Bayern’s teenager shines against Arsenal
Next Karl Gala: His agent comments on his goal
Updated 11/26/2025 – 10:04 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
Lennart Karl is already considered a national player. But which prominent ex-professional is his advisor? And who is his role model?
He is the player of the hour: Lennart Karl. Bavaria’s top talent is currently delivering one gala performance after the other. This was also the case on Wednesday evening against Arsenal FC in the top game of the Champions League. Arsenal led 1-0 until the 32nd minute. With a nice combination via Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry and Karl, the German record champions equalized.
Karl again, another nice goal from the 17-year-old. And there is something else special, a somewhat strange occurrence on this Champions League evening: the game is being commented on by Karl’s advisor at DAZN. Michael Ballack, midfield director for the record champions between 2002 and 2006, takes care of the super talent’s needs. The former captain of the German national team acts as managing director of the Lucky 13 agency and looks after the teenager.
Ballack in the DAZN live commentary: “Lennart with a great finish. Bayern with an excellent attack and the deserved equalizer when it comes to share of the game.”
Shortly before half-time, Ballack praised his protégé for a successful defensive action: “What Lennart has learned is to defend. Otherwise you won’t play in a team like this. He learned that from Vincent Kompany. It’s not just scoring goals that he does impressively. That applies to all offensive players. If you want to win at this level, you have to support your defenders. That requires a huge willingness to run.”
video | Video shows Lennart Karl’s dream goal
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From Karl’s perspective, something else would certainly have been spectacular: a duel with his great role model. But “Gunners” captain Martin Ødegaard initially only sat on the bench against Bayern. After an injury, the captain was recently in advanced training and is slowly being introduced.
Karl once explained in a club interview what fascinates him about the Norwegian: “He’s also left-footed, plays in the playmaker position, has a good overview and a good finish. He was also at a big club early on (Real Madrid, Note d. Red) in focus and ultimately developed into a world-class player over several loan spells. He showed that in addition to talent, patience and mentality are also necessary.”