MUNICH — Harry Kane made headlines on Tuesday by scoring four goals, raising his total in the Champions League to 33 and surpassing Wayne Rooney’s previous record of 30 goals, the most by an English player in the tournament’s history.
Kane’s impressive performance contributed to a remarkable night for Bayern Munich, as they dominated Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb with a 9-2 victory in the opening match of the newly formatted Champions League.
Bayern’s nine goals marked the highest total ever scored by a single team in a Champions League match. Additionally, Kane set a new record with three of his goals coming from the penalty spot.
“It was an amazing game, definitely a bit of a crazy one,” Kane stated in an interview with DAZN. “To score all those goals was a fantastic night.”
Kane got the scoring underway by converting a penalty to give Bayern the lead and to match Rooney’s record. He then scored his 31st goal on a rebound, breaking Rooney’s mark, and added two more penalties, bringing his Champions League score to 12 goals since joining Bayern a year ago.
Bayern Munich’s tally was further boosted by goals from Raphael Guerreiro, Michael Olise, Leroy Sane, and Leon Goretzka, as the team set the record for the most goals in a single Champions League match. Despite Bayern’s overwhelming victory, Dinamo Zagreb managed to find the net twice through Bruno Petkovic and Takuya Ogiwara.
Since arriving at Bayern, Kane has netted 53 goals in 50 matches across all competitions and recently scored nine goals in his last three matches for both club and country. This includes two goals for England during his 100th international appearance and a hat trick against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga.
Another notable achievement occurred when Thomas Müller came off the bench to play his 152nd Champions League match for Bayern, a record for a player representing a single club, surpassing the previous mark set by former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez.
Despite the one-sided scoreline, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany expressed mixed feelings, noting that his team, which led 3-0 at halftime, conceded two quick goals early in the second half as Zagreb pushed to recover.
“We scored nine but conceded two,” Kompany remarked. “We let those goals in because we were a step too late. However, we managed to stay calm and overall had a good evening.”