Bayern Munich are off to a historic start to the 2025/26 season, mustering 12 straight wins across competitions.
They recently hammered Club Brugge 4-0 in the Champions League fixture at Allianz Arena where academy graduate Lennart Karl scored the opening goal within the first five minutes.
At 17 years and 242 days, Karl became Bayern Munich’s youngest Champions League goalscorer surpassing Jamal Musiala’s record.
The youngster made his senior team debut for Bayern at the Club World Cup last season before eventually cementing his place in the first team squad under Vincent Kompany’s tutelage.
Kompany has mostly handed him short burst of games with some substitute appearances this season and he managed to impress everyone with such spells, convincing him to hand him his first start in Champions League.
He repaid the faith by scoring a sensational goal and also winning the ‘man of the match’ award against Brugge.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Following the win, Kompany showered praise on the teenager and highlighted that he should express himself without taking much pressure.
Former Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben also spoke very highly of the 17-year-old and advised him to keep working hard.
“Lennart Karl deserves the praise; he was superb [against Brugge],” Robben told Bayern Munich club website. “The boy has to enjoy that. The most important thing at that age is to keep focusing on the next game. You have to work on yourself every day and not think: ‘I just played a great game, everything was wonderful.’ You have to keep pushing in training and not be complacent. That’s the difference, that’s why the really good players stay at the top for so long. Getting to that point is one thing, but staying at the top is something else.”
What did Robben say about Bayern Campus?
Bayern Munich have been reliant on their youth team Bayern Campus with players like Karl, Wisdom Mike and Jonah Kusi-Asare making the rise to the senior team.
Robben, who is currently working as a coach of the U14 team at his boyhood club FC Groningen emphasized on the importance of a talented youth team.
Even the last person should have understood by now why the Campus is such an incredibly important pillar of Bayern’s sporting and financial success. pic.twitter.com/qmxyozRHza
— BayernTalente (@CampusVid2) October 23, 2025
“The facilities they have there are impressive. It’s important that the talents utilize the opportunities on site – every day. That they make something of it and always give their all. It’s important for the club that players make it to senior level,” Robben stated when asked about the Campus.
“Of course, it’s ideal if you have five or six players in the squad who come from your own youth programme. But they also have to be good enough and, above all, be able to keep up physically at the start. They then convey the Bayern gene and a ‘Mia san mia’ feeling.”
Bayern Munich will hope that both Karl and Mike develop into star players for the club whilst helping the Bavarians this season with their sporadic appearances.
Bayern Munich news and related links
