Hoeneß criticised Lennart Karl, and his goal started Bayern’s 2-0 win at Atlético Madrid
The 18-year-old scored after Robin Le Normand dawdled on the ball, Konrad Laimer added a second, and Bayern moved into the Champions League top eight with Vincent Kompany still absent.
Nov 4, 2026
Lennart Karl has spent the past few weeks being talked about for everything except football. Bayern Munich’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß had publicly scolded the 18-year-old over his outfits and his social media, and the row pulled in sporting director Max Eberl and Karl’s adviser, Michael Ballack. On Tuesday night at the Metropolitano, Karl got the goal that sent Bayern on their way to a 2-0 win over Atlético Madrid, and then he answered back.
The goal came nine minutes after half-time. Robin Le Normand dawdled on the ball, Karl took it off him and lifted his finish over Jan Oblak. His celebration was widely read as a reply to his critics, and Bayern’s substitutes ran over to join in.
Aaron Danks, standing in on the touchline again, said he missed it. “I didn’t see the goal celebration because I was celebrating myself,” he told Amazon Prime Video.
Laimer finishes it off
Konrad Laimer made it 2-0 in the 74th minute. Harry Kane found him in the box, and Bayern’s right-back beat Oblak from close range. It could have been more. Dayot Upamecano hit the crossbar from distance and had a header ruled out for a foul. Bayern had 19 shots to Atlético’s nine.
Atlético did not test Bayern much. Julián Álvarez sent an early shot just wide, and after the break they had very little. Diego Simeone had picked Giuliano Simeone, Le Normand and Alexander Sørloth from the start, and by the end he had brought on Koke, Ademola Lookman and Kangin Lee.
Kane went into the game having scored in ten Champions League matches in a row, one short of Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 11 from 2017-18. He did not get one here, so the run ends at ten.
Into the top eight without Kompany
Bayern had drawn their two previous Champions League games, including the 2-2 at home to Arsenal. This win lifts them to eight points from four games and into eighth place, the last of the spots that go straight through to the last 16. Atlético stay on four points.
Vincent Kompany is still off. He was diagnosed with meningeal irritation, an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord, after he collapsed in October, and Eberl said at the time he would be out for weeks rather than days. Bild reports he will not be back before the November international break. Danks, his assistant, is in charge for now.
Bayern’s next Champions League game is at Lille on 25 November.