Bayern Munich Dominates Bodo/Glimt: Musiala Shines in Champions League Return

The Allianz Arena did not just welcome back the Champions League on Tuesday night. It welcomed back Jamal Musiala.

After a summer that veered into the frightening, the 23-year-old finally walked out as a Bayern Munich starter again, his first since a series of neurological issues in pre-season saw him collapse during friendlies against RB Leipzig and Heidenheim. Those images lingered. This felt different. This felt like a test.

Vincent Kompany didn’t treat it as a charity case. Musiala had eased his way in with a brief substitute appearance against Schalke at the weekend, and that was enough. The Bayern coach started him in the group-stage opener, later stressing the place in the XI was “deserved to start, it’s not gifted.”

Musiala repaid him with the one thing that cuts through doubt: a goal.

Musiala’s moment

Bayern had huffed and pushed through a cagey first half, but the breakthrough finally arrived two minutes after the restart, and with a slice of fortune.

Harry Kane let fly from distance, his shot cannoning off Patrick Berg and dropping awkwardly inside the box. For most players, that’s a scramble. For Musiala, it was an invitation. One touch to set his body, a quick swivel, and then a vicious drive into the far corner. No hesitation. No sign of rust. Just a clean, ruthless finish that ripped the game open and the tension out of the stadium.

The roar that followed was about more than 1-0. It was about relief, about a prodigy back in full colour after a summer of medical bulletins.

Once Bayern had their lead, the evening turned into something far more familiar.

Kane climbs higher

Bodo/Glimt had arrived with a reputation that Bayern could not ignore. The Norwegian side had built a name as giant-killers, banking statement wins over Manchester City, Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan last season. For 45 minutes, they looked ready to add another chapter.

They sat deep, defended in numbers, and turned Bayern’s attacks into crowded, frustrating puzzles. Joshua Kimmich rattled the post in the 35th minute, then forced Nikita Haikin into a sharp save just before the break. The home side went in at 0-0 with more shots than smiles.

Musiala changed that. And once the first goal went in, the game cracked wide open.

On 61 minutes, Michael Olise stepped up over a free-kick and showed exactly why Kompany has built so much of his attacking structure around him. His delivery was perfect, whipped into the danger zone with pace and precision. Kane, always alive, ghosted into space and buried a firm header for 2-0.

It was more than just Bayern’s cushion. It was a landmark. That goal took Kane to 55 in the Champions League and 79 overall in European competition, numbers that push him deeper into the conversation among the most prolific scorers the tournament has seen.

Olise takes control, Bayern run riot

By the final quarter of an hour, Bodo/Glimt were hanging on. Bayern, smelling blood, did not ease off.

Alphonso Davies made it three in the 77th minute, exploding down the flank with his trademark acceleration before finishing with the composure of a seasoned forward. The scoreline now matched the flow of the second half: one-way traffic.

Then Olise decided to decorate the night with his own flourish.

The former Crystal Palace winger struck in the 83rd minute, then again deep into stoppage time, completing a late brace that turned a routine win into a statement 5-0. His movement between the lines, his timing in the box, his calm in front of goal – all of it underlined why he has become such a central figure in Kompany’s blueprint.

Bayern didn’t just beat Bodo/Glimt. They overwhelmed them.

A streak that refuses to break

Behind the individual storylines sits a remarkable piece of continuity. This victory extends one of the most enduring records in European football: Bayern Munich have now won their opening match of a European campaign for 23 consecutive seasons.

You have to rewind all the way to 2002/03 to find a different script, when Deportivo La Coruna stunned them 3-2 on matchday one. Since then, it has been 23 opening games, 23 wins. No slip. No draw. No stumble out of the blocks.

It speaks to more than habit. It speaks to a club that treats the first whistle of Europe’s biggest stage as non-negotiable.

Next up is a trip north, to Norway and Viking Stavanger on October 13. Musiala is back, Kane is climbing, Olise is rising, and Bayern’s streak is intact.

The question now is simple: how far can this version of Bayern run with all of that behind them?