Eyes on Kane as Bayern Munich dare Real Madrid in Champions League semis
Football
By
AFP
| May 08, 2024
Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel called on Harry Kane to fire the German giants past Real Madrid and into the Champions League final, while revealing the striker's passion for coffee on Tuesday.
Former Tottenham striker Kane has scored a career-best 44 goals in 44 matches across all competitions in his first year at Bayern, ahead of Wednesday's clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Kane, yet to win a trophy in his career, converted a penalty in the 2-2 first leg draw in Munich last week as six-time winners Bayern outplayed the record 14-time champions.
"I knew we'd get a big personality into the dressing room on top of everything you can analyse, goalscoring, movements, dealing with the pressure," Tuchel told a news conference.
"He was captain of Tottenham and is still captain of the English national team. He brought everything to the table that we could possibly hope for -- and tomorrow he needs to prove the point and deliver."
READ MORE
Ngugi wa Thiong'o and the African literary revolution
Tanzania doctor describes bodies taken from morgue as fresh protests loom
Tuchel had been asked if anything surprised him about Kane, who leads the Champions League scoring charts on eight goals along with Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe.
"How much cappuccino he drinks a day, it's ridiculous," joked a relaxed Tuchel.
"It's very surprising. All the time I go to the kitchen he's on the coffee machine and having a cappuccino. It's obviously good -- I started doing it, the guy looks healthy and he's in good shape."
The coach admitted at the other end of the pitch it might not be possible to stop Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, who struck twice at the Allianz Arena.
"A lot of teams have tried and it's not always possible (with the) quality in the passing, the delivery," said Tuchel.
"I cannot sit here and say you can stop all the deliveries tomorrow, it's impossible... He can still hurt any team in the world, a big part of it is accepting it -- it's possible not everything will be perfect for us.
"It's still possible to overcome difficulties, hang in there, show the right mentality and quality and fulfil our dream, we want to go to Wembley so we need to beat Real Madrid with Vinicius."
Former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham has also formed a key part of Madrid's attack this season.
Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said he expected the England international to succeed at Real Madrid, but was surprised by his strong goalscoring numbers.
The 20-year-old has netted 22 goals in 38 games for Los Blancos across all competitions, with four in the Champions League.
"He had a fantastic start, the position he plays is more offensive than in the Bundesliga with Dortmund -- it wasn't to be expected he would score that many goals from the start," Neuer said.
"He's so important for the attacking football that Real plays, that's something that couldn't be expected, but everyone who saw him at Dortmund expected him to do well."