Robin Le Normand’s attempted clearance never left his own half. Lennart Karl pounced in the 54th minute, steadied himself and chipped Jan Oblak from a tight angle. Twenty minutes later, Konrad Laimer met a diagonal pass from Harry Kane and fired into the roof of the net. By full time, Bayern had rewritten one of the most stubborn lines in their European history.
At 18 years and 254 days, Karl has now become the fourth-youngest player to reach five Champions League goals, behind only Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappé and Raúl González. He has scored in every one of his five appearances in this season’s league phase, a run that has already taken in wins over Club Brugge, Sporting and Atalanta, as well as a defeat to Arsenal.
Fourth time lucky in Madrid
Bayern had never left Atletico’s ground with a Champions League win before Tuesday. Their three previous visits in the competition produced two defeats and a draw, and the hosts’ own run of nine unbeaten matches was still intact when Karl collected Le Normand’s wayward pass.
The Riyadh Air Metropolitano has been treated as one of the hardest venues on the continent since it opened in 2017.
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Simeone: ‘They are better teams than us’
Diego Simeone did not dress it up afterwards. The Atletico head coach, whose side had been beaten at home for the first time in nine matches, told reporters his players had competed well until Karl’s goal shifted everything.
“They’re better teams than us and we have to keep working to compete with them,” he said.
Simeone put the opener down to the kind of error that decides matches at this level, saying football is based on good individual moments but also on mistakes. He confirmed Le Normand had left the pitch angry at himself after being substituted.
Atletico now sit on just one win from four in the league phase. Bayern extended their own unbeaten run to 15 matches across all competitions and climbed to eighth in the table.
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A win without Kompany on the bench
Bayern managed all of it without manager Vincent Kompany. The Belgian collapsed during a training session with the reserve side on 23 October and was later diagnosed with meningeal irritation, an inflammation around the brain and spinal cord. He was discharged five days later and continues to recover at home, where staff have been instructed not to discuss football with him.
Assistant coach Aaron Danks took the touchline duties against Atletico. Kompany is not expected back before the November international break.
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