Champions League Highlights: Kane Shines, United Dominates, Como's Historic Night
The Champions League group stage has barely drawn breath and already it belongs to the stars – and to a few unlikely storytellers.
Harry Kane is still scoring, Manchester United are back with a swagger, and tiny Como have turned their first night on the big stage into something their oldest supporters will talk about for the rest of their lives.
Kane, Musiala and Bayern crush Bodø/Glimt
Ballon d'Or contenders set the tone in Munich.
Bayern ripped apart last season’s surprise package Bodø/Glimt 5-0, a scoreline that felt a world away from the tense, goalless first half. The turning point came at the break: starting goalkeeper Nikita Haikin did not reappear for the Norwegians, and once he went off injured, their resistance went with him.
Jamal Musiala broke the deadlock, and the moment belonged to him. In his first start since on-field seizures caused by a neurological condition disrupted his preseason, the 21-year-old glided into space and finished, then tapped his head in celebration – a simple gesture loaded with meaning after a deeply unsettling summer.
From there, Bayern surged.
Kane climbed to head in the second, extending a remarkable personal streak. The England captain has now scored in eight consecutive Champions League games, a run stretching back to January and underlining why his name sits firmly in the Ballon d'Or conversation.
Canada’s Alphonso Davies joined the party with Bayern’s third, capping a sweeping move that shredded what remained of Bodø/Glimt’s shape. Michael Olise then took over the closing act, striking twice to complete the demolition and send the Bundesliga champions cruising through a statement night in Europe.
Old Trafford lights up again
Almost three years without Champions League football at Old Trafford felt like an eternity. The return lasted 27 minutes before Manchester United reminded the competition what a home European night can sound like.
Matheus Cunha struck first, driving United into a 1-0 lead against Sabah and cracking open what became a 4-0 rout of the Azerbaijani side. Once the Brazilian set the tone, the floodgates opened.
Bruno Fernandes added the second before the interval, Benjamin Sesko made it three before halftime was out, and the contest was gone long before the players headed down the tunnel. United moved the ball with a sharpness that has too often been missing domestically; the Champions League stage seemed to jolt them back to life.
After the break, Lisandro Martinez bundled in a fourth, scrambling the ball home to turn a commanding win into a statement one. For a club that last played in this competition in December 2023, this was more than just three points. It was a reminder – to themselves as much as anyone – that they still belong among Europe’s elite.
Como hand their elders the best view in the house
On the shores of Lake Como, the club’s first Champions League match could easily have been overwhelmed by the occasion. Instead, it became a celebration of the people who have waited the longest.
President Mirwan Surwaso and his directors gave up some of the best seats in the stadium to fans born in 1950 or earlier, inviting the club’s oldest supporters to watch history unfold from prime positions. They did not waste the gesture.
Croatian midfielder Martin Baturina wrote his name into Como folklore with the club’s first-ever goal in the competition, setting them on their way to a stunning 4-1 victory over Leipzig. Once Baturina struck, Como settled, grew in confidence and, remarkably, took control against seasoned European opposition.
By full time, the scoreboard told a story that would have sounded like fantasy a few years ago. For those fans in their gifted seats, it was a night that stitched together decades of thin times with a sudden, glorious present.
Roma, Fenerbahce and PSV feel the weight of the wait
Not every returning giant found the same release.
Roma and Fenerbahce both stepped back into the Champions League after long absences, only to share a 1-1 draw that left each side with a sense of what might have been.
Roma, back after missing seven straight seasons since their 2018-19 run to the last 16, struck first. Bryan Cristante drove in a low shot from outside the box in the 39th minute, a clean finish that seemed to mark a triumphant homecoming.
The mood flipped early in the second half. Fenerbahce, playing in Europe’s top-tier competition for the first time since 2008-09, pushed their left back Archie Brown into a center forward’s role. He looked like he had played there all his life, flicking the ball over the goalkeeper in the 48th minute to level the match with a deft, composed touch.
Fenerbahce almost stole it late on when Nathan Aké rose to meet a cross and powered a header against the bar. Inches lower and the Turkish side would have capped their return with a famous away win.
PSV Eindhoven also had to settle for a point. United States full back Sergiño Dest surged into the box to meet a low cross and finish smartly in a 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk, cancelling out Gleiker Mendoza’s opener for the Ukrainian club. Dest’s goal salvaged the evening but could not quite turn it into the statement victory PSV craved.
Late drama in Prague
The night’s wildest finish came in Prague.
Slavia Prague, reduced to 10 men early in the second half, twice took the lead against Lens and seemed to have done enough to cling on. Then stoppage time arrived, and with it, chaos.
Lens struck twice deep into added time to turn 2-1 defeat into a 3-2 win, ripping the result away from a Slavia side that had battled ferociously despite the red card. For the French club, it was the kind of comeback that can flip a group on its head.
Matchday by matchday, the Champions League keeps finding new ways to surprise. With Kane chasing records, United chasing redemption and Como chasing the dream, how long before this campaign produces its first truly seismic shock?
