Can Harry Kane Finally End His Trophy Drought?

After a 2-2 draw between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League bout, fans will be excited for a second leg to settle it. A run-in behind preceding a vicious strike from Vinicius Júnior put Madrid up 1-0. However, once Leroy Sané snapped his 185-day goal drought with a powerful strike, cutting inside on his left foot and unleashing a laser, the score was tied 1-1. After two penalty goals by both teams, one from Harry Kane and the other from Vinicius, there was nothing to separate the two sides in Munich. Bayern Munich will now have the difficult task of going to Spain and winning in Madrid’s stomping grounds in the second leg.

This Champions League run has extra meaning for the German giants. Bayern are in danger of having their first trophyless season in 12 years. After a shock defeat earlier in the season to third-division side FC Saarbrücken in just the second round of the DFB-Pokal, questions began to arise. However, Bayern still looked poised to win the Bundesliga and make a deep Champions League run. Now, after losing their grip on the Bundesliga for the first time since 2012 to Bayer Leverkusen and their sensational unbeaten run, the Champions League is the last trophy they have left to win. This is uncharted territory for most of the Munich players, having been virtually all-conquering, sweeping to the title in most of the last 11 seasons. 

This Champions League trophy will be especially meaningful for one man, star striker Harry Kane. He will be looking to win his first trophy to crown his stellar career. Kane, who is arguably the greatest player in the history of football to never win a trophy, previously played at Tottenham where he was their all-time leading goal scorer, and even led them to a Champions League final, but he was never able to finish the job and win a trophy at Tottenham. Because of this, if Bayern are unable to grab this Champions League trophy, many will wrongfully put the blame on Kane, who is having a phenomenal season. He has an outstanding 54 goal contributions in just 43 games in all competitions for Bayern this season, on pace to break Robert Lewandowski’s single-season Bundesliga goal record. Bayern is also on pace to have their third-highest-scoring season in the last 15 years.

While Kane clearly isn’t the problem, that won’t stop fans from bashing him if he can’t win a trophy in his first season in Munich. He will look to take down the Spanish giants, Real Madrid, on May 8th and hopes to bag another goal to add to his tally. Be sure to check in after that match for more analysis of the game!