The Oktoberfest started on Saturday in Munich. The city’s mayor ceremoniously opened the first barrel and Harry Kane’s integration into Bavarian life is set to continue when he dons lederhosen again next weekend for the club’s annual trip to the world-famous beer festival.
Yet there is another Bavarian tradition he must also immerse himself in, starting on Wednesday at Old Trafford against Manchester United, which is the absolute necessity for his new club to win the Champions League.
The easier part of the cultural assimilation equation takes place next Sunday, when Kane will be in Käfer’s Wiesnchänke beer tent, the city’s smartest venue, with wife Kate, while the entire Bayern team and their partners don lederhosen and the feminine equivalent, the dirnl pinafore dress, for what is part sponsors’ marketing exercise, part real team-bonding event.
Once the press photos are ready, players, coaching staff and partners will enjoy the beautiful venue privately, while food and beer will be served in the afternoon.
It’s essentially a rite of passage for new players, although you can imagine how terribly wrong such an event could have gone for the English teams of old.
Bayern Munich’s superstar striker Harry Kane looked sharp in lederhosen as he embraced his new club’s tradition
Kane, Alphonso Davies (left) and Thomas Muller (right) raise a glass during the annual promotional photo shoot for brewer Paulaner
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However, Bayern seem to be succeeding without anyone ending up on the front pages the next day.
There will be a lot to talk about for the team, not least the controversial last-minute penalty awarded to top side Bayer Leverkusen in Friday night’s dramatic 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena, a match in which Kane fulfilled his expected role by scored in the seventh minute, but left the two teams level on ten points at the top of the Bundesliga.
An example of a great match is that if Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, the most interesting team in Europe at the moment, continues to play like this, Bayern won’t necessarily claw their way to the title; that Thomas Tuchel retains his ability to infuriate, captain Joshua Kimmich was clearly unimpressed by being taken off the pitch after 61 minutes and exchanging words with his coach; and that Bayern’s lime green Oktoberfest special edition kit is definitely an acquired taste.
However, Kane is ticking all the right boxes in Munich for now. “Super professional, very modest, very committed,” is how club insiders describe him.
He recently had to skip a team photo shoot in traditional lederhosen with beer sponsors because he had to rush to London for the birth of his fourth child, Henry.
The sponsors were completely understanding, but were of course disappointed that the star of the show was not in their publicity photos, so Thomas Müller, Alphonso Davies and Kane dropped by on another day to do a separate photo shoot showing Kane ‘enjoying’ weisswurst – white sausage – and beer.
Scoring has not been a problem for Kane at Bayern so far and he scored the opening goal in Friday night’s 2-2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.
The striker celebrates with his teammates and quickly gets used to his new club
“It tastes better than it looks,” was his assessment of the sausage, which was admittedly somewhat Alan Partridge authentic. The sponsors were of course happy that he had made the effort.
“It was very important for the sponsors, but it was also important for him to buy Munch, Bavaria and the culture of the club with this first photo in lederhosen,” said the club insider.
“And he knew it was important to him. He totally gets it. It shows that he integrates and adapts.’
Müller, who has volunteered as Kane’s golf partner and will no doubt soon show him the exclusive Riedhof course in nearby Egling, has become a natural ally in the dressing room.
“He helps with the integration of all the new players, but like Harry he is of course a top star in his country so they have that in common and he speaks good English,” the club insider said.
That other Bavarian custom that Kane will also have to get used to is the obsession with the Champions League, the history of which dates back to the three successive victories of 1974-76 with Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller that made them a major global team and then the subsequent victories in 2001, 2013 and 2020.
The pre-Oktoberfest beer photo shoot is an annual event at Bayern and although Kane missed the team photo due to the birth of his son, he posed for the cameras a few days later.
Another tradition that Kane has to get used to is Bayern’s obsession with winning in Europe
Almost the first question Kane was asked when presented to the press in Munich was about the Champions League final at Wembley this year and whether he expected to be there and win with Bayern.
As Kane soon discovered, this is the difference between playing for the fifth or sixth best team in England and a club that has won Europe’s biggest trophy six times.
“It’s not just wanting to win, you have to win,” Kane said recently. ‘Of course we wanted to win things at Spurs, but if you didn’t win a few games it wasn’t a disaster.
“Going into the Champions League as one of the favorites is a lot different than going there hoping to get through the group.”
The question on Wednesday will be whether Bayern really justifies that tag of ‘one of the favorites’.
Maybe they can get past the dysfunctional Manchester United and it will be intriguing to see Kane play for the club who did manage to get their act together this summer and sign the striker they really needed against the club who didn’t.
But the crucial moment will come in March or April, in the final stages.
Bayern have won the European Cup six times, most recently during the Covid pandemic in 2020 when they beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in Lisbon
Last season’s miserable departure to Manchester City in the quarter-finals was a disaster for Bayern
Bayern were stung by the way Manchester City casually brushed them aside in the quarter-finals last season and in response tore the club’s entire structure apart, sacking CEO and club legend Oliver Kahn and sacking sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic.
They then went all out to deliver Kane for Tuchel as requested, Robert Lewandowski’s departure to Barcelona in the summer of 2022 and the inability to replace him posing an obvious hole in their on-pitch strategy.
They are still hurt that Lewandowski left them behind, so Kane’s arrival has been something of an antidote.
“Kane is more of a team player-world star,” Christof Kneer wrote in Suddeustche Zeitung. ‘A kind of anti-Lewandowski who doesn’t judge a match and his teammates by whether they have provided enough moments to make it all about him.’
In short, Bavaria is quite in love with ‘Sir Harry’ as he is baptized in some newspapers. And yet not everything is as fairytale as in Bayern’s Camelot.
The midfielder promised to Thomas Tuchel, João Palhinha, fell through on a disastrous transfer deadline day, a shame for a club famous for doing business early and which has long looked askance at English clubs who rushed to sign at the last minute to get deals done.
With all their focus on signing Kane, Bayern missed out on Fulham’s Joao Palhinha (right)
Manager Thomas Tuchel got his main target, but not all the players he deemed necessary
It’s almost like so much effort went into getting Kane that they forgot about the rest.
Chelsea executives will tell you how well Tuchel takes it when he doesn’t get his way.
Friday night’s Kimmich spat could be dismissed as the tension of the moment. Or maybe it’s a sign that something deeper is simmering between older players and a demanding coach. Kane alone won’t solve all the team’s problems.
“On the field he makes an unstable team seem more mature and off the field he puts everyone in a good mood, which can be important with such a strict coach,” Kneer wrote.
“You get the impression that coach and player don’t really have a bond yet and that something is already growing apart,” he added. “Kane has pushed that paradox into the background.”
Maybe for now. There will be another test on Wednesday evening. Win and Project Sir Harry remains on track.
But if they don’t make their mark in Europe this year, Kane’s mood music won’t be enough to drown out the noise of repercussions at Bayern Munich. And that is perhaps the most feverish Bavarian custom of all.