England may not have a Premier League club left in the Champions League, but two of the country’s biggest stars will go head-to-head for a place in the final of the competition.
Three Lions captain Harry Kane has been effective for Bayern Munich despite the German giants failing to win the Bundesliga for the first time in 12 years.
Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham has lit up the Bernabeu during his debut season at Real Madrid.
England boss Gareth Southgate will undoubtedly be the keenest of observers when the pair meet in the first leg in Munich on Tuesday.
Both men are set to be key to the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 campaign, but who will dominate at club level?
Can Bellingham overtake Ronaldo?
Bellingham battled every top club for his signature last summer when it became clear that one of football’s leading young talents would be on the move.
The former Birmingham City player starred at Borussia Dortmund and the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have all reportedly gone out of their way to convince Bellingham to join them.
But the pull of Real Madrid proved too much for the Stourbridge-born midfielder and he moved to Spain in an £89m move.
Placing such a price tag on a player is one thing, but how will Bellingham fare with the added pressure of being one of Real’s Galacticos?
Quite a brilliant answer. In all competitions, the England international has registered 21 goals and 10 assists in 36 games.
He has also scored injury-time winners against Barcelona at home and away in La Liga to further cement his place as one of Real’s star men.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first season at the Bernabeu was more impressive in terms of goals but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner ended his first campaign without a trophy.
Bellingham, on the other hand, are on course for the La Liga title and three games away from winning the Champions League as well.
With four goals and four assists in eight continental games so far this term, Bellingham is on a mission to bring the European Cup trophy back to the Spanish capital for a 15th time.
But to achieve that, he must first lead his team ahead of Bayern and England teammate Harry Kane.
If Bellingham or Kane win the Champions League this season, they could become favorites for the Ballon d’Or later in the year.
The hunt for Kane’s silverware continues.
Kane joined Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur last August on a four-year deal for an initial €100m (£86.4m) plus add-ons.
While it was expected that he would take the field given his obvious quality and ability, Spurs’ all-time top scorer has exceeded expectations at Bayern.
He scored 42 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign for the Bundesliga giants, beating his previous best of 41 for Tottenham in 2017-18.
Thirty-five of those goals have come in Germany’s top flight and are six short of Robert Lewandowski’s record 41 goals in a Bundesliga season with three games remaining.
Kane netted seven times and provided three assists in 10 Champions League matches, including a penalty in Bayern’s 2-2 draw against old rivals Arsenal in the quarter-final first leg.
Only Kylian Mbappe has scored more than Kane this season.
However, the Bavarian giants are winless in their last seven knockout meetings against Real Madrid – drawing one and losing six.
Already resigned to the Bundesliga title and manager Thomas Tuchel departure at the end of the season, this is Bayern’s last chance to end the campaign with silverware.
Credit : www.bbc.co.uk
