Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany on Monday hailed Harry Kane, saying the England captain was only getting better with age as the German giants get ready to face Paris Saint-Germain in their heavyweight Champions League semifinal.
Kane has scored 12 goals in 11 Champions League appearances this season, including strikes in both legs of the remarkable quarterfinal victory against Real Madrid.
He has 53 goals in total, across 45 appearances in all competitions for Bayern since the campaign began.
Those are incredible numbers for any player, especially one who will turn 33 in July and spends large parts of games dropping deep to participate in the build-up rather than simply conserving his energy for the penalty area.
"He was an incredible goal-scorer, a striker who could find a way to score goals from any position, whether it be headers, left foot, right foot, distance shots," Kompany said of how his perception of Kane has changed since the forward left England in 2023.
"I think his finishing was never underestimated, and I think his leadership was never underestimated either because he has had that role for his team and for his country.
"Obviously what we see a lot more is just his distribution and his workrate for the team, and his game intelligence in general.
"To combine that side of his game with the numbers he has, you have to do the job to help the team progress and then still arrive in the box, so it is not an easy thing.
"That is something we have seen and been able to enjoy, and that was maybe underestimated at the time in England, but he is ageing like fine wine so I am just enjoying seeing that side of his game for us as well."
Kane and Bayern are back in Paris, where they won 2-1 during the league phase in November – the former Tottenham Hotspur star was eclipsed that night by Luis Diaz, who scored both goals for his team but was then sent off.
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The sides also met twice last season, with Bayern winning 1-0 in Munich in the league phase of the Champions League in November 2024 before PSG gained revenge with victory in the Club World Cup quarterfinals in the United States.
'ALWAYS VERY TIGHT'
"You go through each game against them and it has always been very tight – we won a couple, they won one, but the games were so tight that they could have been different," admitted Kompany.
"Luis Enrique (the PSG coach) said it would be about details and that has never been more true."
Bayern have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and are through to the German Cup final, while PSG are on the brink of winning another French championship as they eye back-to-back Champions League triumphs.
"There are no miracle solutions, no magic wands. The only thing we have is the advantage of having played against Paris quite a lot now, but it is the same for them," said Kompany when asked how to stop the French side.
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"They are dangerous on the counter and from positional play but if you look at our team we have the same qualities."
Kompany is suspended from the touchline for the game after being cautioned against Real in the quarterfinals, and Bayern are also without Raphael Guerreiro and Serge Gnabry.
The absence of the latter means Jamal Musiala is set to start as he faces the team against whom he broke his leg during the Club World Cup clash last July.