Bayern Munich extended their winning streak with a 2-1 victory over Galatasaray at the Allianz Arena in the fourth matchday of Group A of the 2023/24 Champions League.
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| Harry Kane (No. 9) headed the ball to score for Bayern Munich in the Champions League. (Source: Reuters) |
Bayern Munich - Champions League title candidate
Striker Harry Kane continued his impressive performance with a double to bring victory to the Bavarian Tigers.
This victory not only brought Bayern Munich straight to the knockout round with the top spot in the group (12 absolute points) but also set a series of amazing records in the most prestigious European club arena.
This is the 16th consecutive year that Bayern Munich has qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Since the Champions League started featuring the round of 16 in the 2003/04 season, the Allianz Stadium team has reached the knockout round a total of 20 times.
The win over Galatasaray also helped Bayern Munich win all four matches in the tournament for the fifth consecutive year and the eighth time in history. This is something no team has ever done before.
Notably, Bayern Munich have won all 17 of their last Champions League group stage matches. This result helps the Gray Tigers extend their unbeaten streak at this stage to 38 matches.
Both of these impressive achievements are Champions League records and are unlikely to be broken by any team.
Bayern Munich's home record in the group stage has also been phenomenal, with the German side picking up a total of 85 out of a possible 87 points from their last 29 group stage matches (with 28 wins and one draw).
Ajax Amsterdam are the only team to leave Munich with a point since the 2013/14 season. Ajax held Bayern to a 1-1 draw on 3 October 2018.
Bayern Munich's achievements are expected to continue as they still have two more rounds ahead of them in the group stage of this season's Champions League.
In the next round of Group A, Bayern Munich will continue to play at home to welcome Copenhagen, while the final match will be away at MU's Old Trafford stadium.
With what they have shown since the beginning of the season, coach Thomas Tuchel's team is considered one of the brightest candidates for the 2023/24 Champions League title.
Notably, the presence of Harry Kane is making Bayern Munich's attack a "fear" for many defenders.
In the Champions League, a double against Galatasaray helped the English striker score a total of 4 goals, placing him in the top contenders for the Golden Boot award this season.
In the race for the Golden Boot, Alvaro Morata and Rasmus Hojlund are the two leading players on the list with 5 goals.
Identifying 6 clubs entering the 1/8 round of Champions League 2023/24
After the 4th round of matches, in addition to Bayern Munich, 5 other teams have also won the right to participate in the knockout round of the Champions League, including Man City, RB Leipzig, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Inter Milan.
Man City and RB Leipzig made Group G come to an early conclusion with convincing victories over two underdogs, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade.
The defending champions currently have 12 points, 3 more than Leipzig. They will officially win the top spot in the group if they score in the direct confrontation between the two teams at the Etihad Stadium on November 29.
Real Madrid also easily defeated Braga 3-0 with goals from Brahim Diaz, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior. This victory helped Real have 12 absolute points and win the first ticket of Group C to the round of 16.
Along with Real Madrid, another Spanish team, Real Sociedad, also had a convincing 3-1 victory in the rematch against Benfica. Mikel Merino, Mikel Oyarzabal and Ander Barrenetxea were the ones who scored for Sociedad.
Inter Milan also enjoyed complete joy with a 1-0 victory over FC Salzburg with Lautaro Martinez's only goal from the penalty spot.
With this result, Real Sociedad and Inter Milan both have 10 points after 4 matches, 4 points more than the third-placed team FC Salzburg, thereby quickly gaining the right to enter the next round.
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