Relentless Harry Kane looks to maintain Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga title push in Bayer Leverkusen clash

Another game, another goal. The pattern has pretty much remained the same for Harry Kane since the striker joined Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023.

On Wednesday night, Scottish side Celtic made the schoolboy error of leaving the England captain unmarked at the back post to volley home during Bayern's Uefa Champions League play-off first leg victory in Glasgow.

Five days earlier, in the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen's mistake was to give away two penalties which were both gleefully dispatched by Kane on the way to a 3-0 win.

“I want to take responsibility and open the game up,” said Kane, after scoring the opening goal for the seventh time this season. “It's happened a few times which is good. I'm enjoying being out here with the boys.”

Relentless is an appropriate adjective, and the figures are frighteningly consistent. “It might take a bit of adapting to get used to a new league,” he said after being unveiled by Bayern. That has not proven to be a serious concern.

Kane, 31, has now scored 29 goals in 29 games across competitions this season and tops the German scoring charts with 21 in 19, while his overall Bundesliga record now reads 57 goals in 51 games.

In November, he reached 50 Bundesliga goals in just 43 appearances, beating the record set by Erling Haaland at Borussia Dortmund.

Kane's 52 goals for Bayern and England in 2024 also resulted in him sharing the Gerd Muller Trophy with Kylian Mbappe, awarded to the highest-scoring player for both European clubs and national teams.

In his first campaign after leaving Tottenham Hotspur as the English club's all-time leading scorer, he finished with an almost goal-a-game 44 goals.

“He has incredible qualities in terms of scoring goals,” Bayern manager Vincent Kompany said of his prolific number nine earlier this month.

“I was often asked what was wrong with Harry when he didn't score – he's always stayed calm, worked hard, and believed in his moments. I played against Harry and am now his coach; he's just impressive.”

The only shadow cast on his opening season was that it coincided with Bayern's first trophyless campaign since 2012 – and Kane's wait to lift his first piece of major silverware would go on.

But that wait could finally be coming to an end in the months ahead. At present, Bayern are eight points clear of reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen, who they face on Saturday, after winning seven matches on the spin and losing just once in 21 games.

Avoid defeat against Celtic in the second leg and a spot in the Champions League last 16 awaits – and a potential clash with either Leverkusen again or Atletico Madrid.

While Bayern's league record is impressive, their results in Europe have been less so after starting the group stage with a 9-2 smashing of Dynamo Zagreb, when Kane scored four.

The Bavarians went on to lose against Aston Villa, Barcelona and Feyenoord, costing them automatic entry into the knockout stages.

For Kompany, who took over as manager last summer, this weekend's match will be attempt number three to register a victory against Xabi Alonso's side after twice falling short at the Allianz Arena.

In September, it was honours even after Aleksandar Pavlovic's glorious 25-yard strike cancelled out Robert Andrich's opener for the visitors.

Then, at the start of December, a second-half goal from Nathan Tella earned Leverkusen a spot in the German Cup quarter-finals, after home goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had been sent off in the first 20 minutes.

Kane was out injured for that cup defeat as another chance of silverware slipped from his grasp and Alonso's reigning champions will be hoping that trend continues.

For Leverkusen, following up on last season's remarkable exploits that saw them end the Bundesliga season unbeaten, win the German Cup and finish as Europa League runners-up was always going to be a monumental task.

Their invincible record was finally ended by RB Leipzig after 35 matches on August 31, although that has proven to be their only reverse of the campaign.

But seven draws, including last weekend's goalless stalemate at Wolfsburg, look to have derailed hopes of retaining the title they won for the first time in their history last term.

“The gap has become far too big, unfortunately,” Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky admitted on Saturday. “That's the difference from last season – the games that we're drawing now, we won last year.”

In Europe, they have safely negotiated their way through to the last 16 after finishing fifth in the 36-team group stage, while they defeated Cologne 3-2 last week to seal a spot in the German Cup semi-finals.

And, as for that league deficit, Alonso is confident that this weekend can provide the perfect platform to launch a fightback.

“We're playing Bayern at home,” said the Spaniard, who turned down the chance to become manager of the six-time European champions last summer, before Kompany's arrival.

“Top game, top atmosphere – we're still focused on us, and what we can achieve.”

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