Kane has the Ballon d'Or, Bayern still lack the medal
Harry Kane won the 2026 Ballon d'Or by 28 points from Kylian Mbappe, one of the smallest margins in the award's recent history, and by Monday he was talking about the trophy he does not have. In an interview with BBC Sport, Kane said he would swap the Ballon d'Or for a Champions League winner's medal. On Tuesday night he gets another chance to argue the point: Bayern Munich, 14th in the league phase, play Atletico Madrid, 16th, at the Metropolitano.
Kane scored in Bayern's 2-2 draw with Arsenal on matchday three, a penalty after 61 minutes, and set up Alphonso Davies for the opening goal. Bayern had 46.1 percent of the ball that night and 13 shots to Arsenal's 14 in front of 75,000 people. It was the second time in three European games that Bayern had enough of the game to win it and did not.
A trophy and the one beside it
The Ballon d'Or is decided by journalists, and the vote published this week put Kane top of a global ballot for the first time. The margin over Mbappe was 28 points, which is close enough that a handful of votes in a different order would have produced a different winner. Kane's answer to that is the one every serial scorer gives: the team prize is the one that lasts.
The argument for Kane is not a statistical one. Bayern have scored in all three European games, 10 goals in total, a return bettered by only four clubs. The problem has been the other end: five conceded have turned promising nights into two draws and left a side with the Ballon d'Or winner sitting 14th.
The Champions League is the one that has eluded him: the trophy missing from his career, at the club that was supposed to change that. The club has not confirmed any change to its European target, but the player has now said out loud what the target is
Bayern's three European nights
Bayern's league phase has been a study in dominance without control. They beat Bodo/Glimt 5-0 on matchday one, drew 3-3 at Viking on matchday two and drew 2-2 with Arsenal on matchday three. Ten goals scored and five conceded is a return only four clubs have bettered, and it has produced five points and 14th place.
The two draws share a pattern. Bayern scored three at Viking and conceded three, then went in at 1-1 against Arsenal after Eberechi Eze's opener and Davies' equaliser. Kane's penalty put them 2-1 up after 61 minutes, and Declan Rice equalised after 82.
In the Bundesliga the picture is brighter. Bayern have 17 points from seven games, 25 goals scored and six conceded, level on points with Borussia Dortmund and ahead on goal difference. The domestic version of this team scores freely and keeps the ball; the European version has spent three nights trading goals with opponents it should be squeezing.
The table after three matchdays
| Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club Brugge | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 6 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| Bayern Munich | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| AS Roma | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 |
| Atlético Madrid | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| PSV Eindhoven | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Villarreal | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| Internazionale | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Manchester United | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Napoli | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 3 |
| Galatasaray | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
Twenty-three clubs have between three and six points. Bayern are one of them, and so are Atletico, Roma, Shakhtar and PSV. The top eight go straight into the last 16, the clubs from ninth to 24th go into a play-off, and the bottom 12 go out, so a win on Tuesday matters more than the two places it moves a team.
Atletico's slow start
Atletico have four points from three games, four goals scored and three conceded, and the record hides the shape of their campaign. They lost 2-1 at Liverpool on matchday one, beat Manchester United 2-0 on matchday two and drew 1-1 at Stuttgart on matchday three. In La Liga they are second on 25 points from 10 games, with 20 goals scored and eight conceded, two behind Barcelona. Twenty goals in 10 league games is five times their European total of four, which is the clearest argument that the gap is about opponents rather than personnel.
Atletico's only home game in the phase was the 2-0 win over Manchester United on matchday two, and it is the template they will try to repeat.
The pattern is the opposite of Bayern's. Atletico have conceded three in Europe and scored four, and their games have been decided by single moments rather than by waves of attack. Atletico have always been comfortable in that kind of match, and Tuesday's fixture is the one profile of opponent Bayern have struggled with: a team that defends the box and waits for a set piece.
What a win would change
A Bayern win takes them to eight points and, depending on the rest of the night, back into the top eight. A draw leaves them on six, which is where a dozen clubs will be by Wednesday morning. A defeat leaves them on five with four matches left, and that is the position from which the league phase starts to look like a knockout tie in February. Bayern have four league-phase games after Tuesday to correct it, and the table is tight enough that two wins would change the picture.
For Atletico, three points would put them on seven and above Bayern for the first time in the phase. That is the margin: one game between 14th and the top eight, and one night between a comfortable winter and a play-off.
What to watch
- Kick-off: 20:00 UTC at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
- Bayern: 5 points, 14th, 10 scored and 5 conceded in three games.
- Atletico: 4 points, 16th, 4 scored and 3 conceded in three games.
- Kane: 2026 Ballon d'Or winner by 28 points from Kylian Mbappe.
The full standings are on the tables page, the German side of the story is in the Bundesliga section, and the rest of the card is in the Champions League section.