Harry Kane loses fourth final as RB Leipzig thrash Bayern Munich on debut

Harry Kane learned it’s hard winning trophies, even if you don’t play for Tottenham. His 26-minute cameo was not enough to save his new team Bayern Munich avoid embarrassment as instead of fireworks his unveiling turned into a depressing damp squib.

This is a fixture that equates to England’s Community Shield and such is Munich’s dominance of German football that this is the 12th year in a row they have contested it. They had won it in six of the previous seven years. But not tonight. Not with Kane in the team.

His big night, after 48 hours of drama that ended in his £100m move being completed on the morning of the game, possibly could not have gone worse than the most anonymous of hellos.

When Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid, 80,000 turned up to the Bernabeu just to watch him pout and stand there heroically. Santi Cazorla appeared from nowhere in a smoke-filled chamber at Villareal and when Lionel Messi headed to Inter Miami, the world’s greatest was able conjure a few thunderstorms to add to his own impressive pyrotechnics.

About 90 minutes before kick-off Kane strolled out into a half-empty stadium with a sheepish wave. He then joined around half-a-dozen of his team-mates standing wistfully in the middle of the lush green grass gazing wistfully around the arena.

To say it was a low-key start was nothing compared to when the action proper started. It took just 2 min 38 seconds of the Kane era for yet another trophy to inch itself away from his grasp.

Leipzig were clearly in a mood to be the party-poopers and when Munich failed to clear a simple free-kick, Dani Olmo bundled the ball over the line.

Moreover, the way Munich were defending in the opening exchanges, Kane must have sat there on the bench wondering just how many goals he was going to have to score to dig out his new team-mates.

When Munich did go forward, they ironically seemed to lack somebody to put the ball into the net. Mathys Tel fluffed a one-on-one chance. Serge Gnabry failed to commit enough to get something on a deep cross.

Then, just before half-time, Olmo spun Matthijs de Ligt in a circle, glanced up, and rolled the ball into the Munich net for a second time. It was no surprise to Kane or anybody that Munich were whistled off the field by their own fans.

Thomas Tuchel made three changes at the break, but none of them were Kane. For the first time, though, the new signing ventured out for a warm-up, giving him a close-up view of two other glaring Munich chances that were wasted.

There was a chant of “Harry! Harry!” and another of “Harry Kane!” – the Munich fans clearly still have to decide on how to salute their record signing. And on the hour he sprinted round to the half-way line to make his bow.

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Munich immediately conceded a penalty when Noussair Mazraoui handled and Kane still had not had his first touch in German football was a kick-off when Olmo completed his hat-trick from the spot.

Kane managed two touches in all – a neat lay-off and he was hustled out of possession in his one promising moment in the Leipzig penalty area.

That return from the club’s new talisman merits no more than five out of 10 – even though it is clear his new team-mates will have to do more to get him involved when the serious business of the Bundesliga starts on Friday.

Luckily, Kane’s numbers tend to go up and up. It’s just those trophies that elude him.

MUNICH (4-2-3-1): Ulreich 6; Pavard 6 (Mazraoui ht, 6), de Ligt 5 (Kim ht, 6), Upamecano 7, Davies 6; Laimer 6 (Coman ht, 6), Kimmich 7, Gnabry 7, Musiala 6, Sane 6 , Tel 6 (Kane 64, 5).

LEIPZIG (4-4-2): Blaswich 7; Henrichs 6 (Klostermann 85), Simakan 7, Orban 6, Raum 6; SImons 7, SeIwald 7, Schlager 6, Werner 5 (Poulsen 64, 6); Openda 6 (Sesko 64, 6), Olmo 8.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Dani Olmo – On an occasion crying out for a hat-trick hero, he was the one who delivered.

REFEREE: Bastian Dankert 7

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