Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid is a tale of two Englishmen. But who will come out on top when Harry Kane meets Jude Bellingham?

Not even Thomas Tuchel could do anything about it in the end. He has never preferred discussing individuals over the collective, but Jude Bellingham simply has the special gift of putting two feet away from his opposition.

“Extraordinary,” the Bayern Munich manager summed up, which in light of tonight’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid could well turn out to be a matter of praising your own executioner.

But Tuchel continued: ‘How he has progressed shows his personality level – that is only possible with a huge personality. Everyone who plays for Madrid plays with the pressure of the shirt. He handles it like he’s never done anything else. We are well aware of this and will try to find solutions.’

Easier said than done, of course, but solving that riddle is now the task facing Tuchel, whose pursuit of a happy ending to a troubled season appears to hinge on his ability to inspire one great Englishman and stifle another.

It would be a somewhat parochial look at the competition’s deepest rivalry if we stared at it too much through the lens of Harry Kane and Bellingham. And yet there is also a good reason to look at this beautiful tie exactly the same way.

Kane’s Bayern Munich take on Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final

Kane’s goals have taken Tuchel within three wins of a glorious rebuttal to an employer who made him a dead man in February.

Whatever the failures that saw Bayern hand over their first Bundesliga title in 11 years, their roots are nowhere to be found near a striker who has scored 42 goals and that includes his debut season in Germany.

As for Bellingham, he has been at the center of Real Madrid’s La Liga push while accelerating the conversation about who will succeed Kane as the best English player of the next generation.

For their paths to cross on opposite sides for the first time at the Allianz Arena is something miraculous indeed, as they are two stars whose names are linked. The defining point of that connection will likely be determined by the strength of their partnership under Gareth Southgate this summer, but for now it is tempting to see which of them can cast the greater spell over a two-legged match.

Despite a ten-year age difference, it’s difficult to distinguish whose purple patch is brighter in the present, which from an English perspective is more than enough compensation for the absence of Arsenal and Manchester City in this category.

The England star scored in the first leg of their quarter-final victory over Arsenal this month

Real Madrid and Jude Bellingham stand in the way of Kane’s path to the final at Wembley

If Real’s victory over City was proof of anything, it was their habit of finding a way through tricky situations. As a fourteen-time winner of this trophy, further proof was hardly necessary, but at the age of 64, Carlo Ancelotti continues to amass the kind of body of work that seems strangely overlooked when Pep Guardiola is labeled as the best manager of the era.

At this stage, ahead of a semi-final that might be better appreciated as a final, he looks the favorite to win the Champions League for a fifth time.

Bayern’s form in Europe is considerably better than what they have shown domestically, but with last-minute decisions having to be made on the fitness of Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Matthijs de Ligt, Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecano, they have both personnel problems and a slightly rude war.

That is their background, together with the torpedoes fired at Tuchel’s flank by honorary chairman Uli Hoeness. His claims that the manager lacks the willingness and ability to improve players with his coaching could be interpreted as an underhanded response to the petition of some supporters who want him. to stay.

Given the expected vacancy at Manchester United, it will be intriguing to learn which club executives have a warmer view of a manager who won the Champions League just three years ago.

Ancelotti has not experienced such turbulence. In addition to Dani Carvajal’s suspension, he chooses from a full deck.

That is the reassurance of Real’s lead in La Liga. He was able to leave Bellingham on the bench to nurse a stomach flu in the 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Friday and was also able to rest Rodrygo and Toni Kroos.

The likes of Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde had only light training as substitutes, as did Antonio Rudiger, who dominated Erling Haaland in the last eight and will be given a similar assignment against Kane. So Real is fresh and has had an unbeaten run of eighteen games, which is a very strong position at the end of a promising season.

Bellingham has scored 21 goals this season in what has been a stunning debut year in Spain

Bellingham and Kane will be hoping to lead England to glory at the European Championships this summer, but they will face an exciting battle in the coming weeks.

Again, a lot of that can be traced back to Bellingham’s spellbinding arrival and the combination of his 21 goals and 10 assists, so it boggles the mind to think he’ll likely team up with Kylian Mbappe this summer. Even without a natural striker, Real looked utterly devastating beneath the nonchalant veneer of Ancelotti’s confidence.

As an aside, it was put to the Italian yesterday that exactly ten years had passed since his Real Madrid side defeated Guardiola’s Bayern 4-0 in Munich, one of many dramatic encounters during the clubs’ 26 previous meetings.

That old Ancelotti eyebrow went up when it was mentioned. “Beautiful memories,” he said. ‘Tomorrow is just a new phase in history. We are very happy to be here. There are a lot of people, including those in this press room, who didn’t think we would be here.”

And yet no one would have bet against it.