- After a toothless 65 minutes, this match was lit on fire by three Bayern goals in a 12-minute span. The level of aggressiveness spiked immediately after Serge Gnabry’s goal and was ignited by Joshua Kimmich’s feisty yellow card after Lennart Karl’s game winner.
- Sporting failed to record a shot on target. That is a solid takeaway for Bayern’s defense.
- Sporting center-back Ousmane Diomande was impressive. He was calm but strong, distributed well, and won nearly every challenge he encountered. He has an €80M release clause but Sporting might be willing to settle for €60M.
- Welcome back, Alphonso Davies! It was only one touch but it was magnificent.
Bayern returns to Bundesliga action this weekend with a home match against last place Mainz.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
90’+4: Yellow card. Konrad Laimer is booked for a late foul. Laimer will miss the next Champions League match in January against USG.
90’+2: Substitutions. Nicolas Jackson replaces Harry Kane. Salvador Blopa and Hidemasa Morita replace Maximiliano Araújo and João Simões.
90’: Four minutes of stoppage time.
88’: Substitutions. Alphonso Davies, Leon Goretzka, and Hiroki Itō replace Josip Stanišić, Aleksandar Pavlović, and Serge Gnabry.
80’: Substitutions. Giorgos Vagiannidis and Fotis Ioannidis replace Geny Catamo and Eduardo Quaresma.
77’: GOOOAAALLL! Bayern up 3-1. Serge Gnabry heads the ball back across the face of goal and Jonathan Tah ‘s glancing volley electrifies the home crowd.
77’: Substituion. Raphaël Guerreiro replaces Lennart Karl.
71’: Yellow cards. Joshua Kimmich is booked for inciting a riot by placing the ball back on the spot for the kickoff. Morten Hjulmand is booked for arguing as well.
69’: GOOOAAALLL! Bayern up 2-1. Quick passing from Joshua Kimmich to Michael Olise to Konrad Laimer. Lennart Karl’s deflected volley glances off the gloves of Rui Silva.
66’: Substitution. Ricardo Mangas replaces Alisson Santos.
65’: GOOOAAALLL! Bayern tied 1-1. Harry Kane screened off the back post defender and Serge Gnabry buried his volley at point blank range.
54’: Goal, Sporting. Bayern down 1-0. Joshua Kimmich’s deflection ends up in the back of Manuel Neuer’s net.
46’: No changes from either side.
- Bayern dominated possession but failed to find the magical touch to take the lead. There have been a few decent opportunities but Sporting goalkeeper Rui Silva has played well.
- Serge Gnabry has played more directly than Lennart Karl and Michael Olise. It might be worthwhile to overload all three players onto one side of the pitch and isolate Harry Kane on the back post.
- Sporting’s heat map looks like the Wilson volleyball from Cast Away. A big blotch of 11 players sitting inside at the top of their own box with random streaks forward that have amounted to zero tests of Manuel Neuer. Unfortunately for Bayern, this is Sporting’s game plan and it has been very effective.
- This is your friendly reminder that Bayern has scored multiple goals in every game this season except the Arsenal loss. Stay patient and the goals will start rolling in the second half.
HT: Bayern tied 0-0 at the break.
45’: One minute of stoppage time.
42’: Josip Stanišić’s glancing header goes just wide.
37’: Harry Kane’s left footed shot from the top of the box beats the goalkeeper but bounces off the post. Tough break for the Englishman.
5’: Lennart Karl scores a beautiful curler but Serge Gnabry is ruled offside, confirmed by VAR.
1’: LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Despite Sporting CP missing several key players and playing on the road, Vincent Kompany is not holding anything back with Bayern Munich’s starting XI. Besides Luis Díaz sitting out with his red card suspension, this is the champagne lineup.
The biggest takeaway is Alphonso Davies officially on the bench for the first time since March. Hopefully he can squeeze in a few garbage minutes and electrify the home crowd.
Bayern Munich is back in Champions League action on Tuesday night. After the disappointing 3-1 loss to Arsenal, Bayern has rattled off three wins against German opponents. Sporting CP, the challengers from Portugal’s Primeira Liga, is riding an impressive nine game undefeated streak over the past two months.
Bayern has never lost to a Portuguese club at the Allianz Arena. In fact, Bayern’s last loss to a Portuguese team was in 2015 on the wrong against FC Porto. Bayern has not played Sporting CP since 2009 when Bayern dominated both legs in the Champions League Round of 16, boasting a 12-1 aggregate score.
In the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Sporting CP currently sits five points behind first place Porto. In the Champions League, Sporting CP is comfortably sitting in eighth place with 10 points through five matches. Sporting CP’s only Champions League loss this campaign, a 2-1 defeat at Napoli, was also Sporting CP’s last loss across all competitions.
Odds: Bayern (-400), Draw (+550), Sporting CP(+850)
Prediction: Bayern wins 3-0. If Luis Díaz was playing, this might be a 5-0 prediction. Sporting CP will sit back and protect the fortress but Harry Kane will score twice in the first half to fire up the home crowd. Michael Olise will add a third goal in the second half as Bayern cruises to a dominating victory.
Location: Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
Date: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025
Time: 6:45pm local time (12:45pm EST)
TV/streaming: Paramount Plus, Find Your Country
Check out the latest episode of Bavarian Podcast Works on Spotify!
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