Michael Olise Sparkles as Bayern Munich and Manchester United Make Po…

Thursday brought the opening round of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League to a close, with Bayern Munich and Manchester United providing the biggest statements on the final night.

Bayern were ruthless after the interval as they swept aside Bodø/Glimt 5-0 at the Allianz Arena. The Norwegian champions had managed to keep the game competitive for long spells, but once Bayern found their rhythm, the contest quickly slipped away from the visitors. palladian.co.za

Jamal Musiala opened the scoring early in the second half, giving Bayern the breakthrough they had been searching for. Harry Kane then added another before Alphonso Davies extended the advantage. Michael Olise finished the job in style, scoring twice as Bayern turned a relatively measured opening into a comprehensive victory.

For Bayern, the result was another reminder of their ability to overwhelm opponents once the game opens up. There was patience in their approach, but also the cutting edge that has become synonymous with the club on European nights. The five-goal margin also ensured they finished their opening fixture with an imposing goal difference.

Manchester United were equally convincing as they returned to the Champions League stage with a 4-0 win over Sabah of Azerbaijan at Old Trafford.

United took control early but had to wait until the 27th minute to break the deadlock, with Matheus Cunha finding the breakthrough. The goal settled some of the early tension and allowed United to play with greater freedom.

Bruno Fernandes then doubled the lead before Benjamin Šeško struck to make it 3-0 before the interval. Lisandro Martínez completed the scoring after the break, giving United a result that was as comfortable as the scoreline suggested.

For United, the performance offered a positive start to their European campaign. They controlled possession, created enough chances and, crucially, avoided allowing Sabah to build any sustained momentum. The clean sheet added another layer of satisfaction to a night in which very little went wrong.

There were other compelling results across Thursday’s programme. Como produced one of the night’s biggest surprises by beating RB Leipzig 4-1, an extraordinary result for a club experiencing this level of European football. Argentina’s Nico Paz showed off some lovely touches, while Senegal’s Assane Diao was a constant and powerful menace down the right wing.

Lens staged a dramatic comeback against Slavia Prague, scoring twice in stoppage time to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory. Fenerbahçe and Roma played out a 1-1 draw in Istanbul, while PSV Eindhoven and Shakhtar Donetsk also shared the points after a 1-1 finish.

The opening round has therefore delivered precisely the mixture that makes the Champions League so compelling: dominant performances from established powers, impressive debuts and late drama that can change a match in an instant.

Bayern and United will take particular satisfaction from Thursday. Both began the campaign with emphatic victories, setting an early marker in a competition where every result matters.

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East Zone translated their complete dominance over the last 12 sessions into a Duleep Trophy victory after 13 years, overwhelming South Zone on the basis of a massive first innings lead on the fifth and final day of the final here on Thursday. East Zone sauntered to 388 for seven in their second innings, swelling the overall lead to 760 runs even as the match ended in a draw.

Mohammad Kounian Quraishi joined the list of century-makers in this match with an unbeaten 116, his maiden three-figure mark in two-match-old first-class career. Quraishi, who added 150 runs with Anukul Roy (64) for the seventh wicket stand, reached the milestone in 179 balls with a brace off left-arm pacer CV Milind. But way before the teams shook hands at 2.10 pm signalling a draw, East had wrested the trophy after posting a mammoth 708 runs in their first innings, which helped them construct a 372-run lead. East's second innings was a mere continuation of their show of power in the match.

Starting the day from 212 for five, the Ishan Kishan-led side, as it happened in the first innings, was seldom troubled by direction-less South bowlers. Seasoned Mohammed Siraj bounded in for a while, showing intensity and pace. While it was satisfactory from a personal point of view, the effort remained futile otherwise. The lack of support for Siraj and a toothless batting effort also reflected the flawed selection as far as South squad is concerned. The South management chose to ignore in-form and proven players such as Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal and Sai Kishore and the replacements never really could step up. But plenty of East Zone players did that.

Skipper Kishan made a stunning 270 in the first innings to underline his red-ball readiness while veteran Mohammed Shami, who was playing in his 100th first-class match, put to shame some younger names with a spirited effort. Kumar Kushagra scored his sixth first-class hundred while his Jharkhand team-mate Shikhar Mohan made a fifty filled with class and poise. Above all, Kishan also showed impressive tactical awareness while leading East. Once the team put on board a massive total, Kishan was clear in his primary objective -- take 10 South wickets and get a first innings lead. The 28-year-old detailed his plan.

"I think when you are the captain of the team, the first thing is situational awareness. We batted for roughly two days, right? Now, as a unit, we know this is essentially a first-innings shootout. "So, our primary task was to take those first 10 wickets and gain that lead. If we have an innings lead (good enough to impose follow-on), why would I want to step back out in the blazing heat," Kishan said. His words reflected the direct conflict between the intention of stretching domestic knockout matches into five days to procure results and teams gunning only for a first innings lead to bag the title. But for him and East, now, it's time to celebrate a long-awaited success rather than dwelling into such technical matters.

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East Zone’s Duleep Trophy triumph on Thursday, their first since 2012, offered perhaps the clearest indication yet of the strength of Jharkhand’s emerging batting core. Captain Ishan Kishan led from the front, aggregating 350 runs in the final, while Shikhar Mohan, Kumar Kushagra, Md Kounain Quraishi and Anukul Roy were among the Jharkhand players who made significant contributions during the campaign.

After months of rehab at the Centre of Excellence (CoE), Jasprit Bumrah and Nitish Kumar Reddy were declared fit to join the team which will fly to Japan for the Asian Games two days after the series. Also on Thursday morning, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) announced that Harshit Rana had suffered another injury during his match simulation test at the CoE on Tuesday. Pacer Yash Thakur was named as his replacement.