Harry Kane stressed the importance of staying ‘focused’ after Bayern Munich threw away a two-goal lead to suffer a 3-2 defeat by Bochum on the weekend.
Raphael Guerreiro’s first-half brace handed the hosts a comfortable lead early on, but this was soon unravelled by a Bochum side who lie 16th place in the Bundesliga, struggling to stay afloat as they fight relegation.
The defeat was just Bayern’s second in the league this season, and will do little to help their momentum going into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Vincent Kompany’s side left Bavaria last week with a huge advantage, after they beat Leverkusen 3-0 at the Allianz Arena in the first leg.
But on the weekend, Bayern would have hoped to be able to rest some of their big guns, including Kane, who was given a rare rest on the bench, before coming on in the 62nd minute when the score was already level at 2-2.
Just 10 minutes later, Bayern conceded a third and failed to get a foothold back in the game. Kane rued his side’s mistakes, which included Joao Palhinha getting sent off in the first half.
Harry Kane reminded his team-mates to stay ‘focused’ after Bayern’s defeat on the weekend
Vincent Kompany’s side suffered just their second defeat in the Bundesliga this season
Bayern travel to Leverkusen with a 3-0 lead against the German champions in the Champions League last-16 second leg
‘We started the game well and did everything we needed to take the lead,’ the England captain said.
‘Then they scored and the momentum shifted. After the red card, it shows that at this level you have to stay focused for 90 minutes or you can be punished – and that’s exactly what happened today.’
Kane took his tally in all competitions this season to 30 goals with a brace in Bayern’s first leg win over Leverkusen.
The striker could finally get his hands on some silverware this term after remarkably missing out in his debut season in Munich.
The former Tottenham star completed a move to Germany from his boyhood in 2023 in order to win the first trophies of his career.
Bayern are eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and will be confident of progressing to the last-eight of the Champions League. The final of the competition will be hosted at their Allianz Arena on May 31.
‘We played well for one half of the round,’ said Bayern boss Vincent Kompany after their first-leg success. ‘The second half will come next week in Leverkusen. We’ll have to play just as well there to reach the quarter-final.
‘We’ve now played Leverkusen four times and today was once again all about the details, even if the result doesn’t look like it in the end.’