Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich: Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins rivalry ramps up in Champions League clash

The strikers’ conflict betwixt Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins volition rear its caput for the archetypal clip since July connected Wednesday night, albeit successful precise antithetic form.

Aston Villa’s lone erstwhile gathering with Bayern Munich is deified successful the minds of Villa fans — the nighttime successful precocious May of 1982 erstwhile a azygous extremity from Peter Withe was capable to oust the Bavarians and saw Villa crowed European champions successful Rotterdam.

Now to Villa Park, for the archetypal Champions League lucifer it has staged successful 41 agelong years. The visitors? Six-time winners of the contention and Germany’s grandest and top club.

And cardinal to some sides’ chances of triumph are English strikers astatine the apical of their game. Back successful the summer, though, Kane and Watkins were competing successful an altogether antithetic sense.

Kane headed into Euro 2024 arsenic England's captain, talisman, all-time grounds goalscorer, and having netted much goals than immoderate subordinate crossed Europe past play — Bayern’s nonaccomplishment to triumph the Bundesliga coming successful spite of his bonzer exploits successful his archetypal play successful Germany.

His performances astatine the Euros, however, near a batch to beryllium desired. While netting 2 close-range finishes and 1 punishment saw him decorativeness arsenic 1 of the competition's six joint-Golden Boot winners, helium looked leggy passim the tournament, not his accustomed commanding self.

Gareth Southgate substituted Kane aboriginal successful 5 of England’s 7 games. Three of those withdrawals saw him replaced by Watkins.

Against the Netherlands successful the semi-finals, Watkins proved England’s leader — and by present a not-so-unlikely hero, connected the backmost of a 27-goal play for Villa. His sensational tight-angle victor with 89 minutes and 59 seconds connected the timepiece was his archetypal large tourney goal, but besides arguably a amended onslaught than each 15 of Kane’s.

Though Kane’s Euro 2024 crippled clip was lessened by Watkins’s emergence arsenic a prudent Plan B, and portion the Villa man’s England vocation has been constricted by Kane’s presumption arsenic England’s undisputed No9, they some person immense respect for each other.

Kane acknowledges that Watkins has go the astir superior menace to pinching his England garment arsenic helium has encountered successful his 9 years arsenic England’s starting centre-forward. Other candidates person travel and gone, but Watkins has taken his crippled to caller heights nether Unai Emery.

Watkins hopes to inherit that England No9 garment 1 day, saying connected Tuesday: “I privation to beryllium the antheral to play. [Harry] has got the records and scored the magnitude of goals helium has for a crushed and he’s good talked-about for a reason.

“He gets each the recognition helium deserves and he’s enactment successful a batch of hard enactment implicit the years to get there. I’m conscionable trying to amended myself time by day.”

Kane came successful for disapproval aft past weekend’s 1-1 gully betwixt Bayern and reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Leverkusen, erstwhile helium suffered a stroke to the ankle which Bayern are hopeful has present healed. The German tabloid paper Bild questioned “the point” of his goals against weaker absorption if helium “doesn’t adjacent get a changeable connected extremity successful large games”.

All eyes volition beryllium connected which England striker tin crook it connected erstwhile it truly matters

This was astatine times levelled against the 31-year-old during his clip astatine Tottenham arsenic well, and astatine the second stages of tournaments with England, and helium volition cognize arsenic good arsenic anyone that the lone mode to quash specified claims is to rise his crippled successful the matches that truly substance betwixt present and the extremity of the season.

Villa and Bayern some won their Champions League openers handsomely, but it is precise overmuch vantage Kane successful this contention truthful far. He scored 4 arsenic Bayern battered Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 a fortnight ago.

Watkins, meanwhile, failed to find the nett successful the 3-0 triumph astatine Young Boys but admits helium and Villa are successful dreamland adjacent being successful the presumption of hosting Bayern. Did helium spot this coming erstwhile Emery was hired successful October 2022? “Not for 1 minute.”

As Kane heads backmost location and Watkins prepares for the biggest lucifer of his nine career, each eyes volition beryllium connected which England striker tin crook it connected erstwhile it truly matters.