The Bundesliga side are destined for their first trophy-less season since 2011-12, but their £100 million (£125m) man can still hold his head up high
"Bayern is one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I've always said that I want to compete and prove myself at the highest level during my career," Harry Kane said after completing his big-money move to Munich from Tottenham last summer. "This club is defined by its winning mentality – it feels very good to be here."
At that point, it felt as though the England captain had guaranteed himself major silverware by choosing the Allianz Arena as his next destination, as he joined a club who had just celebrated an 11th-successive Bundesliga title. Bayern's dominance of German football had been unprecedented, while they could also boast of two Champions League crowns in the same period, and signing the No.1 all-around striker in Europe was a real power move.
There is absolutely no doubt that Kane has proved himself since then. In fact, he's arguably enjoyed the best season abroad of any English player in history, scoring a staggering 44 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions. And yet, his long wait for a first career trophy goes on. Despite his individual exploits, the wheels have fallen off Bayern's winning machine, and after a narrow Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid, their 2023-24 campaign is in ruins.
Those that believe in the 'Kane curse', and over-exaggerate his struggles in the biggest matches will be quick to label him a failure again. But the reality is, he doesn't deserve any of the blame for Bayern's spectacular fall from grace.
Getty ImagesUnforgivable decision
Bayern will look back on their Champions League tie against Madrd with a real sense of regret – and bitterness. Alphonso Davies' 68th-minute thunderbolt in the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu put them 3-2 up on aggregate; it was a goal worthy of winning any game, a once-in a lifetime strike from a player who had never previously scored in Europe's top competition. But it wouldn't have happened without Kane.
The England captain dropped deep to help Bayern launch a counter, and picked out Davies on the left flank with a quite brilliant lofted pass that landed perfectly in the Canadian's stride. Kane's main job is to put the ball in the back of the net, but he's also an elite playmaker, which is why Thomas Tuchel's decision to take him off with five minutes of normal time left was so confusing.
The Bayern boss had already brought Kim Min-jae and Thomas Muller on for Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala, respectively, inviting plenty of groans from the away section, and then introduced Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting for Kane with the contest still very much in the balance. And by the 91st minute, Madrid had completed a remarkable comeback courtesy of a poacher's brace from former Stoke City forward Joselu.
There was huge controversy right at the death, as Matthijs de Ligt saw an equaliser ruled out for a very harsh offside, but Tuchel was the real villain, not the officials. Bayern were in control before he started ringing the changes, and he invited pressure by switching to a back three before making the unforgivable decision to remove their target man, the one who provided the most threat and exuded a much-needed sense of calm with his hold-up play.
AdvertisementGetty'Done his job'
Tuchel claimed that Kane was unable to continue because his back had "frozen up", which didn't really hold up as an excuse. The 30-year-old didn't look to be in any visible pain and was still making an important contribution.
"That’s one of the biggest subs I’ve ever seen in a game of football of that magnitude,” former Bayern and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves said in the studio post-match. “To take off a guy that’s scored 44 goals, who is the most durable player pretty much anywhere and you bring on another striker in Choupo-Moting. Maybe he wanted height for corners, I don’t know. You cannot take him off. There’s five minutes left in the game, there’s [potentially] 10 minutes of extra-time, 15 minutes. Bayern had it in their hands and they let it go."
Bayern probably would have been looking forward to an all-German final against arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund had Tuchel not taken such drastic steps to park the bus. It was another cruel twist of fate for Kane, but Tuchel's muddled side wouldn't have even got this far without him, as he finished his Champions League campaign with 12 goal involvements from as many matches.
"He has done his job. He has scored the goals," Hargreaves' former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand added to . "They brought him to continue winning trophies and I feel the others have let him down more than anything. I think he will have a heavy heart tonight."
(C)Getty ImagesUnmatched strength of character
As inconsistent as Bayern have been this term, they were arguably worse in 2022-23, certainly after Tuchel was drafted in to replace Julian Nagelsmann. Bayern only made it to the Champions League quarter-finals, where they were battered by eventual winners Manchester City 4-1 on aggregate, and retained their Bundesliga crown after a shocking Dortmund collapse on the final day of the season.
Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry led Bayern's scoring charts with 17 each, which highlighted the main issue with the team. Kane has solved that with his prolific output in the final third, effectively filling the void left by Robert Lewandowski after his 2022 departure to Barcelona.
Kane could even still equal Lewandowski's record for the most goals in a single Bundesliga season (41), albeit he is still five goals behind with only two games left to play. Lewandowski set that mark in 2020-21, when Bayern were a far more well-rounded team and he had an endless supply of quality service, but Kane has managed to get close to the same figure while feeding off scraps.
It's not just a one-off either, because he did exactly the same in a Tottenham shirt for the best part of a decade. Kane's strength of character is unmatched, and even as he edges towards the twilight years of his career, he keeps pushing himself to get better, despite still being part of a squad full of players that don't hold themselves to the same high standards.
"It’s just a gift, honestly, to be his coach," Tuchel said when quizzed on Kane's impact at Bayern in March. "I feel very privileged. He’s super humble. He’s the first out there on the pitch every single day. Whatever you ask of him, he will do it. He is that huge personality that is so humble and then becomes a a shark – a shark on the field, because he is up for goals, he’s up for winning. He does it on an everyday basis. He does not only score on a daily basis. He trains well. He does what is needed. He shows his quality, makes everyone better by his pure presence. It’s the highest level. You can just put it like this as a human being, but also as a football highest level."
GettyThe Leverkusen factor
Kane was unfairly mocked from day one at Bayern, as he came on as a second-half substitute in the German Super Cup final with RB Leipzig already holding a commanding 3-0 lead. The fact he didn't break his silverware duck on his debut had nothing to do with his own performance, though – it was just pure bad luck.
His arrival at Allianz Arena also happened to coincide with Bayer Leverkusen's rapid rise under Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard inherited a Leverkusen team sitting second-bottom in the Bundesliga in October 2022, and led them to a sixth-place finish, providing the platform for a quite remarkable second act.
Leverkusen would go on to clinch their first-ever Bundesliga title after thrashing Werder Bremen 5-0 on April 14, and with five games to spare. Alonso's men could end up completing a remarkable treble with the Europa League and DFB-Pokal also still up for grabs, and they are one game away from breaking the record for the longest-ever unbeaten run in European football.
Should they avoid defeat in their final two Bundesliga games, Leverkusen will become the competition's first-ever 'Invincibles', and even in their very best seasons, Bayern would have had a hard time staying on their coattails. As it currently stands, Bayern are 15 points adrift in second, and the title race has been pretty much over since their 3-0 hammering at BayArena in February.
It's fair to say that Kane underperformed against Leverkusen, touching the ball just 18 times, but he was left isolated up top because of Tuchel's cautious tactical approach. It was a similar story when Bayern suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Dortmund a few weeks later, though he was also guilty of missing two great chances in that contest.
Bayern's most humiliating defeat of the campaign actually came in the DFB-Pokal, though, as they were knocked out in the second round by third-tier Saarbrucken. Kane was an unused substitute in that tie, and things might have been different had he been on the pitch.
Bad performances from Bayern have been quite frequent, but not from Kane; he's only failed to register a goal contribution in 13 of his 45 appearances for the club to date, which underlines just how consistent he has been. It will come as scant consolation, but Kane should clear up at the club's end of season awards, and he will head into Euro 2024 with his reputation as the most deadly marksmen in the game firmly intact.