Bayern’s remarkable run in Champions League openers | OneFootball

They say there’s something special about a fresh start. And the start of a new European season has long been a special occasion for Bayern, who have kicked off their Champions League campaigns with a win for nearly a quarter of a century now.

It’s perhaps little surprise to know that that sequence is a record in the competition. But it’s also a run that Bayern now have to keep going as they begin 2026/27’s European adventure on Thursday. The opponent on this occasion is Bodø/Glimt, who last season claimed the scalps of Manchester City, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan in the competition. So can Bayern make it 23 wins in a row to start a Champions League campaign?

A Bodø/Glimt test

“Bodø/Glimt were a real surprise last season. We won’t underestimate them,” asserted captain Manuel Neuer following the draw for the league phase. His team will also be keen to put the weekend’s 0-0 draw at Schalke behind them, after some wasteful finishing cost them three points. “We wanted to win at Schalke, so we’re not happy. But we can’t overanalyse things now,” added board member for sport Max Eberl on Saturday. He believes that if the team can once again go for a clear approach that “we will win the next games”.

Bayern's streak in Champions League openers

In an extraordinary record, Bayern have won their last 22 games on Champions League Matchday 1. Enjoy images from all of those wins.

Bodø/Glimt aren’t the first difficult opening night Bayern have faced in the Champions League. Last season it was newly crowned club world champions Chelsea who visited the Allianz Arena and were seen off 3-1. Three years earlier it was Manchester United (4-3 win). The year before it was Inter Milan (2-0). And the year before that Barcelona (3-0). Other big names who’ve fallen victim to Bayern across this run of 22 wins include Roma (2-0 in 2010), Manchester City (1-0 in 2014), Benfica (2-0 in 2018) and Atlético (4-0 in 2020). 

All the way back to Celtic

The run of Matchday 1 wins began in September 2003 with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Celtic in which two late Roy Makaay goals brought three points in the group stage. It was in fact the Dutch striker who last denied the Bavarians an opening victory when his hat-trick for Deportivo La Coruña 12 months earlier condemned the Reds to a 3-2 defeat. That season was the only time Bayern have ever been knocked out of the Champions League before the knockout rounds.

That 2003 defeat is one of only two times in 29 previous campaigns in the Champions League that Bayern have lost the first game. The other was in 1994/95 away at Paris Saint-Germain (2-0). Those good starts have also helped boost the team’s impressive run in general in the competition’s initial stage, going 38 games without defeat at the Allianz Arena in the group stage or league phase (W36, D2) since a 3-2 loss to Man City in December 2013. It’s another big sequence of results that they will want to keep going when Bodø/Glimt come to Munich.

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