Sadio Mane scored and assisted as Bayern Munich set a new Champions League record with a comprehensive five-goal thumping of Viktoria Plzen.
Mane netted the third goal of the night for the German champions after Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry had given Bayern an early two-goal lead. The Senegalese forward then assisted Bayern’s fourth and Sane’s second after the break before Erik Choupo-Moting added a fifth.
It continued Julian Nagelsmann’s side’s perfect start to their Champions League campaign, having already completed victories away to Inter and at home to Barcelona respectively to put themselves in control of the group and as heavy favourites to progress through to the Round of 16.
Bayern are no strangers to straightforward progress in the competition and Tuesday night’s victory set a new Champions League record. It was their 31 st group stage game in succession in which they had avoided defeat – a longer streak than any other team has ever managed.
It has been over five years since the German giants have tasted defeat at this stage of the Champions League. That was all the way back in September 2017 when they crashed to a three-goal defeat at Paris Saint-Germain when Dani Alves, Edinson Cavani and Neymar were all on the scoresheet for the hosts.
Since then, Bayern have gone unbeaten through this stage of the competition and their remarkable record has continued so far this campaign. They are arguably in the toughest group of the tournament alongside Inter and Barcelona but have continued their relentless winning form.
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Mane joined Bayern Munich in a £35.1million agreement from Liverpool this summer. The Senegalese star pulled the curtain down on six trophy-laden seasons at Anfield after making it clear he wanted a new challenge.
The forward got off to a fast start with the Bundesliga giants, scoring four goals in his first four games. However, he subsequently went five matches without a goal, including two blanks in the Champions League and in the recent loss at Augsburg. However, Mane found the net in in Friday’s four-goal victory over Bayer Leverkusen, which ended Bayern’s four-game run without a win in the Bundesliga, before netting again against Viktoria Plzen on Tuesday. It comes after the forward admitted it was “not easy” to leave the Reds for the German champions.
Speaking to Uefa.com, Mane explained: “It is going well. Switching from one club to another is not easy. I spent eight very nice years in England, six years at Liverpool [after] two at Southampton, and now I am in a new country. It is not easy because everything changes so suddenly: people, training, everything.”
