England forward Harry Kane finally ended his career-long trophy drought on Sunday after securing the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich in his second season at the club.
The England captain, who two weeks ago broke a league record with his 60th goal in his first 60 league games for Bayern, also looks set to become the first player in Bundesliga history to be crowned top scorer in both his first two seasons.
Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw at Freiburg on Sunday handed Bayern an unassailable eight-point lead over its second-placed rival with two games left to play. Bayern drew 3-3 at RB Leipzig on Saturday.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest strikers of his generation, England’s all-time top scorer and second on the all-time Premier League scorers’ list, Kane had won a hatful of individual awards.
He had, however, no single team trophy to show for his efforts after 400-odd goals for clubs and country and with talk of a ‘Kane title curse’ developing over the years.
That ended on Sunday when Bayern secured its 34th German league title — and its 33rd since the introduction of the Bundesliga — with Leverkusen’s defeat to Freiburg.
ALSO READ: Premier League 2024-25 – Chelsea clinches 3-1 win against champion Liverpool
Kane did not play on Saturday, due to suspension after he picked up a fifth yellow card last week, and had to watch from the stands before a last-gasp Leipzig equaliser spoiled any planned Bayern celebrations.
Kane had spent the majority of his professional career at Tottenham Hotspur, playing for the London club from 2009-2023 with some loan spells in between, prior to joining Bayern in a league record transfer worth 100 million euros ($114 million).
In England, he failed to win a trophy with Spurs, being Champions League runners-up in 2019, while also reaching consecutive finals at Euro 2020 and 2024 with the national team.
So his move to Bayern, Germany’s record champion and six-time European champion, was all about finally adding trophies to his goal-scoring records and fulfilling his title-winning ambitions.
In his first season, however, he saw Bayer Leverkusen cruise to a domestic league and Cup double without defeat, snapping an 11-season title-winning run by Bayern along the way, as the Kane title ‘curse’ headlines re-emerged.
This season, however, he was not to be denied as he fired in 24 league goals prior to Saturday’s game to keep Bayern in top spot throughout most of the season.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com