Ballon d’Or winner Kane watches as Bayern cruise into German Cup last 16

Newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane was left on the bench as Bayern Munich sailed to a 6-1 win over second-tier Magdeburg in the German Cup last 32 on Wednesday. Bayern had no difficulty without their star striker, with Michael Olise grabbing a double and Ismael Saibari, Alphonso Davies, Nathaniel Brown and teenager David Santos Daiber also getting on the scoresheet.

Kane received a guard of honour from his Bayern teammates before kick-off as the 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena saluted the Ballon d’Or winner, two days after his triumph in London. Bayern got some more good news pre-match, with coach Vincent Kompany discharged from hospital, five days after collapsing at training on Friday. “We’re also winning for him of course,” Brown said of Kompany.

“It’s really good that he’s back home now. He should get some rest, but hopefully we’ll see him again soon.” Olise tapped in an excellent Saibari assist from close range after 10 minutes but the unfancied visitors levelled five minutes later through Mateusz Zukowski. Olise returned the favour by setting up Saibari midway through the opening half and added a third from the spot early in the second half before smiling and pointing to Kane, Bayern’s regular penalty taker, on the bench.

Teenage forward Lennart Karl set up goals for Davies and Brown before Santos Daiber added more gloss to the victory with a stoppage-time goal. Kane remained on the bench for the entire match, with Saturday’s home Bundesliga clash with Borussia Dortmund in mind. Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 against Nuremberg, with defender Edmond Tapsoba netting twice and Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vazquez scoring goals.

Earlier on Wednesday, Germany forward Deniz Undav’s 90th-minute strike took Stuttgart to a 1-0 win at 10-man Paderborn. Stuttgart, finalists in 2025, had a one-man advantage after Laurin Curda’s 37th-minute red card but could not break down a stubborn Paderborn. After striker Ermedin Demirovic had two efforts saved, Undav took matters into his own hands and turned in a Chris Fuehrich cross with extra time looming.

“The win is what matters most,” Undav said. “I honestly don’t care whether I’m the one who scores, and that’s the truth. We won, we’re through to the next round — on we go.” Japan forward Keisuke Goto scored twice in the final 15 minutes to overturn a 2-1 deficit as Freiburg won 3-2 at home against Wolfsburg. Goto’s Japan teammate Kento Shiogai also bagged a brace, while Freiburg’s Igor Matanovic opened the scoring.

Elsewhere, second-division sides Dynamo Dresden and Hertha Berlin both won 2-0 against Schalke and Jeddeloh respectively, while Kaiserslautern eliminated Hannover. AFP