Harry Kane and Bayern Munich heading to Madrid with "full belief" of beating Real
Bayern Munich players cut confident figures following their 2-2 first-leg draw with Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, a result that could have been even better had more gone their way at a raucous Allianz Arena.
After falling behind against the run of play to Vinícius Júnior's first-half strike, goals from Leroy Sané and Harry Kane put Bayern ahead before the Brazilian salvaged a draw for the Spaniards with a late penalty.
The visitors' goals were largely as a result of two lapses in concentration in an otherwise impressive performance from Bayern. One played out to a remarkable backdrop, which drew awe from two men who have pretty much seen it all before in Munich.
"What the fans produced before the game was extraordinary," said Thomas Müller.
Watch: Thomas Müller's reaction to Real Madrid first leg
Fellow club legend, Manuel Neuer, added: "We had massive support and could feel the euphoria... Now, we’re looking towards next week. It’s good to still have everything in our own hands. We want to make it to the final at Wembley.”
That they came away from the first meeting with a tinge of regret from what most outfits would see as an excellent result against the continent's most successful side says a great deal about just how good Bayern were on the night.
"We started very well and could have taken the lead in the first minute," reflected coach Thomas Tuchel. "We conceded the goal and things got difficult. It got better in the second half. We showed more determination. We made it 2-1 and still had a lot of chances - we had to score the third goal. It feels strange. They turned two chances into two goals.”
Kane doubled down on his boss' comments: “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 semi-final, we expected a tough game."
Watch: Bayern's big games in Stuttgart and Madrid
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The England captain added: "With a bit of luck we could have scored the third goal. Obviously, that would have been important. What’s more important for me is the team performance.”
The stats back up both Tuchel and Kane.
Bayern dominated almost every metric, having more possession (54-46%), more shots (14-8), making (568-529) and completing (532-485) more passes and recovering the ball more times (34-24) than their opposition.
Meanwhile, Bayern's 93.7 percent passing accuracy was the highest of any team in a single Champions League knockout in any of the past nine editions of the tournament.
Central to that was the performance of Konrad Laimer, whose all-action display epitomised Bayern's performance. The Austrian played down his role, preferring in his post-match media duties to concentrate on doing "even better in Madrid."
His teammates, though, were quick to highlight Laimer's importance.
“Outstanding," said Joshua Kimmich on Laimer against Real. "Not just against the ball; he also made very good decisions with the ball and found good passes between the lines. He’s already played some good games for us, but that was by far the best, I thought.”
Then there's Kane, whose goal involvements in the Champions League this term now read as eight scored, three provided - a new record for any Englishman in a single season of Europe's biggest competition.
Much has been made of Kane's desire to earn trophies at Bayern and even more made of the fact their 11-year grip on the Bundesliga trophy ended in his first campaign at the club. But these are the matches Kane lives for, and he was at the head of the queue when it came to post-match rallying calls ahead of next week's return fixture in Madrid.
"Everything we’re fighting for this year is in this competition," said Kane. "It’ll be tough, we have to go there with full belief."
He continued: "At the start of the season the expectation was to win trophies. The Champions League is the biggest one. If we can somehow get our hands on that one it would be an amazing season... I want to be playing in these big games, these big moments. Obviously, it’s going to be tough in Madrid but we will be ready.”
Watch: Every Harry Kane goal so far in the Bundesliga
Compatriot Eric Dier was equally buoyant about round two with the Spanish giants, saying this Bayern side are fearless as they bid for a place in the final.
“I don’t think, individually or collectively, that we fear anyone," the centre-back explained. "We need to use our experience. There’s a lot of us in the dressing room who have been in the situations, playing in away games in the Champions League.”
In fact, it may well be Real who have the fear when a side they nickname La Bestia Negra - due to the sheer volume of defeats they've suffered at the hands of Bayern - visit the Santiago Bernabéu.
Tuchel will be part of that fear factor, the Bayern boss boasting an impressive record against Real (P9, W3, D5, L1) and having claimed victory in Madrid on his last visit in April 2022. Even if the 50-year-old made moves to play down his previous with the Spanish giants.
“It’s not important that I know [how to win at the Bernabéu]," he said. "It’s important that we do and believe... We will be able to create chances there. It’s one of the most difficult places to win, but it’s a challenge, that’s the beauty of it. We can forget about today’s result and start from zero. We need to be brave, clinical and focused."
Young superstar Jamal Musiala was just as laser-focused: “We will need to keep our confidence very high at the Bernabéu. We can’t be shy or scared because that will kill us. Keep our confidence high, play like we played here, do the little things a little bit better, and push for a win.”
With nothing counting for away goals and the two teams still on a level playing field, it's still all to play for.
As Kimmich put it: "It’s all up for grabs - the winner takes the cake.”
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