Harry Kane Cleared for Real Madrid Clash: Injury Doubts Dispelled Ahead of Champions League Showdown
Great news for Bayern Munich fans: Star striker Harry Kane took part in Monday's final training session.
It appears FC Bayern can count on their prolific goalscorer, Harry Kane, for the highly anticipated Champions League quarter-final clash against Real Madrid. The English striker participated with a smile in the final training on Monday afternoon, ahead of the first leg in the UEFA Champions League (Tuesday, 9 PM CET, live on Prime Video). A decision on whether he will start at the Bernabéu is expected to be made at the last minute, closer to the game.
Kane had been sidelined due to injury, missing the German record champions' Bundesliga match against SC Freiburg (3-2) last Saturday. He sustained an ankle knock during a training session with the English national team.
Before the Freiburg game, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany expressed optimism, stating he was "rather positive" about Kane's potential involvement in Madrid. Sporting director Max Eberl later added, "We are doing everything we can."
Harry Kane Seeks Redemption Against Real Madrid
This season, Kane has missed only three of Bayern's 43 competitive matches – all three of which the Munich side went on to win. These were the Bundesliga games against Freiburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-1 on March 6), as well as the Champions League round of 16 first leg against Atalanta Bergamo (6-1 four days later).
In the return leg against the Italian team, the forward scored twice, bringing his Champions League tally to nine or ten goals in nine appearances. Overall, he has amassed an impressive 48 goals in 40 matches across all competitions this season.
Kane shares an unwelcome history with Real Madrid: during a past semi-final elimination in 2018 (2-2/1-2 aggregate), he went into the second leg carrying an injury. Despite this, the first-leg goal scorer set up Bayern's opener. He was substituted while the score was 1-0 and had to helplessly watch as his teammates squandered their chance to reach the final. "That night," he recently reflected, "was really hard to digest; we were so close..."
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