It’s very rare that almost an entire stadium audience rises to its feet for a 17-year-old. It happened Tuesday evening. Lennart Karl had just scored the all-important 2-1 in a 3-1 (0-1) win against Sporting Lisbon when his coach Vincent Kompany substituted him. And the enthusiastic fans of FC Bayern saw Karl off with a standing ovation in the Munich Arena.
Karl is the youngest player (17 years, 290 days) to score in three consecutive Champions League games. Thanks to him, the Munich team has a great chance of making it directly to the round of 16 after this sixth matchday of the premier class.
When celebrating his goal, Karl made a special gesture, put his finger to his mouth and also formed speaking mouths with his hands. The unmistakable gesture for: be quiet. It was unclear who this message was aimed at.
After the game, Karl swapped his jersey with Lisbon’s João Simoes (18 years old) and celebrated with his colleagues and the fans in front of the south curve of the Munich stadium. He was then presented with the Man of the Match trophy. Karl was the player of this game.
“Great for Bayern and German football”
Sami Khedira, 2014 World Cup winner and expert for the streaming portal DAZN, said: “A wonderful goal. The boy turns hype into development. That’s great for the boy, great for Bayern and great for German football. His development is impressive.”
Lisbon’s coach Rui Borges was also impressed and mentioned Karl several times in his game analysis and his flexible positional play with moves to the wing, which was difficult to defend. “He always remains incredibly dangerous. That’s impressive,” said Bayern coach Kompany at the press conference after the game. “He also defends very well.” However, Karl has already played better games for FC Bayern, said Kompany.
Karl impressed again after many good games in the past few weeks. He played in the central offensive from the start and had already scored in the first half, but the goal was disallowed for offside. Karl was dangerous and calm in many situations. He finds solutions even in tight spaces. And takes advantage of almost every opportunity Kompany offers him. “I’m proud of the team and of myself,” said Karl. He scored the goal with his weaker right foot. “I worked a lot on that,” said the young professional. The first contact with the left foot was perfect.
And so there will be further discussions in the coming days as to whether national coach Julian Nagelsmann should take the teenager with him to the World Cup in summer 2026. Karl most recently played for the U21s.
The next international matches for the A team will take place at the end of March and are the last tests before leaving for the World Cup. “He’s performing well, he’s in our first eleven. Those are his arguments,” said Bayern’s sports director Max Eberl after the victory. Karl was asked whether he was now expecting a WhatsApp from Nagelsmann. “I don’t think so, no,” he replied, laughing.
Bayern almost certainly in the round of 16 of the Champions League
Karl initially wants to go far with Bayern in the Champions League. They now have 15 points, last season 16 points were enough to finish among the top eight teams that qualify directly. In the new year, Munich will play in the preliminary round against Saint-Gilloise (January 21st) and Eindhoven (January 28th). Then their offensive star Luis Díaz will also be eligible to play again after serving his red card suspension.
With a Lennart Karl in this form, Kompany then has many options. There could be hardship cases. But at the moment they are simply enjoying their super teenager at FC Bayern, who has become so important in just a few weeks.
“It’s a nice development,” said Kompany about Karl’s career in the past few months. “But there has to be more to come. There will be more to come.”
