Kane to face Real acid test

Spurs’ inspired player pitted against Ronaldo

HARRY Kane is an admitted follower of Cristiano Ronaldo’s stratospheric stats as he pursues the Portuguese’s status as the best in the world – but for once it is Ronaldo who trails in the race to be the Champions League’s top marksman.

An inspired Kane has transformed Tottenham Hotspur’s European form from last season’s failure to a flying start with five of Spurs’ six goals in victories over Borussia Dortmund and APOEL Nicosia.

The acid test for Kane and his teammates comes tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu, where holders Real Madrid and Ronaldo lie in wait having dismissed Dortmund and APOEL themselves, thanks to four goals from the World Player of the Year.

“For sure it is a chance to measure ourselves. We are facing the best team in the world,” Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino told Spanish radio station COPE this week.

“We are a young team with many internationals, but not so much experience of playing this type of game. It is a fundamental test.”

Pochettino has fallen head over heels for English international Kane. “He is one of the most in-form strikers in the world, for sure. The numbers speak for themselves,” Pochettino said.

The numbers are so good they have drawn comparisons with the two men who have taken goalscoring to previously unseen levels in the past decade – Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Kane’s 13-goal haul last month matched the best-ever goalscoring month by Messi or Ronaldo.

“I want to be one of the best players in the world,” Kane, 24, said after netting his sixth hat-trick of the season to slay APOEL in Cyprus.

He has time on his side but far more to prove not only to reach the heights set by Ronaldo and Messi, but also the consistency they have shown in sharing the last nine World Player of the Year awards.

Despite Spurs’ rise in recent seasons under Pochettino, consistency has been a shortcoming that has so far starved them of silverware.

Spurs’ inability to make any impact as they crashed out of both the Champions and Europa League at the first hurdle cast a shadow over another encouraging season as they finished runners-up to Chelsea in the Premier League.

Kane’s absence through injury for half of that Champions League campaign took its toll.

The gulf between Spurs and their hosts tonight remains Real’s strength in depth, which meant even Ronaldo could enjoy plenty of rest on their road to a La Liga and Champions League double last season.

Pochettino and Spurs cannot afford that luxury. Kane has scored 55% of his side’s goals in the Premier League and Champions League this season. His quality has not gone unnoticed in the Spanish capital.

Spurs know very well how tempting the lure of Real’s riches and prestige can be, having lost Luka Modric and Gareth Bale to the Bernabeu in recent years.

And with Real having failed to replace the departed Alvaro Morata with Kylian Mbappe, who instead headed to Paris Saint-Germain in August, Kane has emerged as a prime target. – AFP

He is one of the most in-form strikers in the world, for sure