‘Sorry Harry’ as Kane suffers German Super Cup defeat on Bayern Munich debut

MUNICH – Harry Kane endured

a losing debut with Bayern Munich on Saturday

when his new team crashed to a 3-0 defeat by RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup, after moving to the Bundesliga from Tottenham Hotspur.

Dani Olmo was the star of the show, producing a virtuoso performance and scoring a hat-trick in Munich, as Kane’s dream of clinching his first major piece of silverware was shattered.

He came on as a 64th-minute substitute, with Bayern already trailing 2-0, and the England skipper was largely anonymous, but earned the sympathy of Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.

“I’m just sorry for Harry Kane, he probably thinks that we haven’t trained for four weeks,” said Tuchel, who admitted he was at a loss for words for the limp performance from the German champions, who had spent part of their pre-season in Singapore, where they beat Liverpool 4-3 in a friendly at the National Stadium on Aug 2.

“It’s frightening, unexplainable. It was the case last season and clearly we have completely disintegrated to that frequency again.”

Leipzig hero Olmo said: “It was a perfect game. There is no better way to start the season.”

The 30-year-old Kane, who has lost three finals with Tottenham and one with England, joined for a fee in excess of €100 million (S$148 million) earlier on Saturday. The prolific hitman has scored 280 goals in 435 games for Spurs and he is England’s all-time top scorer with 58 international goals.

Bayern fans had lined up hours before kick-off to get their “Kane 9” shirts printed at the club store.

Kane, who was given the No. 9 vacated by Robert Lewandowski, had indicated on social media that he was “feeling good” and “looking forward to the match” after taking part in his first training session as a new Bayern player.

However, he could not turn the tide as Leipzig were awarded a penalty a few minutes after his introduction. Olmo converted the spot kick to seal a first Super Cup title for Marco Rose’s side.

Leipzig had earlier stunned the Allianz Arena, taking the lead inside three minutes. David Raum’s free kick was not dealt with by Bayern and Olmo calmly stroked the ball beyond Sven Ulreich.

The goal shook the hosts into action and Bayern’s best chances of the first half were crafted by Serge Gnabry and spurned by French teenager Mathys Tel. The best of them came after a beautiful reverse pass by Gnabry that sent Tel clean through, but he could only shoot straight at Leipzig goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.

Things went from bad to worse for Bayern, when Olmo scored a fabulous second to double Leipzig’s advantage a couple of minutes before half-time. The Spaniard’s deft pivot around Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt allowed him the space to slot it calmly beyond Ulreich.

Bayern, who have won 11 straight Bundesliga titles, kick off their league season on Friday against Werder Bremen and will hope that the addition of Kane will boost their conversion rate in attack, a problem they have been struggling with since the departure of Lewandowski in 2022.

Following his move to the Bavarian giants, Kane, in a message on social media, said: “I felt like it was the time to leave. I didn’t want to go into the season with a lot of unresolved future talk.

“A lot of emotions going through me right now; sad to be leaving the club I’ve spent nearly 20 years of my life at, from an 11-year-old boy to a 30-year-old man now. There have been so many great moments and special memories, memories that I will cherish forever.”

After protracted negotiations between Bayern and Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy, a deal was finally struck on Thursday.

“It’s been a long process, but now we’re all the happier that Harry Kane will be wearing the Bayern Munich shirt with immediate effect,” said Bayern chief executive officer Jan-Christian Dreesen.

“He was our absolute dream player right from the start. He is a perfect fit for us and the club’s DNA in terms of both football and character.”

Levy said Tottenham had “reluctantly agreed to the transfer”.
AFP, REUTERS