Kompany tempers Champions League expectations after ´unusual´ Zagreb win

Vincent Kompany tempered Bayern Munich’s Champions League expectations, crediting their 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb as just a good start.

Bayern ran riot at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday, becoming the first side in the competition’s history to score nine times in one match.

The victory also marked the 21st consecutive time the Bundesliga side have started their Champions League campaign with a win, with their last such defeat coming against Deportivo de La Coruna back in 2002-03.

While Kompany marked his debut as a head coach in the competition with an emphatic triumph, the Belgian was not getting carried away by the occasion.

“It is about three points,” Kompany said. “Nine goals is a bit unusual but it was a lot of fun. The energy was good, the team showed the right spirit.”

“We have played just one game and not more than that. It is now about the next game, to keep going.”

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— FC Bayern Munchen (@FCBayern) September 18, 2024

On a night where records tumbled at the Allianz Arena, Harry Kane starred after taking his tally to 53 goals in his 50 Bayern appearances in all competitions.

Kane netted four times against the Croatian side, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in a single Champions League match.

The 31-year-old also became the first Englishman since Alan Smith for Arsenal against FK Austria Wien in 1991 to score four goals in the competition.

Kane’s four-goal haul took him to 33 Champions League goals, surpassing Wayne Rooney (30) as the top-scoring Englishman in the history of the competition.

The England captain continued his fine start to the season, having netted a treble against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga last weekend.

“He is motivated and for me as a coach it is easier because if you have a top player who is himself so motivated it makes things so much easier,” Kompany said.

“He is a leader, captain of the national team. Players like him, they know they have to rise at these moments and that is what he is doing.”