TROPHY RIDDEN KANE SETS EYES ON UCL GLORY

For lovers across the world, the month of February may symbolise the month of love, but for football purists and lovers of the beautiful game, the month of February welcomes the joyous spirit of Champions League knockout football!

One person who won’t be feeling the love and enjoying his honeymoon phase in Germany is Harry Kane. The former Spurs marksman has had a great start to life in Bavaria, but as the season continues to dwindle, it seems the worst is yet to come.

To date, the Englishman has scored 28 goals in 28 appearances in all competitions with 24 of those goals being scored in the Bundesliga. However, Bayern Munich have been knocked-out of the German Cup by 3^rd tier side, Saarbrucken, and are currently sitting 5 points away from Bundesliga leaders, Bayer Leverkusen, who haven’t lost a single game in all competitions since the 3-0 loss to Bochum on the last day of the 2022/23 season. With competition getting increasingly high for Continental glory, Bayern Munich are posed the threat of a trophyless season for the first time since 2012.

BAYERN 2012 – 2023

In the past 11 years, The Bavarians have been able to bag the Bundesliga Meisterschale trophy 11 consecutive times following the era of Jurgen Klopp and Borussia Dortmund. Since then, the closest teams that have given Bayern a run for their money is Lucien Favre’s 2018/19 Borussia Dortmund side and his successor, Edin Terzic’s Dortmund side in the most recent 2022/23 season.

Besides the formality of winning the Bundesliga, in the last 11 years, Bayern have been able to win two Champions League titles (2012/13 & 2019/20), 11 Bundesliga titles and 5 DFB Pokal titles, a staggering amount of success for the iconic German side.

Last season, Edin Terzic managed to push his 1^st placed Dortmund side to the last day of the season before catastrophe struck and Bayern Munich snatched the title in the dying ambers of their last league game. Perhaps last season should’ve been a clear sign that Dortmund would struggle coming into the new season under Thomas Tuchel, who joined the club in March 2023, replacing current German national team coach, Julian Nagelsmann, who was sacked after he had posted an impressive record of 60 wins and 10 losses in his 84-game stay at Bayern. His only fault being a 2-1 defeat to an inspired Bayer Leverkusen, who were under the tutelage of new coach, Xabi Alonso.  

BAYERN 2023/24

With all the above mentioned, it’s hard to see how Thomas Tuchel will not eye Champions League glory to mask what could be a disastrous season in Bavaria after splashing millions on a new striker in Harry Kane. A man whom himself has famously lifted the Audi Cup during his stint at Tottenham.

Kane has surely put his money where his right-foot is as he hasn’t failed to live up to expectations in the Red of Bayern Munich, however, his trophyless stint at Spurs, could lead up to the marksman receiving the “cursed” tag should his exploits with the German side lead to a trophyless season for the first time since in 11 years for The Bavarians.

Bayern Munich are now in the Round of 16 phase of the Champions League and square up with Italian side, Lazio, who have been finding their feet under the guardian of Maurizio Sarri.

It will be interesting to see how far Bayern can go in their Champions League season and whether football Gods will continue to strike their German rivals with the “Neverkusen” tag once again.