Champions League insights from Tuesday: Bayern Munich and Endrick make history

CNN
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The Champions League returned with a bang on Tuesday.

The new season marks the introduction of a revised league format, with 36 teams competing against each other for the first time in Europe’s most important club football competition.

Here are the key takeaways from Tuesday’s games.

The Vincent Kompany era at FC Bayern Munich has already started at full steam.

The German giants have won all three of their Bundesliga matches and made an impressive start to their European campaign on Tuesday.

Bayern beat Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia 9-2 at the Allianz Arena to become the first team in Champions League history to score nine goals in a single match. The last time Bayern achieved a similar feat in a European football competition was in the 1983/84 UEFA Cup, when they beat Anorthosis Famagusta 10-0.

Striker Harry Kane scored four goals, including three from the penalty spot, while Michael Olise scored twice on his debut in the European competition, becoming the first Frenchman since Thierry Henry in 1997 to score twice on his first Champions League appearance. Raphaël Guerreiro, Leroy Sané and Leon Goretzka scored the other three goals for Bayern.

FC Bayern Munich players celebrate Olise (far right) scoring his team’s fifth goal against Dinamo Zagreb.

The total of 11 goals between the two teams is the second highest in the history of the competition, after Borussia Dortmund’s 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in November 2016.

After the victory, Kompany – who was appointed Bayern coach in the summer after coaching English club Burnley when they were relegated from the Premier League last season – addressed his critics.

“I’ll tell you something briefly, just to prove it,” Kompany told reporters. “I was born in Brussels, in the northern district of Brussels, my father was a refugee who came to Belgium from Congo.

“What were my chances of even getting to the Premier League, playing in the Premier League, winning something as a player, playing for the national team? The chances were 0.000-what percent? And now I’m a coach. The question is, do you just stop believing in yourself because other people say so? Do you stop believing in what you can achieve because other people say so?

“The basic attitude is to keep going. And if you fail, you fail. If you succeed, you succeed. But you can get better every time. You can always find something on the internet, so I really don’t take it personally.”

Kompany looks on during the match against Dinamo Zagreb.

Reigning champions Real Madrid started their title defence victoriously after two late goals contributed The Royal defeated Stuttgart 3-1 on Tuesday.

Kylian Mbappé opened his Champions League account for Real by scoring shortly after half-time before Deniz Undav equalised for the German side.

But two late goals from Antonio Rüdiger and 18-year-old Endrick sealed the victory for Real.

Endrick’s goal was also significant as it made him the youngest goalscorer in Real Madrid’s history in European competitions. With his goal at the age of 18 years and 58 days, the Brazilian surpassed the previous record held by club legend Raúl, who scored the goal in 1995 at the age of 18 years and 113 days.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti then praised Endrick’s impact as a substitute, saying: “He is capable of doing things that nobody thinks of.”

“He has the gift that strikers dream of, the gift of being very effective and determined,” said Ancelotti. “You can see that he has something special, something I’ve never seen before. And he has such a powerful and very fast shot.”

“Endrick had courage because it was the last ball of the game. The best solution was to take advantage of the three-on-one advantage, but he did that very well, even though it was perhaps the most complicated solution.”

With his goal against Stuttgart, Endrick made history as Real Madrid’s youngest goalscorer in European competitions.

It was an unforgettable opening night for the U.S. participation in the Champions League, with American players scoring two goals each in six games.

The first goal was scored by Weston McKennie, who scored the second goal in Juventus’ comfortable 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven.

McKennie was one of five Americans on the pitch for both teams – Tim Weah started alongside McKennie for Juventus and PSV fielded Malik Tillman, Richard Ledezma and Ricardo Pepi. According to Goal.com, it was the first game in Champions League history to feature five US players.

Later Tuesday, U.S. men’s national team captain Christian Pulisic also scored to open the scoring for AC Milan against Liverpool at the San Siro.

However, Pulisic’s goal came in a losing game for Milan, as goals from Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai helped the Premier League giants to a comeback and a 3-1 victory.

It may have only been the opening night of the Champions League, but one of the competition’s goals may already have been scored.

It happened during Sporting CP’s encounter with Lille in Lisbon through the right foot of Belgian defender Zeno Debast.

After Sporting had already taken the lead in the first half thanks to Viktor Gyökeres’ goal, the team was looking for a second goal against ten-man Lille after Angel Gomes’ red card.

And shortly after the hour mark, the home team doubled their lead in the most impressive way thanks to a lightning shot from Debast.

The ball was played back to the 20-year-old 30 yards from goal and without touching it, he fired a powerful shot into the top corner. As he rolled away in celebration, Debast’s teammates held their hands in front of their heads in awe of the goal.