Harry Kane made headlines on Tuesday by scoring four goals in Bayern Munich’s thrilling 9-2 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the first match of the revamped Champions League format. This remarkable performance brought Kane’s total goals in the competition to 33, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by Wayne Rooney for the most goals scored by an English player in Champions League history.
The match marked a record-setting evening for both Kane and Bayern Munich. The nine goals scored by Bayern represent the highest tally by a single team in a Champions League match, with Kane netting three of his goals from the penalty spot.
Kane expressed his excitement following the match, stating, “Amazing game, a bit of a crazy game for sure. To score all those goals in the end was a great night. To be honest, after the second [penalty] I didn’t really know what to do with the third one, but thankfully I was able to put it away.”
He opened the goal-scoring from the penalty spot, equalizing Rooney’s record as an English player. Kane then scored his 31st goal on a rebound, surpassing Rooney, and capped off his record night with two more penalties, bringing his Champions League total to 12 goals since joining Bayern a year ago.
Bayern’s scoring spree also included goals from Raphael Guerreiro, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane, and Leon Goretzka. For Dinamo Zagreb, Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara managed to get on the scoresheet.
Since his transfer to Bayern, Kane has an impressive tally of 53 goals in 50 matches across all competitions. His recent form has seen him score nine goals in just three games, including two for England during his 100th international appearance and a hat trick for Bayern in the Bundesliga against Holstein Kiel.
Another highlight of the night was Thomas Müller, who made his 152nd Champions League appearance for Bayern, setting a new record for the most matches played in the competition by a player for a single club, breaking the tie with former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez.
Despite the overwhelming victory, Bayern manager Vincent Kompany noted some defensive lapses, as his team led 3-0 at half-time but allowed two goals shortly after the break. “We scored nine but we conceded two goals. We conceded those goals because we were a step too late. Still, we stayed calm and then had a good evening,” Kompany commented after the match.