Winner takes all
Kane ready to battle again with Madrid after 2-2 draw in Munich
BAYERN MUNICH striker Harry Kane said their 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal is “a little disappointing” but has full belief they can qualify next week. Madrid hit the front against the run of play in the 24th minute when Toni Kroos’ magnificent throughball found Vinicius Jr, who tucked home coolly to give the away side a halftime lead.
Munich scored twice in four second half minutes, firstly through Leroy Sane before Jamal Musiala went down in the penalty area and Kane sent Andriy Lunin the wrong way to put them in front.
Much like in the quarterfinal against Manchester City, Madrid were not beaten and they came from behind once again courtesy of Vinicius’ penalty to leave it all square heading into the second leg.
“It’s a little disappointing, once we got 2-1 ahead we had two or three good chances especially from set plays but this is a Champions League semifinal, we expected a tough game,” Kane told TNT Sports.
“Real Madrid are one of the best teams in Europe and they can punish you with one or two actions like they did today so of course we are disappointed we didn’t get the win but it’s all to play for next week.”
Bayern made most of the running through the early stages and a couple of Lunin saves kept Madrid level before a sucker punch down the other end gave the visitors the lead.
Kane added: “We started first 10 or 15 minutes on the front foot, we had a couple of chances there but then their goal came against the run of play.
“They built up the momentum and then we struggled to play our game but second half we came out with a higher intensity and deserved to get the two goals. We couldn’t get the third but all to play for.
“We will dust ourselves down, tough but we look forward to next week.”
Kane’s penalty extended his season tally to 43 goals from as many games in his first season at Munich.
Kane admitted the campaign has not quite gone their way, losing the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen, but the big games are the reason he made the switch from Tottenham last summer.
He said: “It’s been a good season so far but it’s all about the next game, the big game next week away from home in Real Madrid.
“Everything we are fighting for this year is in this competition so you’ve just got to find a way to get it done.
“I’m here for many years, it’s not just a one-off year I’ve come for, but of course the expectation at the start of the year was to win trophies. It hasn’t gone our way in the Bundesliga and cup but the Champions League is the biggest one of them all.
“This is exactly why I came, I want to play in these big games, these big moments and there’s no bigger than next week away from home.”
Kane’s England teammate Jude Bellingham was substituted in the second half and Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti admitted the 20-year-old was “not at his best”.
Ancelotti revealed that Bellingham was suffering from cramp and fatigue during the game, a problem that has often afflicted him in the past, and one that led to his substitution here after 75 minutes.
“Bellingham was just tired. He couldn’t continue any more,” Ancelotti said.
I have enough good players on the bench. He will get back to his best performance.
“I think he was injured, which affected him, but today he wasn’t at his best. He will be back, for sure, and on Wednesday he will be at 100% again.” – The Independent/Agencies