MADRID, 17 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Bayern Munich, with a poker from the Englishman Harry Kane, have crushed Dinamo Zagreb (9-2) this Tuesday in their debut in the league phase of the new 2024-25 Champions League, in a first day in which Liverpool have stormed San Siro (1-3) and in which Juventus and Aston Villa returned to the top flight of European football with victories against PSV Eindhoven (3-1) and Young Boys (0-3), respectively.
At the Allianz Arena, Bayern saw a Serge Gnabry goal ruled out for offside after 15 minutes, but VAR then found a penalty for Ronaël Pierre-Gabriel, which Harry Kane converted. In the 32nd minute, Raphael Guerreiro doubled Bayern’s lead after a brilliant pass from Jamal Musiala.
Michael Olise’s header in the 38th minute seemed to have sealed the victory for Vincent Kompany’s men, but the Croatians responded after the break. Within a couple of minutes of the restart, Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara (min. 48 and 50) pushed hard, but the Germans did not let themselves be caught out.
In the 57th minute, Kane found the net again, and two minutes later the VAR disallowed his hat-trick. Olise (min. 62) joined the scoring party before the English striker scored two more goals (min. 72 and 78), the second of them also from the penalty spot; Leroy Sané (min. 85) and Leon Goretzka (min. 92) completed the rout. With this result, the German team is now at the top.
Liverpool, meanwhile, surprised AC Milan at San Siro, despite the Italians taking the lead three minutes after kick-off. Christian Pulisic, from an Alvaro Morata pass, gave the Rossoneri wings, but Ibrahima Konaté (min. 23) and Virgil van Dijk (min. 41) managed to turn the game around before the break. In the second half, Dominik Szoboszlai rewarded the Reds’ persistence with his third goal of the night.
Meanwhile, in Turin, Juventus returned to the Champions League with a 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven. Thiago Motta’s men, who fielded the youngest team in their history in the competition, opened the scoring in the 21st minute thanks to a shot from Yildiz into the top corner from the edge of the box, and six minutes later Weston McKennie extended the lead.
Nico González, in the 52nd minute, made it 3-0 in a play preceded by a loss of the ball by Peter Bosz’s men, who made up for the result with a cross shot by Ismael Saibari in stoppage time, which was the first goal conceded this season for the ‘Vecchia Signora’.
In Switzerland, Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, returning to the top flight for the first time since 1983, moved to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Young Boys. Youri Tielemans opened the scoring and Jacob Ramsey made it 2-0 at half-time. Amadou Onana scored the last goal in the second half of a night in which the referee ruled out goals from Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán for handball.
Finally, Sporting de Portugal beat Lille (2-0) at the José Alvalade in Lisbon with goals from the Swede Viktor Gyokeres and the Belgian Zeno Debast in a match marked by the expulsion of the visiting Angel Gomes after 40 minutes.