On Tuesday, the Champions League began in a new format, the league phase. This time, there are 36 teams in one group. The top eight teams will play directly in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League, while the teams from positions 9-24 will compete in the play-offs. This is an important response from UEFA to the desire to create a Super League. On Tuesday, there were no surprises in the Champions League matches – Juventus and Aston Villa won their matches 3-0 (against PSV Eindhoven and Young Boys, respectively), Liverpool defeated Milan 3-1, and Real Madrid avoided a slip-up and won 3-1 against Vfb Stuttgart.
Bayern Munich, managed by Vincent Kompany since this season, also started the league phase with a victory. The German vice-champions defeated Dinamo Zagreb 9:2. After the first half, Bayern led 3:0 thanks to goals from Harry Kane, Raphael Guerreiro and Michael Olise. After the break, Dinamo scored two goals in a minute and it was only 3:2 for Bayern.
The Munich team responded with three more goals from Kane, while Olise, Leon Goretzka and Leroy Sane added a goal each.
Manuel Neuer was sidelined for the second half due to an injury. Sven Ulreich came on to replace him. Neuer's performance was exceptional for another reason, however.
Neuer enters the Champions League's all-time top 10. He equals a legend
The clash with Dinamo Zagreb was Neuer's 141st Champions League match. The goalkeeper played 22 matches in the competition while still with Schalke 04, and 119 matches as a Bayern Munich player. The official UEFA website states that Neuer has equalled the legendary Ryan Giggs in terms of the number of appearances and is in the top ten of this list. Neuer is not, however, the goalkeeper with the most Champions League appearances, as Iker Casillas is higher with 177 matches (150 for Real Madrid, 27 for Porto).
Cristiano Ronaldo has the most Champions League appearances in history. The Portuguese has played 59 matches for Manchester United, 101 for Real Madrid and 23 for Juventus. The top three, alongside Ronaldo and Casillas, are completed by Leo Messi with 163 Champions League appearances. Ahead of Neuer are Karim Benzema (152), Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Xavi Hernandez (151), Raul and Sergio Ramos (142 each).
Neuer made his Champions League debut on 18 September 2007 in a 0-1 draw against Valencia. Since then, Neuer has kept 58 clean sheets, including the group and knockout stages of the competition. According to the data from the official UEFA website, no other goalkeeper can boast such a record in the Champions League. Right behind Neuer in this ranking are Iker Casillas (57), Gianluigi Buffon (52), Edwin van der Sar (50) and Petr Cech (47).
Neuer has been a Bayern Munich player since the summer of 2011. His contract with his current employer runs until the end of this season. In the 24/25 season, Neuer kept clean sheets in the matches against Freiburg (2:0) in the Bundesliga and against SSV Ulm (4:0) in the German Cup.