Harry Kane has been left frustrated at Jose Mourinho’s decision to rest him for tomorrow’s dead-rubber at Bayern Munich because he wants to finish as top scorer in the Champions League.
Kane is one of a number of senior Tottenham players who will not travel to Germany this afternoon, with Mourinho opting to rest the England captain ahead of the gruelling festive schedule, which begins at Wolves on Sunday.
Bayern are guaranteed top spot in Group B, with Spurs qualifying in second, and only pride and revenge for the Bavarians’ 7-2 win in London are at stake on Wednesday.
Kane, the fastest player to score 20 Champions League goals, fully understands Mourinho’s decision and will always put the team first, but the 26-year-old is eager to play in every game and has set his sights on winning a first Champions League Golden Boot this season. He is, therefore, frustrated at missing an opportunity to continue his fine form in the competition.
Kane has scored six times in five Champions League appearances this campaign, but he currently trails Red Bull Salzburg’s Erling Haarland, on eight, and tomorrow’s opposite number Robert Lewandowski, who has already netted 10 times, including a double in the rout at Spurs in October and four goals in 14 second-half minutes of the 6-0 win over Red Star Belgrade.
Last season, Kane missed three matches of Spurs’s remarkable run to the final through injury, but still finished with five goals in nine appearances. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi top-scored with 12. Mourinho’s predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, was reluctant to ever drop Kane, who has sustained ankle ligament damage on five separate occasions since 2016, but the Portuguese’s decision to rest him does not necessarily represent a new approach, given the other changes to the squad.
In Kane’s absence, 17-year-old Republic of Ireland striker Troy Parrott is pushing for more minutes against Bayern after making his Premier League debut from the bench in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Burnley.
Heung-min Son was due to travel with the squad, but Jan Vertonghen will remain in London with Kane and other injured players Hugo Lloris (elbow), Michel Vorm (calf), Ben Davies (ankle), Harry Winks (ankle), Tanguy Ndombele (groin) and Erik Lamela (hamstring).
Youngsters Kyle Walker-Peters, Ryan Sessegnon, and Oliver Skipp are all part of the travelling squad, while Christian Eriksen looks set expect to make a first start under Mourinho.Moussa Sissoko, who trained this morning, admitted that the record defeat to Bayern in October was “shameful” and says a win in Munich under Mourinho would only increase the belief that the manager has returned to the squad.
“It was shameful to lose like that — it was a crazy score,” said Sissoko. “We were all disappointed after that game. Now we have the opportunity to go there and have a second game. We know it will be tough, but in football anything can happen and we can compete against any team.”
“We showed it in the past. We have to fight. What happened in the first game is over, we cannot go back. We just need to go there, play our game, give everything and even if it’s 100 per cent sure they finish first and we are second, just try to win. Because when you play football it’s always about trying to win.”
“If we can win it will be great and we’ll have even more confidence for the rest of the season.”
