Kane scored the first goal of the match from the penalty spot after 19 minutes, and he surpassed Wayne Rooney‘s record of 30 goals to reach 33 Champions League goals overall in the second half with a hat trick in Munich.
After the break, Zagreb recovered and scored two goals in the space of two minutes to narrow the lead to 3-2 after five minutes of play, but Bayern’s comfortable lead concealed a difficult spell. Manuel Neuer was injured, as per AFP.
On his Champions League debut, former Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise scored twice, while Bayern also had goals from Raphael Guerreiro, Leroy Sane, and Leon Goretzka.
The six-time Champions League champions had won each of their previous 20 competitive opening games, going all the way back to 2002-03.
The result is one goal higher than Bayern’s record-breaking 8-2 victory over Barcelona in the competition’s quarterfinals in 2020.
The German powerhouses gained more than just bragging rights from the huge victory, since goal differential will probably be even more crucial in the new Champions League single league system.
Early on, Bayern dominated play, but their dominance went unrewarded. Goals from Serge Gnabry and Jamal Musiala were disallowed for little offsides, and Kane was eventually awarded a penalty after VAR flagged a foul on Aleksandar Pavlovic.
Ivan Nevistic was sidelined by the England captain’s successful penalty kick. Then, late in the first half, Bayern took control of the game with two goals in a five-minute span.
On the 33rd minute, Guerreiro scored with a well-executed chested pass from Musiala, and on his Champions League debut, Olise headed in a corner from Joshua Kimmich.
After being pulled at halftime, Neuer, who had gone dangerously close to the halfway line to thwart a Zagreb counterattack in the opening minutes, appeared to unnerve the home team.
The goal in the 48th minute was unexpected as Bruno Petkovic converted a feed from Ronael Pierre-Gabriel.
Two minutes later, Takuya Ogiwara scored on the counter, and the home crowd started to question whether Bayern’s trophy-less season from the previous year was returning.
The next to score, though, was Kane, who scored three goals in 22 minutes in the second half to bring his total with Bayern to 53 goals in 50 games. Goretzka, Sane, and Olise also scored goals to ensure a convincing victory for the home team.
After surpassing Barcelona’s Xavi, Thomas Mueller-a two-time Champions League winner-was substituted in the second half for his 152nd appearance in the competition, making him the club’s most active player.
