Bayern hasn’t lost a group match since 2020 and leads Group A with a pristine nine points at the halfway point.
In the Champions League group stage, Bayern Munich defeated Galatasaray 3-1 thanks in large part to a goal from Harry Kane. This was the team’s 16th consecutive victory.
Kane didn’t have much of an influence until the end of the second half, but he was there when the team needed him to score its second goal. Initially, the England captain attempted a spectacular backheel from a low cross from Jamal Musiala, but the ball struck Sacha Boey, the defender. Then, in the 73rd minute, things went right for Kane, who scored with his second attempt.
Musiala scored the third goal shortly after, putting the game beyond Galatasaray’s grasp.
Although Bayern had taken the lead early on thanks to a goal from Kingsley Coman, Galatasaray pressed the German team for the whole of the match. Before goals from Kane and Musiala shifted the tide of the match, the Turkish team had more shots (20 to 14), but Bayern was mostly a threat on the counterattack.
Bayern hasn’t lost a group match since 2020 and leads Group A with a pristine nine points at the halfway point. Bayern’s 2017 group stage defeat has been followed by 37 games without a win. Similar to their thrilling 2-1 victory over Copenhagen in Bayern’s most recent Champions League encounter, the German champions had to work hard to win an away match even though they were the favourites.
Galatasaray got the best of the first half, but Coman gave injury-ravaged Bayern the lead in the eighth minute after a feed from Leroy Sané in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Turkey.
The Turkish champions missed two shots on goal, the first coming from Kerem Aktürkoglu, who had Bayern custodian Sven Ulreich stop an incredible volley, and the second coming from Ulreich’s mistake, which gave him an open goal.
Mauro Icardi, a striker for Galatasaray, persevered in playing despite an ankle injury and helped his team regain momentum. Joshua Kimmich, a midfielder for Bayern Munich, came in to attack Icardi late, giving up a penalty that the Argentine converted in the thirtyth.
Shortly before halftime, Icardi had another opportunity to score after Kimmich gave up possession of the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, but the Argentine’s effort missed the post. Sané, on the other hand, was the primary counterattack danger but was unable to pull off a shot from advantageous positions twice.
Before goals from Kane and Musiala, Bayern gained command of the match in the last 30 minutes and progressively put more pressure on Galatasaray’s defence.
In the latter Group A encounter on Tuesday, Manchester United defeated Copenhagen 1-0 to earn the English team’s first points of the competition.
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Full of confidence after their victory against Manchester United the previous matchday, the Turks showed no symptoms of jitters in the face of their more famous rivals and had a chance with Mauro Icardi after four minutes.
Kingsley Coman fired in a goal in the eighth minute to give the visitors the lead and quiet the ferocious home fans. Just one minute later, though, goalie Sven Ulreich had to save the day by magnificently palming a Kerem Aktürkoglu shot wide.
Subsequently, in a hectic first half, Ulreich cleared a cutback into Akturkoglu’s path, but the 25-year-old missed the goal with the keeper beaten.
But in the 30th, when Icardi was taken down in the box, the hosts’ persistence paid off. Ulreich dove to the side as the Argentine calmly chipped his penalty, a la Panenka, into the centre of the goal.
Galatasaray again had the majority of the chances in an equally fast-paced first half, with Bayern defending valiantly.
After failing to score once more, the hosts, however, began to lose pace as Bayern gained momentum. Kane attempted a backheel before scoring on the rebound in the 73rd minute.
With other players out due to injury, Bayern’s goal opened the score and they added another through Musiala to complete their well-deserved victory.
Later on in the group, Manchester United takes on FC Copenhagen.