London – With Harry Kane’s return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bayern Munich successfully gathered further momentum ahead of the upcoming season start. The German football record champion won 3:2 (3:1) against the Spurs, just six days before the DFB-Pokal match against second-division side SSV Ulm, marking their second test win within a week.
However, the audience had to wait a long time to see Kane: He only entered the pitch in the 80th minute after just returning to training from his vacation. The crowd stood up during his substitution. Kane took the captain’s armband from national player Joshua Kimmich, who had been active in midfield up to that point—and quite prominently. The Spurs’ record goal scorer had a dangerous shot from a turn (84th minute), but his shot sailed over the goal from 16 meters out.
Upamecano, Gnabry and Müller score
A week earlier, Bayern had also played without vacationer Kane during their trip to Seoul, securing a narrow 2:1 victory under new coach Vincent Kompany. The Bayern side fell behind in the early minutes due to a quick goal from Dejan Kulusevski. However, this was not a significant setback.
Dayot Upamecano (16th), Serge Gnabry (31st), and Thomas Müller (44th) with a diving header turned the match around before halftime. Numerous substitutions took place in the second half, and Tottenham reduced the deficit through Kulusevski’s second goal (61st). Long-time national player Timo Werner was also substituted in for the Spurs after the break.
Of course, the focus was on the 31-year-old Kane, who played for the first time four weeks after losing the Euro final against Spain with England. The returning player was officially bid farewell by the Premier League club, just like defender Eric Dier, who had transferred to Munich earlier this year and also played in the second half.
“I was at Tottenham for 20 years. The club is a part of my life,” Kane said regarding his emotional return. He also mentioned that his back no longer poses any problems. Bayern’s potential substitutes Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, as well as Leon Goretzka, who has been demoted to the reserves, did not see any action.