It was a moment to savour on an evening of many such moments for all FC Bayern fans. Harry Kane accepted his well-deserved Man of the Match trophy on the sidelines whilst the stadium loudspeakers blared out "Here I am, rock you like a hurricane". On this rainy Tuesday evening, things simply went well for FC Bayern. Kane's brace, a more experienced spine in the team and fresh attacking football from Aleksandar Pavlović & Co. made for a convincing 3-0 home win against Lazio and meant that Bayern booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Man of the Match – Kane once again
"It was a huge moment in our season," said Kane, delighted with the resounding victory. "It was a top performance from us. The energy we showed and our press high up the pitch were outstanding. I'm very proud of the team." The 30-year-old goalscorer can be proud of himself too after scoring his fifth and sixth goals of the Champions League campaign. He now tops the competition's chart together with Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé.
Add in his three assists so far and Kane has already equalled his record for goal involvements (nine) from the 2017/18 season. And as we all know, Bayern's Champions League journey is not yet over. The centre-forward now has a total of 27 Champions League goals on his CV - three goals shy of Wayne Rooney's English record. The quarter-finals in April can’t come quick enough.
The Eternal Müller
Kane can count on experienced support in his hunt for the Champions League trophy - we're talking about Thomas Müller.
When the 34-year-old World Cup and two-time treble winner was substituted after 78 minutes with the score at 3-0, he earned a deserved standing ovation from the crowd. His header to make it 2-0 was the tireless forward’s third competitive goal of the season, his first since November 2023 and his first in the Champions League in 510 days. He almost scored a brace on 71 minutes, but the attempt was turned onto the post.
Müller's 54 goals and 149 appearances in Europe's top club competition are German records. Another milestone could therefore follow in the eagerly awaited quarter-final, namely Müller's 150th game in the Champions League proper. "Of course we're happy and are trying to enjoy this feeling," said Müller after the final whistle. "It's no complete redemption, but we've taken a very important step."
Neuer draws level with Casillas
Manuel Neuer was also able to celebrate a milestone on Tuesday evening. The No.1, who has played liked he’d never been away since his return to the squad at the end of October 2023, kept a clean sheet for the 57th time in his 136th Champions League match - equalling Iker Casillas' record for shutout. However, the Spaniard needed significantly more games (177) than the five-time world’s best goalkeeper to do so. In the quarter-final to come, Neuer could overtake the Spaniard before the end of the season.
In addition to the experienced spine of Neuer, Müller and Kane, FC Bayern were also able to rely on the strong defence of Matthijs de Ligt and Eric Dier, as well as the strikingly solid Pavlović in the centre of the park against Lazio. The 19-year-old Munich local set up Kane's important opening opening goal with a lovely pass and generally impressed with his agility and style of play. This mixture of commanding leaders and courageous youngsters gives us hope for the rest of the season and for more enjoyable evenings to come for those in red and white.
More reaction Bayern’s Champions League progression is available here:
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