Who will win between Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in the Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid matchup?

Even Thomas Tuchel couldn’t help himself in the end. He has never favoured the vogue of discussing individuals over the collective, but Jude Bellingham just has that special knack of coaxing half a yard from his opposition.

‘Extraordinary,’ was the summary from Bayern Munich’s manager, which might yet prove to be a case of praising your own executioner in light of this evening’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

But on went Tuchel: ‘How he has progressed shows his level of personality — it’s only possible with a huge personality. Everyone who plays for Madrid plays with the pressure of the shirt. He handles it like he’s never done anything else. We are well aware of it and will try to find solutions.’

It would be a somewhat parochial view of the competition’s deepest rivalry to stare at it too much through the lens of Harry Kane and Bellingham. And yet there is also sound justification to look at this magnificent tie in precisely that way.

Kane’s goals have driven Tuchel to within three wins of a glorious rebuttal against an employer that made him a dead man walking back in February.

Whatever the failings that saw Bayern surrender the Bundesliga title for the first time in 11 years, their roots cannot be traced anywhere near a striker who has scored 42 times and counting in his debut season in Germany.

As for Bellingham, he has been central to Real Madrid’s La Liga procession and simultaneously accelerated the conversation around who will succeed Kane as the finest English player of the next generation.

That their trajectories intersect on opposing sides for the first time at the Allianz Arena is a wonderful thing indeed, because they are two stars whose names are bound together. The defining point of that connection will presumably be determined by the strength of their collaboration under Gareth Southgate this summer, but for now it is tantalising to see which of them can cast the greater spell over a two-legged tie.

Despite 10 years separating them in age, it is brilliantly hard to distinguish whose purple patch is brighter in the present, which from an English perspective is more than ample compensation for the absence of Arsenal and Manchester City from this bracket of the draw.

If Real’s victory over City was proof of anything, it was their habit of finding a way through tough spots. As 14-time winners of this trophy, further evidence was hardly needed but, at 64, Carlo Ancelotti continues to amass the sort of body of work that curiously seems to go overlooked when Pep Guardiola is labelled the best manager of the era.

At this stage, ahead of a semi-final that might be better appreciated as a final, he would appear to be the favourite to win the Champions League for a fifth time.

Bayern’s form in Europe has been considerably better than what they have shown domestically, but with last-minute decisions needed over the fitness of Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, Matthijs de Ligt, Konrad Laimer and Dayot Upamecano, they have personnel problems as well as a mildly uncivil war.

That is their backdrop, along with the torpedoes fired by honorary president Uli Hoeness into Tuchel’s flank — his claims that the manager lacks the willingness and ability to improve players with his coaching might be interpreted as an underhand response to the petition of some supporters wanting him to stay.

Given the forecast vacancy at Manchester United, it will be intriguing to learn which club executives take a warmer view of a manager who won the Champions League just three years ago.

Ancelotti has endured no such turbulence. Beyond the suspension of Dani Carvajal, he is picking from a full deck.

Such is the comfort of Real’s commanding lead in La Liga, he was able to leave Bellingham on the bench to nurse a stomach bug in the 1-0 win over Real Sociedad on Friday and could also rest Rodrygo and Toni Kroos. 

The likes of Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde only had light workouts as substitutes, as did Antonio Rudiger, who dominated Erling Haaland in the last eight and will be given a similar brief against Kane. So Real are fresh and coming off an 18-game unbeaten run, which is a position of great strength at the end of a season of tremendous promise.

Again, much of that can be traced to the spellbinding arrival of Bellingham and the blend of his 21 goals and 10 assists, so the mind boggles when you consider his likely partnership with Kylian Mbappe from this summer. Even without a natural striker, Real have looked utterly devastating beneath the casual veneer of Ancelotti’s confidence.

As a sidenote, it was put to the Italian yesterday that exactly 10 years had passed since his Real Madrid side crushed Guardiola’s Bayern 4-0 in Munich, one of many dramatic meetings across the clubs’ 26 previous encounters.

That old Ancelotti eyebrow went up when it was mentioned. ‘Nice memories,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow is just another stage of history. We are very happy to be here. There are many people, including those in this press room, who did not think we would be here.’

And yet no one would have bet against it.