Champions League 2025-2026: Bayern Munich makes comeback with three goals to beat Sporting CP

Bayern Munich scored three times in 12 minutes in the second half to race back from behind to beat Portuguese visitors Sporting CP 3-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday and remain firmly on course for a top eight finish in the league stage.

Goals from Serge Gnabry, teenager Lennart Karl and Jonathan Tah between the 65th and 77th minutes gave the Bundesliga leaders an impressive comeback win after Sporting took a surprise lead nine minutes after the restart thanks to an own goal from Joshua Kimmich.

Man-of-the-match Karl, aged 17 years and 290 days, became the youngest player in Champions League history to score in three consecutive matches and his performances will further boost his chances of a Germany call-up ahead of next year’s World Cup.

“To play in the Champions League at the age of 17 is something special for me,” said a beaming Karl. “I am very proud of myself and the team.”

“I trained a lot with the right foot and I was rewarded today,” he said of his goal, in which he controlled the ball with a fine touch and then scored. “It was a perfect contact with the left and then fired with the right.”

The Bavarians, who suffered their first defeat in all competitions this season when they lost to Arsenal in the Champions League the previous matchday two weeks ago, are in second place on 15 points with two games remaining in the league stage. Sporting dropped to ninth place on 10 points.

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The top eight teams qualify for the knockout stages, while the next sixteen go into a play-off for eight more places.

Bayern went on the attack from the start and put the ball into the net through Karl after five minutes, but his attempt was disallowed by VAR for offside.

Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane went even closer when he struck the post with a deft shot in the 37th, before Sporting keeper Rui Silva made a reflex save to stop Karl’s shot a minute before half-time.

Injury-hit Sporting stunned the home crowd when they went 1-0 up against the run of play thanks to Kimmich, who slotted home Joao Simoes’ cutback for an own goal.

It didn’t take long for Bayern to respond, Michael Olise whipping home a 65th-minute corner to the far post for Gnabry to fire home the equalizer.

Karl got on the scoresheet four minutes later to score his third goal in four Champions League games in his meteoric rise this season. Tah, who almost scored an own goal in the first half, sealed the victory, poking home from close range in the 77th.

Published on December 10, 2025