Bayern Munich's 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround
for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich's own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern's second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer's best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern's youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back's first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Also Tuesday, Olympiacos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
After leaving Mohamed Salah at home, Liverpool needs to show it can win without the Egyptian forward as Arne Slot's team takes on Inter Milan on Tuesday.
On a night when Barcelona, Chelsea and Tottenham are all in action, the focus is on Liverpool after Salah said Saturday it “seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.” Liverpool's response was to leave him out of the squad for its trip to Italy.
After losing its last Champions League game 3-0 to Chelsea, Barcelona aims to recover at home to struggling Eintracht Frankfurt. Seventh-place Chelsea is unbeaten in four Champions League games and visits Atalanta aiming to strengthen its hold on a top-eight spot offering direct entry to the round of 16.
Tottenham, which lost 5-3 to Paris Saint-Germain last time out, has an easier task against Czech team Slavia Prague. Atletico Madrid visits PSV Eindhoven, Monaco hosts Galatasaray and Union Saint-Gilloise plays Marseille.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
