Bayern’s Kompany: Kane played past pain limit
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Harry Kane played with pain “beyond the threshold” in Bayern Munich’s Champions League quarterfinal victory against Real Madrid, head coach Vincent Kompany has revealed.
The England captain, 32, was restored to the line-up at the Bernabéu following an ankle injury, and scored as Kompany’s men recorded a first-leg 2-1 triumph.
The second-half strike put Kane on just one goal short of his half-century for the German giants following what has been another remarkable campaign.
And speaking ahead of his side’s Bundesliga clash against St Pauli on Saturday, Kompany said: “Harry Kane was fine after the [Real Madrid] game.
“He played a bit beyond the pain threshold but the next day there was no reaction, and that’s the most important thing.”
Bayern’s win in Spain puts them as favourites to secure a semifinal spot against either Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool.
But prior to their return leg against Real at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, Kompany hinted he will rotate his side for the trip to St Pauli.
He continued: “We have to look at what we’ve done this season, and we are only at this point on April 10 because the whole team has been involved.
“If we make one or two changes, it’s only what we’ve been doing all season.
“In November or October, you could have asked whether it was right or not. But when we’ve come this far, you can’t ask that anymore.
“The competition in the squad is also fierce. I’m familiar with that from my playing career. I appreciate that we’re raising our level. I don’t know who will play yet, I’ll be thinking about that tonight.”
Bayern hold a nine-point lead over second-placed Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga as they edge ever closer to a 34th league title.
St Pauli are 16th of 18 in the table, and have failed to win any of their last four matches.
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However, Bayern had to score two goals in stoppage time to secure a comeback win over Saturday’s opponents earlier in the season.
And Kompany added: “We have a lot of respect for St Pauli.
“If you look at the last few games, they were always incredibly difficult.
“They defend very tightly and well. It’s sometimes difficult to understand why they’re down there. There’s not much difference to the teams five or six places higher up the table but three points will help us, and that’s the most important thing.
“Our goal is to always put in the very best performance. And the very best is difficult because we’ve won 16 games in a row this season. That’s the benchmark and we want to achieve that again in the final phase of the season.”
Lennart Karl out of Real Madrid game
Bayern’s rising star Lennart Karl has been ruled out of the Champions League second leg against Madrid with a right hamstring injury.
Bayern said Friday the 18-year-old Karl — who has been enjoying a breakout season at the Bavarian powerhouse — tore a muscle at the back of his right thigh and “will therefore be sidelined for the time being.”
The club did not give any further details.
Karl will miss Saturday’s Bundesliga match at St. Pauli and Madrid’s visit for the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
His participation in Bayern’s following games against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on April 19 and the German Cup semifinal against Bayer Leverkusen three days later is in doubt, while Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann will be checking in on Karl’s fitness ahead of the World Cup after he made his Germany debut last month.
Karl scored five goals and set up five more in the Bundesliga this season, while he has four scored and two assists in the Champions League.
Information from PA and Associated Press contributed to this report.
This post was originally published at ESPN
