Harry Kane's brace in the Champions League on March 5th helped him surpass Didier Drogba in terms of goalscoring record in European Cups.
In the 38th minute of the Bayern - Lazio match, Kane headed in the opening goal for the home team, scoring his 50th goal in European competition. This allowed him to equal the record of Didier Drogba, who had scored 11 goals for Marseille and 39 for Chelsea. By scoring the third goal in the 66th minute to seal the 3-0 victory, Kane surpassed the legend who won the 2012 Champions League with Chelsea.
Scoring 51 goals in European competitions by the age of 30 isn't a particularly impressive achievement. Kylian Mbappe, at just 25, has already scored 46 goals in the Champions League. However, most of Kane's goals were scored at Tottenham, a club that isn't particularly strong and doesn't regularly qualify for European competitions. This achievement also partly demonstrates Kane's loyalty to Tottenham during his 12 consecutive years of service.
Kane celebrates a goal during Bayern's 3-0 victory over Lazio in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on March 5th at the Allianz Arena. Photo: AP
Kane started playing for Bayern in August 2023. He has scored 33 goals in 33 games this season for his new club, including six goals in eight Champions League matches. Previously, the English striker set a record of scoring 280 goals in 435 games for Tottenham and 62 goals in 89 games for the England national team.
Kane joined Bayern for a transfer fee of $110 million. The 30-year-old striker is a record signing for Bayern as well as German football.
Sandwiched between Kane's brace, Bayern also had a header goal from Thomas Muller in the 45+2 minute. The veteran German scored his 54th Champions League goal and set a record for playing his 149th match for the club in this competition.
Bayern defeated Lazio 3-0 in the second leg of the round of 16, advancing to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate score. This marks the 13th time in the last 15 seasons that the reigning German champions have reached the Champions League quarter-finals. In their previous 12 appearances, they reached the final four times and won twice. The victory against Lazio on March 5th was Bayern's 14th consecutive unbeaten home game in the Champions League, following 10 other wins and three draws.
Kane's brace also saved coach Thomas Tuchel from an early dismissal. Previously, after being eliminated from the German Cup and trailing Leverkusen by 10 points in the Bundesliga, Bayern's leadership was reportedly only waiting for the Champions League results to replace Tuchel immediately, instead of waiting until the end of the season to part ways with him as announced.
Thanh Quy (according to Opta )
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