Kane revels in statement win for Bayern Munich

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Harry Kane is one step closer to being a Champions League winner, and he wants to enjoy Bayern Munich's statement victory over German rival Bayer Leverkusen.

"To beat this team 5-0 over two legs shows the type of team that we are," Kane told broadcaster Prime Video after scoring his 10th Champions League goal of the season in Tuesday's 2-0 second-leg win.

"We're in the quarterfinal now, where Bayern Munich should be, and we want to keep pushing," Kane said. "We just want to enjoy this, because it's not easy. Especially when you play your domestic rivals, there's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of intensity that goes into it."

Kane added that Bayern hadn't wanted to protect its three-goal lead from the first leg, but instead wanted to put Leverkusen under more pressure by creating chances early on: "In the second half, we knew they had to come out and try something, and we punished them."

Next stop in the Champions League is a quarterfinal meeting with Inter Milan.

"It will be tough," Kane said. "The San Siro is a really tough place to go, but also, any team we play, we know that we can cause problems."

Kompany stays calm

Kane's career has been defined by an abundance of individual awards and a lack of team trophies. With Bayern leading the Bundesliga by eight points over second-placed Leverkusen, and into the Champions League quarterfinals, that wait could soon come to an end.

The coach who has got the best out of Kane and the players around him, Vincent Kompany, isn't getting carried away.

"I won't surf on a hype wave, no chance," Kompany said after beating Leverkusen on Tuesday.

He praised Kane's contribution.

"It obviously helps when you have a top player who only wants to run and fight for the team like a youth player," Kompany said. "That energy just helps."

Leverkusen under strain

Xabi Alonso's team is no stranger to a busy schedule — Leverkusen played 53 games last season, losing only the Europa League final — but the extra strain of the Champions League has seemingly taken a toll on his relatively small squad.

Both Leverkusen and Bayern lost their Bundesliga games last week after their Champions League firstleg game. The defeat was a blow to Leverkusen's fading German title defense ambitions, but far worse was an injury to attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who is set to be out for several weeks.

Against Bayern on Tuesday, Alonso tried to shake things up, with more long balls for Patrik Schick to attack, but the Czech international's main contribution ended up being an involuntary assist for Kane's goal.

Alonso has more injury concerns after defender Mario Hermoso suffered a shoulder injury on Tuesday.

Agencies via Xinhua