Kingsley Coman had won national championships in every season of his career until he became teammates with Harry Kane. Kane’s streak overshadowed Coman’s “genius,” even though the English forward was having a brilliant season.

When Kane left Tottenham Hotspur to join Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, the media began to talk about the trophy-less curse of the superstar born in 1993. Since Kane began his professional career in 2009, the “Spurs” had won 26 trophies. But throughout his career up to the present, the former Norwich City striker had never stood on the podium of glory.

From the start of the 2023/24 season until early April 2024, there were two streams of opinions surrounding this issue. Some predicted that Kane’s trophy-less streak would lead Bayern to a season without silverware. Conversely, some predicted that the dominant strength of German football represented by the Allianz Arena (Bayern being the most successful Bundesliga team in history with 33 titles and having monopolized the throne of this arena since the 2012/13 season) would help the new number 9 break the curse.

In the end, things unfolded in a way that neither Kane nor Bayern desired. However, the story revolving around the curse of the 30-year-old striker did not stop there. There were still stories involving other players like Coman or Granit Xhaka, stories that no statistical analysis or expert analysis could explain.

Kane’s “curse” overcame Coman’s “fortune”.

In terms of titles, the Bayern lineup for the 2023/24 season presents two completely contrasting cases. Coman is the “genius.” Since starting his professional career in 2013 at the age of 16, the 1996-born winger has experienced the feeling of lifting the national championship trophy in every season.

Even in his debut season (2012/13), despite only playing for 3 minutes (1 appearance), Coman’s name still appeared on the list of players receiving the Ligue 1 championship medal with Paris Saint-Germain. By the 2015/16 season, the French player had even won the national championship twice with two different clubs in two different countries (Serie A with Juventus and Bundesliga with Bayern).

In total, Coman has won 12 national championship titles in 11 seasons (2012/13-2022/23). The 27-year-old winger holds the record for the most consecutive national championship wins in history. At this point, after 326 matches (19,505 minutes played), 65 goals, and 68 assists, Coman’s trophy collection has reached 26 cups.

The French player is the “Midas king” (a king who turns everything he touches into gold). Meanwhile, Kane has played 553 matches (43,116 minutes), scored 346 goals, and made 90 assists, but in terms of titles, the former Leicester City player has to look up to Coman.

Nevertheless, the streak of collecting national championship titles for the 1996-born winger came to an end this season. This also marks Coman’s first season… as Kane’s teammate.

The turning point leading to this end occurred on April 13th and 14th. The number 11 sustained an injury and faced the risk of being sidelined for the rest of the season after a 2-0 victory against Koln in the 29th round of the Bundesliga.

After this victory, Bayern had 63 points, sitting second in the table, trailing behind Bayer Leverkusen – the team leading with 76 points and having played one game less. At that time, the gap was already 13 points, but theoretically, Coman and his teammates still had a chance to win the title.

But with the injury of the 27-year-old player, the outcome was as predicted. One day after Coman left the Allianz Arena in a limping posture and a pained expression on his face, Leverkusen demolished Werder Bremen 5-0, putting an end to Bayern’s title hopes.

Before the moment Harm Osmers blew the final whistle at the BayArena, Leverkusen, like Kane, had never won the national championship.

Kane deserves sympathy rather than blame.

When Bayern officially lost the chance to win the Bundesliga, the club’s anti-fans had the opportunity to tease Kane and his teammates. They claimed that the curse of the €95 million contract individual had “haunted” Bayern. However, those were just playful jokes. In reality, Kane was not at fault.

Up to this point, the former Tottenham star still leads the Bundesliga’s top scorer race with 32 goals, more than 7 goals ahead of the second-placed Serhou Guirassy (Stuttgart). Adding 9 assists, Kane directly contributed to 41 out of 82 goals, meaning he was involved in half of Bayern’s goals in the Bundesliga 2023/24 season.

Last season, the 1993-born striker only contributed to 33 goals for Tottenham in the Premier League. Thus, Kane’s goal tally this season is even higher than last season, despite the Bundesliga 2023/24 still having 5 more matchdays to go.

Additionally, the English goal scorer is also the most hard-working player in Bayern’s squad. Kane played the full 29/29 matches and has clocked 2,574 minutes in the Bundesliga 2023/24, more than 450 minutes ahead of the second-placed Leroy Sane.

The new number 9 of the Allianz Arena has given his all, has dedicated everything he could, and has done his best despite this being only his first season competing in German football. However, football is a team sport, and even a talented player like Kane cannot single-handedly make a season successful.

Kane and Xhaka: Stars from London with Two Contrasting Fates.

In the summer transfer window of 2023, two players, both captains of North London clubs, moved to the Bundesliga to play football. They are Xhaka (from Arsenal to Leverkusen) and Kane (from Tottenham to Bayern).

The English blockbuster attracted more attention than the deal involving the Swiss midfielder. Bayern splashed out €95 million to secure Kane’s signature, while Leverkusen only had to spend €15 million to acquire Xhaka’s services.

At that time, only Leverkusen fans with vivid imaginations could dream during the day about their beloved team winning the Bundesliga 2023/24 title instead of Bayern. According to the Opta statistics supercomputer, the probability of the black-clad army clinching the championship as of August 2023 was only 0.92%, significantly lower than Bayern’s 52.37%.

But what truly transpired overturned all predictions. The two stars from North London experienced fates that no one anticipated: Xhaka became part of Leverkusen’s historic championship journey, while Kane and the Bayern players could only rue their runner-up position.

The story involving these three characters: Coman, Kane, and Xhaka, exemplifies the unpredictability and surprises of the royal sport. That’s football, a realm where stories unfold that cannot be explained by expertise or statistical analysis alone…