The hunt for the record continues in Spain. On Monday, Harry Kane traveled with FC Bayern from Munich to Madrid, where the German soccer record champions will play in the Champions League against Atlético on Tuesday (9 p.m., DAZN and live ticker on WELT).
If the England striker also scores at the Estadio Metropolitano, he would set the longest goal streak in the history of the premier class. The 33-year-old Ballon d'Or winner has scored in his last ten appearances for Bayern in the Champions League - only Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo achieved a longer streak of eleven games between 2017 and 2018 for Real Madrid in the history of the world's most important club competition.
The Munich team's hopes rest primarily on Kane. They are under pressure before the game. And after the 2-2 draw in the Bundesliga's top game against Borussia Dortmund last weekend, they have enormous injury concerns.
After three games in the preliminary round of the Champions League they have five points. Most recently they played a surprising 3-3 draw at Viking Stavanger and also missed out on a win against Arsenal FC (2-2). In order to make it into the top two teams in the preliminary round and thus have a somewhat easier path to the final, you will probably need around 20 points again. If Munich doesn't win in Madrid, it would be difficult or even impossible to do so.
"It's a top Champions League game. We have to show taker qualities at the moment," said sports director Max Eberl. "We have to keep going to win the big titles. We want to win in Madrid. The points from Stavanger are behind us. We have a chance to make amends in Madrid. It's definitely one of the most complicated away games you can have in the Champions League. It's a team that will really demand everything from us. We're always under pressure. Nevertheless, we'll go there and try to achieve the best we can."
Even to reach the top eight and avoid the playoffs, a team probably needs around 15 points. In the event of a defeat or a draw against Atlético, Bayern would have to get almost all possible points on the last four match days in order to qualify directly for the round of 16. So far, the champions have never won against Atlético. Atlético only has four points and is under even more pressure than Munich.
Fears for Michael Olise
After Luis Diaz and Jamal Musiala, Bayern have also been without Serge Gnabry (hamstring injury) and Ismael Saibari (torn syndesmotic ligament) since last weekend. This means that four offensive professionals are missing. Michael Olise had to be substituted against Dortmund due to knee problems, but according to initial findings, he is not believed to be seriously injured. He attended training last Monday wearing a bandage on his right knee. However, it seems questionable whether Bayern will use him in Madrid and potentially risk aggravating the injury.
Interim coach Aaron Danks could face a similarly difficult decision with goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (tendon irritation) and Jonas Urbig (got an opponent's knee in the face against BVB) if they are fit for action but not yet fully fit. Neuer and Urbig were also at training on Monday. Musiala and Diaz trained individually.
“We’ll take another look at Michael Olise tomorrow, we’ll look from day to day,” said Eberl on Monday afternoon. "It's positive that he's there because he's an outstanding player who always looks good to us. But we'll also avoid the risk of it becoming a longer injury. Manuel Neuer was out for a long time, training, so we'll see."
Club officials are currently emphasizing that they are not planning any winter transfers despite the staffing concerns on the offensive end. Last summer they decided not to invest any money in an expensive backup for Diaz. Eberl and sports director Christoph Freund gave the potential replacement candidate Arijon Ibrahimović on loan to FC Augsburg due to fluctuating performance in preparation.
There would be money for access in winter. With the sale of five percent of the shares in Profi-AG, the 250 million deal with the Viessmann Generations Group, Bayern's fixed-term deposit account will soon be fuller than ever before. "This is a pound that we have never had before. This means we are ready to attack at any time," said Uli Hoeneß in an exclusive interview with WELT AM SONNTAG. However, the money is aimed at a more long-term perspective and the transfer policy will not be changed.
Internally, Bayern assume that Diaz, Musiala and Gnabry will be ready for action again for the Bundesliga opener after the winter break at Borussia Mönchengladbach (January 8th to 10th). Only Saibari may not be able to play yet. The bosses therefore see no urgent need to invest in winter - also because the transfer market is usually difficult in January.
The real stars are rarely for sale during this transfer period or are only offered at inflated prices. According to information from this editorial team, Bayern are also thinking in the background about an offensive transfer for the summer of 2027. The money should also be kept together for this purpose.
Interim coach Aaron Danks, who represents head coach Vincent Kompany who is ill, must now develop a plan to compensate for the absences of Díaz, Musiala, Gnabry and Saibari in the coming weeks. He could use left-back Alphonso Davies permanently on the left wing during this phase.
Young star Lennart Karl, Nathaniel Brown – flexible left-back – and midfielder Tom Bischof are currently eligible for the ten-man position. Bishop actually plays as a six. Karl in particular can hope for a lot of playing time and starting eleven appearances in the next few weeks due to the injuries to the top stars. Danks substituted him surprisingly late against BVB, but praised him after the game as an important top player.
Around 70,000 spectators in Madrid
“It would be a big task with the entire squad,” said board member Eberl about the challenge in Madrid. “Bayern Munich has shown in the past few weeks that if you come together, you can make a difference.”
Games against Atlético usually hurt. Especially in Madrid, in the Metropolitano, which has a capacity of around 70,000 spectators, where the emotional coach Diego Simeone also wants to contest the premier class final with Atlético next year.
FC Bayern is facing a difficult evening of football.
Julien Wolff is an editor at the Sports Competence Center. He has been reporting for WELT on FC Bayern, the national team and fitness topics for many years. He sat in the media stands at the top game in the Munich stadium last Saturday evening.
