Bayern Munich hosts surprise package Bodø/Glimt in Champions League opener

Bayern Munich opens its Champions League campaign against a team nobody wants to draw in the first round. Bodø/Glimt comes in carrying last season's breakout tag, and in soccer, that kind of reputation tends to carry more weight than any ranking.

The match is set for Thursday, September 10 at the Allianz Arena, for matchday one of the league phase. Kickoff for South America is at 4:00 p.m. (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile) and 2:00 p.m. (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador), with the match airing on Disney+'s Premium Plan exclusively for the region.

Why does this matchup matter beyond just being an opener? Because Bayern reached the semifinals last campaign and now runs straight into the Norwegian side that left half of Europe stunned. Bodø/Glimt made it all the way to the round of 16 after beating none other than Manchester City, Atlético de Madrid and Inter Milan, eliminating the Italians in the playoff round. This is no ordinary visitor to Munich.

Inside the Bavarian club, there's no confusion about the threat. Manuel Neuer himself made sure to deliver the message plainly:

It was a real surprise last season. We won't be underestimating them.Manuel Neuer

Recent history, though, favors the hosts: Bayern hasn't lost its opening group stage match (or league phase, under the new format) since 2003. That's a long streak, spanning different eras and managers.

The names that could decide it

Harry Kane was the tournament's top scorer in the 2025-2026 edition, with 14 goals. The question hanging over Munich is simple: can he get anywhere close to that number again, starting with a goal against the Norwegians?

On the other side, Bodø/Glimt leans on Jens Hauge as its go-to man. The Norwegian posted eye-catching numbers in last season's Champions League, with six goals and five assists in 14 matches, and he's already scored once in this edition's qualifying rounds. If Bayern lets its guard down for even a second, he'll be there to make them pay.

As for domestic form, Bayern sits sixth in the Bundesliga through two matchdays with four points, following a scoreless draw on the road against Schalke 04. Vincent Kompany, who knows how to read these tight, congested matches, summed it up this way:

Given the chances we had, we could have won this game, but that's soccer, and it's part of it.Vincent Kompany

Bodø/Glimt, for its part, reached this league phase after eliminating Union Saint-Gilloise and NEC Nijmegen in the qualifying rounds. There's no prior history between the two sides in this competition, so whatever happens Thursday will be, quite literally, the opening page of this story.