Thomas Tuchel insists Harry Kane was injured and he HAD to take him off against Real Madrid – after Bayern Munich boss was slammed for subbing star striker in Champions League semi-final collapse

Thomas Tuchel has insisted he had to take Harry Kane off against Real Madrid because he was injured.

The Bayern Munich boss was criticized for his call to replace Kane in place of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting after 85 minutes in the Champions League semi-final.

Bayern was leading 1-0 at the time, but capitulated. Joselu scored two goals in three minutes to eliminate them 4-3 on aggregate, and Tuchel responded to the substitution.

Owen Hargreaves and Paul Scholes scandalized the call and suggested it would cost them the match, but Tuchel has now explained why his 44-goal striker had to be sent off.

‘Kane had back problems. That was no longer possible,” Tuchel told TNT Sports.

Bayern were 1-0 up when they eliminated Kane, but Joselu scored two late goals for Real Madrid

‘We started with a front four and all four had to drop out with an injury or cramp. The front four all said they had to go.”

‘It hurts. It will take a while to recover, but on the one hand it is a loss because we left everything on the field.

‘It is of course difficult to accept. It is part of reality. No regrets. But on the other hand, there were too many injuries, a few too many substitutions, too many cramps.’

Bayern thought they were on course for a repeat of the 2013 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund when Alphonso Davies put them ahead against the clock after 68 minutes.

And with two minutes left of the 90 minutes, Die Roten were still on course for a shock victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Joselu had other ideas.

The former Stoke City man took advantage of Manuel Neuer’s mistake to equalize after 88 minutes and poked home after a minute of added time to turn the match on its head.

It was a remarkable achievement for a man who has been relegated for the past two seasons.

Tuchel initially drew flak for taking out Hargreaves’ Kane on TNT Sports.

Owen Hargreaves described Tuchel taking Kane as one of ‘the biggest calls’ he had seen

Paul Scholes was highly critical of Tuchel’s changes, describing them as ‘strange’

‘I’ll tell you what was unexpected when Harry Kane left the field. That is one of the biggest subs I have ever seen in a football match of this magnitude,” he said.

‘To take out a guy who has scored 44 goals, who is the most durable player pretty much everywhere, and you get another striker in Choupo-Moting. Maybe he wanted height for the corners, I don’t know.

‘You can’t take it off. There are five minutes left in the match, there are ten minutes of extra time, 15 minutes. I immediately said to Scholesy: they are going to score.’

Hargreaves stated that Bayern had the match in hand, but ‘let it go’.

He said, “That’s one of the biggest calls [I’ve seen]. I love Thomas Tuchel. I don’t know why they called. Kim arrived ten minutes before and they were quite comfortable. They went from a back four to a back three. Bayern had it in their hands and they let it go. Neuer’s mistake is obvious, but everyone is talking about the subs, you can’t drop Harry Kane.’

Scholes said: “It ended up being a game of substitutions. Good one for Real Madrid. Joselu with the two goals, brilliant. His team wins the game. Neuer makes a big mistake that he will be disappointed about.

‘I thought Tuchel’s substitutions were strange. Kane was strange. Even if they score one goal, there are still extra-times and penalties, you know how strong he is.

“Kim was the stranger one. I thought they looked pretty comfortable in the game up until that point. They go to three at the back. Kim getting away last week was a disaster for him and again he looked a bit in all directions.’