Bayern Munich Triumphs 5-0 with Jamal Musiala's Return

The Allianz Arena did not just welcome back the Champions League on Tuesday night. It welcomed back Jamal Musiala.

After a summer that veered into the frightening, the 23-year-old finally returned to Bayern Munich’s starting XI, his first start of the season after neurological issues had caused collapses in pre-season friendlies against RB Leipzig and Heidenheim. For a player tipped as the future of club and country, the questions were not about form. They were about health.

He answered both.

Musiala’s moment

Vincent Kompany had eased him in with a brief cameo against Schalke at the weekend. Here, in Europe, he trusted him from the first whistle. As Fabrizio Romano reported, Kompany made it clear the decision was earned: Musiala “deserved to start, it’s not gifted.”

For 45 minutes, though, Bayern’s new era under Kompany looked stuck in neutral. FK Bodo/Glimt, the Norwegian side that has made a habit of bloodying big noses, arrived with their giant-killer reputation intact after last season’s wins over Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, and Inter Milan. They sat deep, stayed compact, and made the Allianz Arena restless.

Joshua Kimmich rattled the post in the 35th minute. Just before the break, he forced Nikita Haikin into another sharp save. Bayern probed, circled, pushed. Bodo/Glimt refused to blink.

Then, two minutes after half-time, the tension snapped.

Harry Kane thumped a drive from distance. It clipped Patrick Berg and spun awkwardly into the box. The deflection wrong-footed the defence but dropped perfectly for Musiala, who reacted in a heartbeat. One swivel, one vicious strike into the far corner, and the stadium exploded.

No sign of rust. No sign of fear. Just a clean, ruthless finish and a roar that sounded like relief as much as celebration.

Kane climbs, Bayern surge

Once Bayern had their lead, the game changed. The Norwegian resistance that had looked so sturdy began to fray. The pressure finally told.

On 61 minutes, Michael Olise – increasingly central to Kompany’s blueprint – stepped up over a free-kick and delivered a teasing ball into the danger zone. Kane, reading it like a script he has seen a hundred times, darted between defenders and met it with a precise header for 2-0.

Another European landmark for the England captain. That goal was his 55th in the Champions League and his 79th in UEFA competitions overall, numbers that drag him even deeper into the conversation among the tournament’s most prolific scorers.

From there, Bayern played with the freedom they had been chasing all night.

Alphonso Davies added the third in the 77th minute, doing what Alphonso Davies does: raw acceleration, a burst that shredded the defensive line, and a composed finish to match the run. Bodo/Glimt were now hanging on.

They did not hang on for long.

Olise takes over

With the visitors stretched and exhausted, Olise decided to leave his own mark on the night. The former Crystal Palace winger, already with an assist to his name, drifted into more dangerous pockets and took control of the final stages.

In the 83rd minute, he struck Bayern’s fourth, capping a flowing move with the kind of assured finish that underlines why Kompany has built so much of his attacking structure around him. Deep into stoppage time, he struck again to complete his late brace and seal a 5-0 demolition.

What had been an awkward, nervy contest at half-time ended as a statement.

A record that refuses to fall

Behind the scoreline sits a staggering statistic. Bayern Munich have now won their opening match of a European campaign for 23 consecutive seasons. The last time they lost on matchday one was in the 2002/03 season, a 3-2 defeat to Deportivo La Coruna.

Since then, every European curtain-raiser has ended the same way: with Bayern on top. Twenty-three straight wins. Two decades of starting as they mean to go on.

This one, though, carried a different kind of weight. It was not just about another routine group-stage victory or another Kane milestone. It was about Musiala, back under the lights, back in the line-up, back on the scoresheet after a summer that briefly made football feel secondary.

Next up, Kompany’s side head to Norway on October 13th to face Viking Stavanger. Bayern travel with their record intact, their attack humming, and their brightest young star stepping forward again. How far can this version of Bayern go if nights like this become their new normal?