Bayern's 'many nice stories' from Musiala hat-trick to Karl debut
Bayern's Jamal Musiala celebrates scoring his side's eighth goal during the FIFA Club World Cup Group C soccer match between Bayern Munich and Auckland City at the TQL Stadium. Sven Hoppe/dpa
Jamal Musiala scored a hat-trick upon his return, Thomas Müller his 250th goal in an official match, and super talent Lennart Karl got his first minutes in Bayern Munich's senior team.
It was thus no wonder that board member for sport Max Eberl spoke of "many nice stories" after Sunday's 10-0 thrashing of New Zealand part-timers Auckland City in their Club World Cup opener.
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"That's exactly what we need. We need these positive results, these positive elements, if we want to be here for a long time," he said.
Bayern's next tasks in the US will be tougher when they face Argentina's Boca Juniors on Friday and Lisbon club Benfica on June 24 in their other group games.
"We can't now have the feeling that we can let up in any way. On the contrary, we need to step it up a notch again," newly signed Jonathan Tah warned, while also insisting that "we're ready."
Musiala and Upamecano back
Germany defender Tah played his first match since a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday in Cincinnati, and fellow centre back Dayot Upamecano got his first minutes for the Bundesliga champions in a comeback from injury.
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Upamecano came on at the hour together with Musiala, who was on fire after two months on the sidelines with a hamstring tear and netted a hat-trick within a span of 16 minutes.
"Jamal is back, and that with a hat-trick. That is extraordinary," Eberl said.
Coach Vincent Kompany said: "It is great when an attacking player scores. He won't need so many talks tonight, and tomorrow he will feel good."
Kompany added that "the highlight for me was Jamal Musiala's defensive sprint. And if you're doing that in this sort of game, then you've got a good foundation.'
Müller milestone
Müller, whose 25 years at his boyhood club will end after the tournament, was on target twice, with his second for the final score also his 250th in an official Bayern game.
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'We played well, played seriously, played with intensity," Müller said.
"We want to keep going like this. We won't always get results like this, but the way we played is what we want to take into the next games.'
Super talent Karl makes debut
Wingers Kingsley Coman and Michael Olise also scored twice each, and talent Karl came on for the second half with the score already 6-0, making his debut at the same age of 17 as Musiala once did.
Karl didn't find the net but had several moments to show his talent, from a tight angle shot to a courageous dribbling.
"It is always about the future of the club. So it was important to give Lennart Karl his first minutes. He deserved it," Kompany said.
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Karl is among several Bayern academy players in the Club World Cup squad, having previously impressed for Bayern's U17 and U19 teams with goals, assists and plenty of skill. He has said he "absolutely wants to succeed here at FC Bayern."
Day off
Karl and the others could relax a little on Monday as Kompany gave the players the day off to enjoy the various attractions at their base camp in Orlando, Florida.
"It is also important for me that we don't unnecessarily have all the stress of a tournament every day," Kompany said.
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