Lennart Karl's provocative cheers

FC Bayern delivered an impressive performance at Atlético Madrid and deservedly won 2-0 in the Champions League. Munich were the better team for 90 minutes and gave the hosts no chance. After the break, Bayern increased the pressure again and rewarded themselves with two goals.

Lennart Karl, of all people, put Bayern on the road to victory with his goal to make it 1-0. The recently criticized midfielder stole the ball from Atlético defender Robin Le Normand in the penalty area and lobbed it over goalkeeper Jan Oblak into the net in the 54th minute.

Karl celebrated his goal by holding his hands to his ears and making speaking movements with them. According to the motto: What are you talking about? Most recently, Bavaria's honorary president Uli Hoeneß criticized the teenager in an interview with Welt am Sonntag and suggested that he had lost his grip on the ground. "I have decided to have a serious conversation with him. He is far from being a superstar, young players need humility," said Hoeneß.

After these statements, Karl's advisor Michael Ballack jumped to his protégé's side. He defended the 18-year-old: "Everyone is allowed to portray themselves however they want. It's also clear that you're not doing everything right. But you can't mix up your sporting development with it. And that's exactly what FC Bayern is doing. It's legitimate for Uli Hoeneß to criticize this external portrayal. But it's also clear that he's publicly declaring Lennart a target."

With his goal in Madrid, Karl gave an answer to the discussion about himself. "We could have scored a few more goals. It was a very deserved victory. I'm very happy for the boy. He stays calm and works hard. He still has to learn and take another step. He's on a great path, he'll still have a great career ahead of him," says Bayern's other goalscorer Konrad Laimer.

There was also praise from Manuel Neuer: "Lenni is a very important part of our team. He showed a great performance. It was total dominance from the first to the 93rd minute. We are really super happy. Especially because we had to take a step back due to injuries and what has happened in the last few weeks. The team always sticks together. The answer we gave was sensational," said Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.