Harry Kane has scored in each of his last ten Champions League games. If he scores again on Tuesday night against Atlético Madrid, he will equal one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s best-known records.
Ronaldo scored in 11 Champions League games in a row for Real Madrid across 2017 and 2018. Nobody has matched that run since. Kane is now one game away.
The run so far
Kane’s last goal in the competition came on 21 October, when Bayern Munich drew 2-2 with Arsenal at the Allianz Arena. He scored once and set up another goal that night, and it was his tenth game in a row with a goal.
The Ballon d’Or winner had a harder weekend. He hit the crossbar with a penalty as Bayern drew 2-2 with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, so he will want to put that right in Madrid.
Bayern have five points from their first three games. They also have problems in attack. Serge Gnabry and Ismael Saibari both went off injured against Dortmund. Reports say neither will play in Madrid.
A hard place to score
The game kicks off at 21:00 CET at the Metropolitano, and Atlético will not make it easy. Diego Simeone’s side have never lost at home to Bayern in three meetings. They have won two of those games and drawn the other.
Atlético are also unbeaten in their last 16 European home games against German clubs. The last German team to beat them at home was Borussia Dortmund in the 1996/97 season.
Simeone’s team arrive in good form. Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone scored in a 2-0 win at Levante on Saturday. That keeps them second in La Liga, two points behind Barcelona.
Europe has been harder for them this season. They lost at Liverpool in their first game. Since then they have beaten Manchester United 2-0 and drawn 1-1 with Stuttgart, so they have four points.
The two clubs also share some history. Bayern beat Atlético in the 1974 European Cup final, winning the replay 4-0 after a 1-1 draw.
Our take
Kane does not need many chances. He scores in almost every big game, and he will take the penalties if Bayern get one, even after Saturday’s miss.
Still, this is the toughest test of the run so far. Atlético are very strong at home, and the Metropolitano crowd will be loud from the first minute. If Kane scores here, he will have earned his place next to Ronaldo.
Both teams need the points too. A win for either side would move them up the table before the second half of the league phase.
Will Harry Kane score against Atlético and match Ronaldo’s record? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Harry Kane by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Harry Kane by YantsImages (CC BY-SA 4.0), Diego Simeone by Werner100359 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Metropolitano stadium by Zarateman (CC0).
