memo and after Vinicius crashed an effort against the crossbar, the German side levelled.
Jamie Leweling came close himself with a flurry of attempts before hooking a corner back into the danger area for Undav to head past Courtois.
Ancelotti sent 18-year-old Brazil striker Endrick on for the final 10 minutes, hunting a winner to get the holders’ trophy defence off to the perfect start.
The goal arrived swiftly but not from Madrid’s galaxy of attacking stars, but instead centre-back Rudiger, who nodded home from Luka Modric’s corner in the 83rd minute.
Vinicius missed a golden chance to seal Madrid’s win but his compatriot Endrick made no mistake with his only opportunity, drilling home from the edge of the box at the death.
UEFA Champions League results on Tuesday:
League stage, matchday one
Juventus (ITA) 3 (Yildiz 21, McKennie 27, Gonzalez 52) PSV Eindhoven (NED) 1 (Saibari 90+3)
Young Boys (SUI) 0 Aston Villa (ENG) 3 (Tielemans 27, Ramsey 38, Onana 86)
Bayern Munich (GER) 9 (Kane 19-pen, 57, 73-pen, 78-pen, Guerreiro 33, Olise 38, 61, Sane 85, Goretzka 90+2) Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 2 (Petkovic 48, Ogiwara 50)
AC Milan (ITA) 1 (Pulisic 3) Liverpool (ENG) 3 (Konate 23, Van Dijk 41, Szoboszlai 67)
Real Madrid (ESP) 3 (Mbappe 46, Ruediger 83, Endrick 90+5) Stuttgart (GER) 1 (Undav 68)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) 2 (Gyokeres 38, Debast 65) Lille (FRA) 0
