Good news for Bayern fans: Harry Kane participated in Monday’s final training session. However, coach Vincent Kompany was still hesitant to give a definitive green light for his participation.
FC Bayern appears likely to have their prolific goal-scorer Harry Kane back for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid. The English star striker was seen smiling as he took part in Monday afternoon’s final training session for the match at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, a final decision regarding his place in the starting lineup will be made closer to the game.
Sporting director Max Eberl commented before Monday’s departure that it was Kompany’s decision whether to start Kane or not, but added, «At least he’s with the squad, and that gives us a good feeling.»
During Monday’s press conference, Kompany further elaborated: «It was important for us that he trained extensively during his time off. Therefore, I don’t anticipate any loss of rhythm. We will wait until tomorrow and make the final decision once we have all the information. His return to the squad is very positive for us. Everyone is available except Sven Ulreich.»
Kane had to sit out the German record champions’ recent Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg due to an ankle injury sustained during training with the English national team.
Prior to the Freiburg match, Kompany had already expressed a «rather positive» outlook regarding Kane’s availability for Madrid. Max Eberl later affirmed, «We are doing everything we can.»
Harry Kane Seeks Redemption Against Real Madrid
This season, Kane has only missed three of Bayern’s 43 competitive matches, all of which the Munich side won: the Bundesliga game in Freiburg, the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-1) on March 6, and the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Atalanta Bergamo (6-1) four days later.
In the return leg against the Italians, the forward scored twice, marking his ninth and tenth goals of the season in his ninth Champions League appearance. Overall, he has tallied 48 goals in 40 games this season.
Kane shares an unfortunate history with Real Madrid: during the 2024 semi-final exit (2-2/1-2), he went into the second leg carrying an injury. Nevertheless, the first-leg goal-scorer set up the opening goal for Bayern. Substituted when the score was 1-0, he had to watch helplessly as his teammates squandered their chance to reach the final. He recently remarked about that night, «That was truly hard to take, we were so close…»