Champions League Highlights: Kane Shines, United Thrives
Harry Kane keeps scoring, Manchester United returns with a statement, and a Champions League debutant turns its home into a storybook stage. Europe’s elite competition barely feels like it has started, and already it’s crackling.
Kane, Olise and Bayern crush Bodø/Glimt
Bayern tore into last season’s surprise package Bodø/Glimt, running out 5-0 winners after a ruthless second half. At the break it was 0-0, the Norwegian side organised and stubborn. Then their night collapsed.
Starting goalkeeper Nikita Haikin went off injured at halftime. Without him, Bodø/Glimt crumbled.
Jamal Musiala, making his first start since on-field seizures caused by a neurological condition disrupted his preseason, broke the deadlock. He finished, then tapped his head in a pointed, personal celebration. A reminder: he’s back, and still Bayern’s live wire between the lines.
The pressure finally told on the visitors. Kane climbed to head in Bayern’s second, stretching his remarkable run to eight consecutive Champions League games with a goal, a streak dating back to January. He looks at ease in this competition, as if the rhythm of midweek European nights was built for him.
Michael Olise then took over the scoreboard, striking twice to bury any faint resistance. Alphonso Davies added the third goal of Bayern’s haul, surging forward and getting his reward as the Bundesliga champions turned a tight contest into a demolition.
Bodø/Glimt had started bravely. They finished chasing shadows.
Old Trafford lights up again
Nearly three years without Champions League football at Old Trafford felt like an age. Manchester United treated the return like a celebration.
A 4-0 win over Azerbaijan’s Sabah announced them back on the big stage.
Matheus Cunha opened the scoring in the 27th minute, drilling United ahead and releasing the tension that had hovered around their first game in the competition since December 2023. Once the first went in, the floodgates opened.
Bruno Fernandes and Benjamin Sesko struck before halftime to make it 3-0, United pouring forward with the kind of freedom their fans have been desperate to see in Europe. After the interval, Lisandro Martinez scrambled home a fourth, a defender’s goal that summed up the night: United sharper, hungrier, and far too strong.
It wasn’t just a win. It was a reminder of what Old Trafford expects on European nights.
Como’s elders witness history
In Como, the Champions League didn’t just arrive. It felt curated.
For the club’s first-ever game in the competition, president Mirwan Surwaso and his directors surrendered some of the best seats in the stadium. Those places went instead to fans born in 1950 or earlier — supporters who had lived through the lean years and could now watch history from the front row.
The team matched the gesture with a performance.
Como beat Leipzig 4-1, a scoreline that looked almost unreal for a debutant at this level. Croatian midfielder Martin Baturina etched his name into club folklore with the first-ever Como goal in the Champions League, setting them on their way to a stunning victory.
By the final whistle, the oldest fans in the ground had seen something younger generations only dream about: their provincial club not just surviving, but thriving on Europe’s biggest stage.
Roma and Fenerbahce return, but must share
Roma and Fenerbahce also stepped back into the Champions League spotlight after long absences. Neither got the homecoming they truly wanted.
Their 1-1 draw carried the weight of two clubs trying to re-establish themselves.
Roma, missing from the competition since reaching the last 16 in 2018-19, went ahead in the 39th minute. Bryan Cristante drove in a low shot from outside the box, a clean strike that seemed to tilt the night Roma’s way.
Fenerbahce, back in Europe’s top tier for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign, refused to play the role of grateful guests. Just after halftime, left back Archie Brown wandered into a center forward’s position and finished like a seasoned striker, flicking the ball over the goalkeeper in the 48th minute to level the match.
The Turkish side almost stole it late on. Nathan Aké rose to meet a cross and powered a header against the bar, inches from completing the comeback. The woodwork kept Roma alive. The points were split.
Dest on target, late drama in Prague
Elsewhere, Sergiño Dest made his mark for PSV Eindhoven. The United States full back arrived in the box and finished off a low cross to secure a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk, cancelling out Gleiker Mendoza’s opener for the Ukrainian side.
In Prague, chaos reigned in stoppage time.
Slavia Prague, down to 10 men from the start of the second half, twice led against Lens and still somehow lost. With the clock deep into added time, Lens struck twice to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 win, ripping victory from a home side that had battled through the dismissal and looked set for a famous result.
Early in the group stage, patterns are already emerging: Kane can’t stop, Bayern look ruthless, United have their swagger back, and a small club on Lake Como has decided the Champions League is not just for the giants.
