Bayern lose in Kane’s first appearance, what does this mean for Germany’s top dogs?

The Harry Kane saga is over. At last. Summer upon Summer his future has dominated the headlines. No more though will that be the case, as last week he put pen to paper agreeing to sign for Bayern Munich until the Summer of 2027. It was an inevitability, a matter of time. Two seasons ago, Harry Kane declared on the Overlap his intentions to move on to bigger and better things than North London. Rather awkwardly, such a move failed to materialise. As with everything in football, all is forgotten if you do your talking on the pitch with goals. Fortunately for Kane, that is his forte and he exits Spurs in a positive light.

It’s a move that many have deemed as lacking ambition. Leaving the finest league in the world to go to a one-horse race Bundesliga where trophies are guaranteed. The same folks have also argued over the years that staying put would be lazy, whilst slamming his public declaration to leave as a lack of loyalty. Harry Kane, I’m afraid you cannot win.

Take a step back though and you recognise that the move makes great sense for both parties. Since a 2020 Champions League title, Bayern Munich have failed to reach those heights in Europe, partly down to a lack of a goal-scoring specialist. Robert Lewandowski’s departure shocked the German giants and truth be told, they failed to replace him properly last season. In 2021/22 the Polish phenomenon scored an eye-watering forty-one goals. That season Bayern would suffer a shock Champions League exit at the hands of Villareal despite being utterly dominant over the two legs.

Last season Sergei Gnabry managed the most goals of anyone, bagging sixteen. To compare, between 2019/20 and 2021/22, Lewandowski bagged an average of forty-three goals a season. Yes, forty-three. While Bayern are dominant enough to cope domestically without a talisman, in Europe it was necessary to plug that gap. Last year’s quarter-final against Man City displayed this as Musiala, Sane, and Gnabry all linked up terrifically but lacked the cutting edge that Guardiola’s men possessed.

On Saturday, Bayern started with youngster Tel leading the line in front of Sane, Musiala and Gnabry. Yet again, the lack of a cutting edge was consequential. For all the possession (71% in the opening half) they had created very few openings, all of which were wasted. Tel was a fish out of water in the high-pressure environment of the German Super Cup as he lost possession eight times, misplaced a third of his passes, and saw his only two shots go off target. By the time Kane was introduced Leipzig were already two in front. Bayern continued to dominate without creating a great deal of trouble for Blaswich in between the Leipzig sticks. The German only had to make five saves all game.

It would be unfair to devoid Leipzig of any credit. Their typical narrow 4-4-2 setup under Rose worked perfectly, with Werner and Olmo being the stars of the show. The latter may have already scored a goal-of-the-season contender with a beautiful turn before a composed finish through Ulreich’s legs. The former took up a different role, often dropping into the midfield. Leipzig fans have great reason to be excited about the coming season.

The Super Cup is similar to the Community Shield to the extent that its importance is dependent entirely on which camp you question. Ask Bayern? Well, it’s simply a pre-season friendly. Ask Leipzig? It’s a trophy to win. The truth meets somewhere in the middle. In practice, it’s a glorified friendly, but with both teams so close to the competitive action, much of what you see is relative and not to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Rose reflected on a terrific result for Leipzig stating:

“We won 3-0 and scored some nice goals. On top of that, we kept a clean sheet. The team worked extremely hard and we had a solid goalkeeper in Janis Blaswich too. There were one or two nervy moments, but this game should give us a boost for the future, even if we know we can do some things better. You can’t keep Bayern quiet with all their quality for the full 90 minutes. We obviously sat back a bit at times, but we were clever from our counter-attacks. We’ve started well against a good team today and we face another strong side next week in Leverkusen.”

The fact that Leipzig looked so well-tuned is a mini-miracle. During this transfer window, they have seen the back of Gvardiol, Nkunku, Szoboszlai, and others for £240 million combined. They have spent big integrating eight players into their squad, which is a task itself. In the last couple of seasons, their main enemy has been inconsistency. A top-four finish will be the target, and based on Saturday’s showing there is no reason why that can’t happen.

Tuchel reacted more downcast after the match saying to Bayern’s website: “We’re disappointed. We created chances in the first half and then conceded simple goals at the other end. The discrepancy between the form, the mood and what we see out on the pitch is big.”

Speaking about Harry Kane specifically, Tuchel sympathised with the Englishman stating to the Daily Mirror “We just expect him to be who he is. A top guy, a top goalscorer and a top personality. I feel sorry for him. We did not create. We did not keep the momentum going. We did not create enough for him. He will help us a lot. We need exactly his attitude. To help us step out of the circle of repetitive performances like this.”

Despite this result, Bayern have no need to worry domestically. The signing of Harry Kane will be conducive to league success. The benchmark is set in Europe. After Harry Kane’s signing, Bet 365 has them as second favourites behind the imperious Manchester City. If it wasn’t clear before Kane’s arrival, it is now, Bayern’s goal is clear, win the Champions League.