da bwin： The England striker needs to continue his electric form if he is to have any hope of finally ending his wait for the first trophy of his career

da bwin： England fans will remember the scene all too well. Harry Kane went about his penalty routine in the usual way, as he adjusted his socks, repositioned the ball on the edge of the spot and took seven steps back before first looking into the the eyes of France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, and then at the ball. There following his trademark staccato run-up, the slight crouch, the opened hips, and a clean strike.

But instead of nestling in the net, the ball soared off his foot, clipping the top of the crossbar before sailing into the stands behind the goal. The Three Lions went on to lose 2-1, and fell out of the 2022 World Cup at the quarter-final stage when many thought this might just be their time.

And so continued the curse of Kane. The England captain, for all of his brilliance, is yet to win a trophy in his career. He has come close – heartbreakingly so – on several occasions for club and country, but that elusive winners' medal has not yet been placed around his neck.

Having joined Bayern Munich last summer, many believed it was a foregone conclusion that Kane's curse would be broken in 2024. But it hasn't been that simple. The Bavarians sit second in the Bundesliga table, are out of the DFB-Pokal and face an uphill task to win Champions League if their recent performance-level doesn't improve.

Not much of that can be pinned on Kane, who is on pace to break the Bundesliga single-season record for goals scored while enjoying the most prolific campaign of his career. On Saturday, he will get another chance to add to his tally when Bayern travel to face unbeaten league-leaders Bayer Leverkusen in a fixture that will go a long way to deciding who wins the German title.

The top-of-the-table encounter offers Kane another opportunity to exorcise his big-game demons – and take a huge step towards finally having a team trophy to place alongside all the individual awards in his trophy cabinet.

Getty ImagesBayern's troubling form

Given Kane's career trajetory, it is somewhat ironic that Bayern have endured their shakiest start to a season in years – especially considering how often he has been finding the net. Although their Bundesliga and European form doesn't look overly bad, a closer look at their displays suggests that something is amiss.

While they have only suffered two Bundesliga defeats all season, they have come since the start of December, as they fell 5-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt before being beaten at home by Werder Bremen, a side they had not lost to in any of their previous 32 meetings.

Since that game, Thomas Tuchel's side has put together a run of three successive wins, though they have hardly been convincing in any of them, as they edged out Union Berlin and Augsburg by solitary goals before coming from behind to beat Borussia Monchengladbach last time out.

The Bavarians also suffered brutal embarrassment in the DFB-Pokal second round earlier in the campaign, crashing out of the competition with a 2-1 loss to third-division Saarbrucken – one of the most significant upsets in cup history. Kane spent all 90 minutes of that fixture on the bench, and could only watch on as an otherwise full-strength line-up paced around a raucous stadium after conceding a stoppage-time winner, his chances of a first domestic cup win gone just like that.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesLeverkusen's magnificence

This time last season, it was Borussia Dortmund who looked almost certain to end Bayern's era of Bundesliga dominance. The Jude Bellingham-led side went on an unexpected charge during the second half of the campaign, going 10 games undefeated. It all fell apart, of course, as a damning home draw on the final day with lowly Mainz saw Edin Terzic's side throw the title away.

A year later, though, and Bayern's latest title rivals seem more fearsome. Leverkusen have now gone 30 games undefeated in all competitions, with Xabi Alonso's side rolling through the season with aplomb. The former Bayern midfielder has constructed a dominant side that is excellent at both ends of the pitch. Leverkusen's defence has only let in 14 goals in the league, while they have netted 90 times in all competitions.

Alonso has overseen a clinic in squad building, with the notorious pretenders having revamped their roster over the summer with a series of bargain-bin finds and hot prospects to piece together a well-balanced side. Granit Xhaka looks like a midfielder reborn, while Florian Wirtz is well on his way to realising his potential as a world class No.10, two years removed from a devastating ACL tear. Piece it all together, and they are top of the league by two points – and every bit deserving of their lead.

GettyKane's history of near misses

This would all seem to be rather cruel on Kane. The Englishman is the subject of ridicule for his barren trophy cabinet, despite being one of the most talented and statistically-brilliant forwards the nation has ever produced. A look at his stats – 312 goals and 66 assists in 507 club games, an average of 0.86 goals or assists per 90 minutes, and three Premier League Golden Boots – suggests that he deserves a glistening array of silverware.

The reality is different. Kane doesn't have a single trophy – major or minor – to his name. Instead, his career has been defined by a glut of near-misses, and a dusty shelf packed with silver medals. Kane has lost two Carabao Cup finals, a Champions League final, and a European Championship final with England.

And in the biggest games, he has pulled off something of an unwelcome disappearing act. He failed to find the net in the 2018 World Cup semi-final, went missing in the 2019 Champions League final, and then suffered that penalty woe in Qatar just over 12 months ago.

GettyRecord-breaking exploits

This season, though, it would be hard to ask Kane to do much more to break his own personal curse. He is not only having his most prolific season ever, but he's also piecing together one of the great Bundesliga campaigns. He has bagged 28 goals in 27 appearances in all competitions, with eight assists thrown in for good measure. He has scored hat-tricks against Bochum, Darmstadt and Dortmund.

His tally of four goals in six in the Champions League is less impressive, but a wider look at the stats shows that he had a hand in half of the Bavarians' goals in the competition so far. The natural fears of durability around Kane's famously unsteady ankles haven't been given any life either. He has started all but one game for Tuchel's side, and has played every possible minute of football since late October. This is what dominance looks like.

The records have racked up as a result. Kane is the quickest player to ever reach 20 Bundesliga goals, the top-scoring Englishman in a single Bundesliga season, and has already surpassed the goal total of 2022-23 Golden Boot winner, Christopher Nkunku. The single-season goalscoring record, Robert Lewandowski's 41 in 2020-21, is now well within reach.