Nigeria’s Victor Olatunji was not just the hero for his side, Sparta Prague, in Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat of Salzburg in their opening game of the UEFA Champions League, he has edged himself into the competition’s record books.

According to Opta, Olatunji’s goal made him the third African player to score and assist on  Champions League debut.

Before him were  Gabon’s  Daniel Cousin in 2007 (for Rangers in the match with Lyon) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Serge Aurier in 2015 (for PSG in the duel with Shakhtar Donetsk).

Olatunji scored one and produced a master-piece assist that led to the third goal for Sparta Prague on Wednesday night.

Reigning Czech Republic champions Sparta Prague kicked off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a game against Salzburg at the Epet Arena in Prague.

Olatunji, who has been the main man for Sparta Prague since last season, got a starting shirt in the striker position- his debut in the Champions League.

The Czech side had a dream start as they took the lead just a minute into the game courtesy of Kaan Kairinen. After conceding, Salzburg started to dominate the game, but they failed to make any clear-cut opportunity.

Sparta Prague were better coordinated and held their lines better. They eventually got their second, and it was courtesy of Nigeria striker Olatunji. A long ball was played from Sparta Prague’s defence, Olatunji got to it, and he took a one-time shot to send the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Then, in the second half, Olatunji supplied the assist for Qazim Laci for Sparta Prague’s third. In his 58 minutes of action, the 25-year-old striker registered two goal attempts, 14 touches, and won four of his seven duels. The game eventually ended 3-0 in Sparta Prague’s favour.

In the other matches of the night, Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by Inter Milan while PSG managed a lone goal win over Girona in Paris and Club Brugge lost 0-3 at home to last year’s losing finalist, Borussia Dortmund.

Celtic FC had a goal feast at home with a 5-1 demolition of visiting Slovan Bratislava and Bologna and Shakhtar Donestsk settled for a goalles draw. Action resumes tonight with FC Bacerlona and Arsenal away in Monaco and Atalanta respectively.

RESULTS

• Bologna 0-0 Shakhtar

• Sparta 3-0 Salzburg

• Celtic 5-1 Brastilava

• Brugge 0-3 Dortmund

• Man City 0-0 Inter

• PSG 1-0 Girona

THURSDAY’S FIXTURES

• Feyenoord Vs Leverkusen

• Zvezda Vs Benfica

• Atalanta Vs Arsenal

• Brest  Vs Graz

• Atletico Vs Leipzig

• Monaco Vs Barca

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored four goals to lead his side to a 9-2 demolition of visitors Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday and a record for the most goals by one team in a Champions League match after a scintillating performance.

Bayern struck three times in the first half with Kane converting a 19th minute penalty before becoming the highest scoring English player in European Cup history with 33 goals, breaking Wayne Rooney’s mark of 30.

Kane, who scored three goals against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday, also became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in a European Cup match.

The game had the second-biggest winning margin in Champions League history, with Liverpool and Real Madrid holding the record with 8-0 wins.

Borussia Dortmund’s 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in 2016 is the record for most goals overall in a Champions League match.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever had three penalties in one game,” said Kane. “It was a different feeling for me, but to score four goals is fantastic.”

“To help the team in any way possible is important. Whether they’re penalties or normal finishes I’ll take them all. It was a great night for us.”

DETERMINED BAYERN

Bayern are eager to bounce back after failing to win any domestic or international silverware last season.

“Everyone has a point to prove here and we’ve started the season that way,” Kane said. “The way the coach wants us to press and be intense with and without the ball is important. We know we can dominate teams with the quality we have.”

With Zagreb completely boxed in, Raphael Guerreiro, who had earlier put the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, drilled home from a superb Jamal Musiala assist in the 33rd and Michael Olise added another five minutes later.

The Croats briefly recovered by making the most of some sloppy defending with goals from Bruno Petkovic in the 49th and Takuya Ogiwara a minute later to give themselves some hope.

It was, however, short-lived with Bayern, who hope to reach this season’s final to be played in Munich, upping the tempo instantly and scoring two more in a four-minute span through Kane and Olise to restore order.

In coach Vincent Kompany’s Champions League debut on the bench, England captain Kane bagged his third and fourth goals with penalties in the 73rd and 78th.

Thomas Mueller also set a record with his 152nd Champions League appearance for Bayern, breaking Xavi’s mark at Barcelona for the most matches in the competition with one club.

Substitutes Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka also got on the scoresheet with late goals as Bayern opened their Champions League campaign in devastating fashion.

-Reuters

Reigning champions Real Madrid will play Borussia Dortmund in the league phase of the Champions League in what will be a repeat of last season’s final after the draw for the new-look 36-team tournament was held on Thursday.

Clubs will no longer playing three teams home and away in the group phase, but will face eight different teams with four games at home and four away which were picked with the help of a computer.

With clubs facing two teams each from the four pots, the draw threw up plenty of mouth-watering fixtures with Real also set to play former champions Liverpool and AC Milan in the league phase.

Premier League champions Manchester City will face Inter Milan — a repeat of the 2023 final — Paris St Germain and Juventus while Bayern Munich are up against PSG and Barcelona among others.

Apart from Real, Liverpool also take on RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.

New Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has his hands full with the Spanish team set to face the two German giants — his former club Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

The draw was conducted with the help of the competition’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who were both given special awards by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

-Reuters