No trophies but Kane has been a real success
Harry Kane had hoped to be in this season’s final, but Bayern Munich’s dramatic exit at the hands of Real Madrid in the semi-final ended his chances of ending his first season in Germany with silverware.
So can Kane’s first season be heralded as a success? Well, scoring 44 goals in 45 matches is pretty phenomenal. Yet Bayern failed to win a trophy for the first time since 2012 as Bayer Leverkusen came out of nowhere to produce an invincible season to win the Bundesliga.
Bayern also suffered an embarrassing German Cup exit to third-tier Saarbrucken.
Despite the team’s failings Kane’s record stands up to any criticism. No Bundesliga player over the last seven seasons has ever scored at a higher rate than his 36 league goals in 32 league matches.
That includes Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland, two of the game’s world-class forwards. But Kane would surely have sacrificed personal records for some long-awaited team glory in his career.
n It will be great for Aston Villa fans watching tonight’s Champions League final at home this evening knowing that their club will be part of the competition next season.
Unai Emery deserves all the praise that has come his way since guiding Villa to a Champions League spot with their fourth place finish in the Premier League.
Supporters had a taste of Europe this season with their Europa Conference League campaign but the Champions League is next level and, as Newcastle found earlier this season, Europe’s elite competition will test Villa’s resources to the full.
I hope Emery is given the funds needed to bolster his squad during the summer.
Newcastle probably entered the tournament a little bit short on quality and their exit in the group stages was hardly surprising.
Villa’s head coach will not want his own team’s fortunes to follow a similar path, and he deserves the chance to upgrade his squad ahead of what will be a more challenging campaign next time around.
