Harry Kane saved Bayern Munich’s season as he helped the German side come from behind to beat Lazio in their Champions League last-16 tie.
The England captain scored twice in the second leg on Tuesday as Bayern won 3-0 at the Allianz Arena to go through 3-1 on aggregate.
It is not a stretch to say that Bayern’s season would have completely fallen apart if they exited Europe this evening.
Despite Kane’s stunning record in front of goal since joining from Tottenham, Thomas Tuchel’s side haven’t been able to dominate Germany as they so often have in recent years.
Harry Kane saved Bayern Munich’s season with two goals against Lazio
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Kane surprisingly headed to Germany last summer in search of winning the first piece of silverware in his career.
Bayern have won the Bundesliga for the past 11 seasons, so he undoubtedly would have thought he would at least get that monkey off his back.
However, Bayer Leverkusen have taken the league by storm this term and don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
Leverkusen are yet to lose a match in any competition and are 10 points clear of Bayern at the top of the Bundesliga.
Bayern don’t have the German Cup to fall back on, having lost to third-tier team FC Saarbrucken in the second round earlier this season.
They even lost in the German Super Cup final on Kane’s debut back in August, going down 3-0 against RB Leipzig.
That means the Champions League is the only competition remaining for Tuchel to win before he leaves in the summer.
They were favourites to overturn the 1-0 deficit they suffered in Rome three weeks ago but the pressure was certainly on.
Bayern started strongly but it took until six minutes before half-time before they drew the tie level.
It was that man Kane who popped up with his 32nd goal in all competitions and perhaps his most important.
It wasn’t a vintage Kane goal, with his header just squeezing beyond Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, but the home fans didn’t care.
Bayern were ahead in the tie for the first time when Matthijs de Ligt’s audacious volley was nodded in from close range by Thomas Muller in first-half stoppage time.
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Harry Kane was in the right place at the right time to score for Bayern Munich against Lazio
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The hosts were on top but needed one more goal to secure their spot in the quarter-final.
Again it was Kane who was in the right place at the right time, poking home after Leroy Sane’s shot was spilt by Provedel.
Kane now has 33 goals in as many games for Bayern, five of which have come in the Champions League.
He would have dreamt of winning the tournament, which he came close to doing at Tottenham in 2019.
Harry Kane has led Bayern Munich into the Champions League quarter-finals
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Bayern are not the favourites by any means and will have to improve in the latter stages to have any chance.
But no team will want to play them, especially when they have Kane in such lethal form up top.
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