Bayern set European goalscoring pace

With 32 goals in the Bundesliga, 10 in the UEFA Champions League and another eight from two DFB Cup matches, Bayern are on fire under new coach Vincent Kompany. The fact they reached a half-century of strikes in a 3-0 win against Union Berlin - who boasted the second-best defence in the league prior to that meeting – further underlined Der Rekordmeister’s ability to put opposition teams to the sword.

Working together as a team

Last season, Bayern’s record in front of goal might have been named 'the Harry Kane show.' The England captain recently secured the Gerd Müller trophy as Europe's best goalscorer in 2023/24 thanks to his tally of 44 strikes in all competitions. This term, he is continuing where he left off, netting 17 goals already – 11 of which have come in the Bundesliga alone. This time around, Kane's teammates are chipping in more regularly.

New signing Michael Olise, for example, has found the back of the net on seven occasions, the same as Jamal Musiala. Meanwhile, Kingsley Coman (four), Leroy Sané (three), Thomas Müller (three) and Serge Gnabry (two) have also helped shoulder the goalscoring burden. As such, seven attackers have netted a combined 43 times.

“Everybody has contributed to the team’s achievements,” said Kompany after the Union clash. “Ultimately, everyone will play a role and will be important”. Goals have come from other areas of the pitch, too: Min-jae Kim and Dayot Upamecano found the back of the net in the 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, while Aleksandar Pavlović struck a Goal of the Month winner in the 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen.

“The team can still get better” - Vincent Kompany

How impressive Bayern’s goalscoring prowess is can be illustrated by the returns of the biggest clubs across the continent. Only Barcelona – who defeated Bayern 4-1 in the Champions League recently – come anywhere close with a haul of 47, and they have even played a game more than the German outfit. In terms of goals per game, Munich are clearly in front with a ratio of 3.57 compared to 3.13.

Watch: Aleksandar Pavlović wins September Goal of the Month

Besides the Blaugrana, everyone else is lagging behind. Inter Milan are next with 39 goals in 13 games (exactly three per match), with Eintracht Frankfurt one place further back thanks to their 36 efforts (2.57 per game). England’s cream of the crop Manchester City (35 in 16) and Liverpool (33 in 15) appear after, followed by Paris Saint-Germain (31 in 13).

But this may just be the beginning for Bayern. “Just because we scored nine goals in three days, it doesn’t mean we are the best. We’re staying calm. We can see the team’s development and we know we can get even better,” Kompany claimed. Despite their performances so far, it seems the best attack in Europe still have room to improve, and they have another chance to display their lethal finishing against Benfica on Wednesday.