They are England's biggest two stars.
And they will go head-to-head in the Champions League semi final for a place at Wembley. Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham will at least be flying the English flag even if Premier League clubs are no longer involved in Europe’s top competition.
Kane has been a huge success since his £90m move to Munich last summer and has already scored 39 goals in all competitions and could yet win his first major trophy with the European Cup.
Bellingham is only 20 but has arguably already turned himself into a Galactico and is the bright new young hope to signal a new era of success at the Bernabeu. But the biggest positive for England is that Gareth Southgate ’s captain and top scorer plus his midfield superstar are playing at the highest level.
Kane wanted a new challenge to push his career forward while Bellingham has always been bold in his career choices, moving to Borussia Dortmund as a teenager and then choosing Real Madrid over a host of Premier League clubs who wanted him.
Those decisions have been born out now as both have reached the semi finals of Europe’s biggest competition and Kane has no doubt that is why they did the right thing.
Kane said: “Jude has had a fantastic season, he’s a top player, so I’m really happy for him but it will be another war against his team but that’s the experiences that we both went abroad to try to achieve, to play in these big nights in the Champions League to play in these big semi-finals.
“It will be one to enjoy and I’m sure there will be a lot of English fans watching both of us. We have to focus on ourselves. Of course, I’ll say hello but once we’re on the pitch, it’s business.
“With Wembley being our national stadium, it’s extra motivation there for us but there are two games ahead of us before that, which are going to be really tough so we have to focus on that.”
It could yet be a repeat of the Wembley final when Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund but the Bayern-Madrid semi final perhaps is the real blockbuster. The final played out in the semi final.
That extra edge is only strengthened by Kane vs Bellingham and the England captain admitted that Real Madrid will be a huge test after watching the final stages of their win over Manchester City after Bayern put out Arsenal.
Kane said: “Yeah we watched in the locker room, having a bit of food - Real Madrid are a big club with amazing history in the Champions League so it’s going to be a really difficult game for us.
“But that’s what the semi-finals of the Champions League are all about, the biggest teams, so we enjoy this and then prepare for that game in a couple of weeks.”
Kane also says the Bayern players want to give outgoing boss Thomas Tuchel a send-off to enjoy. He added: “He’s very proud of us. I said before that we are going to stick behind Thomas as long as he is here, until the end of the season. He has given all his energy to make us successful in this competition and we feel we can come together and finish his reign here on a high.
“We need that togetherness, we’ve lacked it a bit in the Bundesliga this year, we’ve had it in the Champions League, so we are going to need more of it in the semi-final.”
Kane’s Bayern teammate Eric Dier is also relishing the Champions League adventure after turning his career around in Germany. Dier said: “I think I've been in the best phase of my career.
"Obviously at the end of last season, I just had an injury. I had surgery and obviously then didn't play for six months but I'm just very proud of the way that I came through that time and preserved myself fitness wise.
"Now, you know, benefiting from the fruits of that. So I'm very proud of myself for that and yeah, as I said before, I feel like I'm in the best for my career.
“I think I will be now for you know, for a couple of years now if I continue to work in the same way and and yeah, play in the same way carry myself in the same way.”
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