Welcome to The Euro Debrief, the Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate rounds up some of the key stories from the latest matches across the continent. This week: It was all set up for Harry Kane to star for Bayern Munich in Der Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund. Instead, in his first appearance since winning the Ballon d'Or, his penalty miss proved costly as Fabio Silva snatched a point in the Allianz Arena.
It was a strange spectacle being in Munich at the weekend. The Bayern fans had a banner declaring Kane 'no showman, but a footballer as he should be' and yet the club understandably did feel compelled to put on a show in celebrating his individual prize. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player When the line-ups appeared on the big screen before kick-off, Kane's avatar was in gold, clutching the Ballon d'Or.
He came out separately to the tune of Land of Hope and Glory from Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 and gave a brief speech. Kane has been open about being out of his comfort zone and for a man so meticulous in his preparation, one did wonder as he picked grass from the golden studs on the sole of his specially-made boots before his penalty whether all this has been a distraction. What was impressive was that he is always willing to front up.
After taking all of the plaudits this past week, there must have been a temptation to shy away from the questions after being largely culpable for two dropped points against Bayern's big rivals. But there he was talking to the assembled media again afterwards, taking the responsibility for the draw. "We definitely had enough chances to win the game.
Me on my own had enough chances to win the game, but it was not to be," he admitted. "Obviously, today wasn't my best performance or the team's best performance but that's life, that's part of being a striker, being a footballer. I could have probably been out there for another hour today and the ball would not have gone in the back of the net.
"You have to take that on the chin sometimes." Not the way Kane would have wanted such a wonderful week to end, then, but a reminder of how this world can bite even the best on the backside. Expect him to bounce back but maybe without those gold boots. If it was a disappointing weekend for the Bundesliga top scorer of the past three seasons, it was another good one for the man who is currently on course to take his crown this time around.
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