Harry Kane praised Bayern Munich's "fight and grind" after the German side advanced to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday night at the expense of the striker's old rivals Arsenal.
With the quarter-final tie poised at 2-2 following last week's first leg at London's Emirates Stadium, Bayern made home advantage count, with Joshua Kimmich powering in a 63rd-minute header to give the hosts a 1-0 win on the night and a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Germany international Kimmich timed his run into the box perfectly to connect with Raphael Guerreiro's cross and put Bayern, who had earlier hit the woodwork twice from a double chance, in the driving seat.
The Bavarians, enduring their worst domestic season in more than a decade, will next face Real Madrid in the last four while outgoing Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel became the first German coach to reach the semi-finals with three different teams.
"Unbelievable win. It's been a tough season for us and we've had to fight and grind at times," said Kane, who despite Bayern's collective struggles domestically this season has been prolific with 39 goals in all competitions, including seven in the Champions League.
"Today was just that – we knew it was going to be a tough game but also that at home we could make the difference with our fans there.
"As always in these types of games, the first half was a bit cagey. We said at half time to up the tempo and the pressing and be better with the ball. That's what we did."
Kane will next face a showdown against England teammate Jude Bellingham, who like his international captain has starred since moving abroad, first with Borussia Dortmund and now this season at Real Madrid.
"These are the experiences that I think we both moved abroad for. To try and achieve it, to play in these big nights," Kane said, adding that making it to this year's Champions League final, to be held at Wembley, was both his and Bellingham's dream.
"For both of us of course. It'll be in our national stadium so there's an extra motivation to try and go there and achieve it," he said. "But we still have two games ahead of us which are going to be really tough and we have to focus on that."
For Tuchel, continued progression in the Champions League represents the lone highlight of a difficult campaign. Bayern's Bundesliga title defence was destroyed by unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen, who clinched their first league trophy with five games to spare, while their hopes in the German Cup came to shock early end in the second round by third-tier Saarbrucken.
Bayern's domestic struggles led the club and manager to decide to part ways at the end of the season, but Tuchel is proving to be something of a Champions League specialist; the German led Paris Saint-Germain to the 2020 final – losing, incidentally, to Bayern – before guiding Chelsea to the title in 2021.
"The semi-final is a huge step. The last four, that was fun. Great joy and great relief," Tuchel said. "These are special moments. We beat one of the top Premier League clubs. We will have to see what this win does to the club. The season is not yet over. Especially not now."
The defeat was Arsenal's second in three days having seen their Premier League title bid hit by a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa. However, manager Mikel Arteta has urged his players to use the pain of their Champions League exit to fuel their chase for a first league title in 20 years.
"What we have to play for [in the Premier League] is still beautiful. We have six games to go and we are two points behind [Manchester] City," he said.
"It's a very difficult schedule for everybody. We have to go through the pain tonight, and tomorrow get up and come with the same attitude that we came with here. I can guarantee you by tomorrow we're fully focused on Wolves and everybody is lifted."
Arteta conceded a lack of experience in the latter stages of the competition proved a key factor against Bayern, six-time European champions who are perennial contenders for the trophy.
"We haven't been in this position for 14 years, we haven't played in the Champions League for seven years. There's a reason for that. Today's match will make us better," he said.
"I think we have the capacity and the quality to be in the semi-final. When you look historically, it took other clubs seven, eight or 10 years to do it in the Champions League.
"It's easy to praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and one draw [in the Premier League]. The moment is now to be behind them and be next to them."
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MATCH INFO
England 2
Cahill (3'), Kane (39')
Nigeria 1
Iwobi (47')
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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