'You can't take Harry Kane off' - Owen Hargreaves baffled by Thomas Tuchel's 'biggest call' as Bayern Munich crash out

Owen Hargreaves was left in disbelief at Thomas Tuchel’s decision to replace Harry Kane during Bayern Munich’s UEFA Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid, calling it “one of the biggest subs I’ve seen".

The England captain, who has scored 44 goals in all competitions in his debut season with Bayern, was replaced by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting with five minutes to go and the German side leading 1-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.

But Real substitute Joselu inspired a stunning late turnaround, scoring twice in three minutes to turn the tie on its head, and Bayern were left without their top scorer as they searched for a stoppage-time equaliser.

“I tell you what was unexpected – Harry Kane going off the pitch,” former Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves told TNT Sports after the game.

“That’s one of the biggest subs I’ve ever seen in a game of football of that magnitude.

“To take off a guy who has scored 44 goals, who is the most durable player pretty much anywhere, and you bring on another striker in Choupo-Moting.

“Maybe he wanted height for corners, I don’t know. You cannot take him off.”

Tuchel said after the game that Kane was not able to continue due to a back issue.

"He couldn't keep going. He played with back pain and he couldn't keep going, his back froze up," he said.

It was a painful end to a strong European run from the German side, who had goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to thank for keeping them in the game until he was guilty of spilling the ball into Joselu’s path for the 88th-minute equaliser.

The former Stoke City striker’s second was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review overturned the decision, sending Real into the Wembley final against Borussia Dortmund.

Hargreaves was staggered by the decisions made by Bayern boss Tuchel, who will depart at the end of this season.

Kane came off alongside Jamal Musiala with five minutes remaining of regulation time, but 10 minutes earlier centre-back Kim Min-jae had replaced Leroy Sane as the Germans switched to a more defensive three-man system.

“There is five minutes left in the game, 10 minutes of stoppage time potentially. That’s 15 minutes,” Hargreaves continued.

“I said to (Paul) Scholes straight away: ‘They’re going to score’. And then what?

“That’s one of the biggest calls. I love Thomas Tuchel, (but) I don’t know why they made that call.

“Kim came on 10 minutes before that and they were quite comfortable, they went from a back four to a back three.

“Bayern had it in their hands and they just let it go. The mistake from Neuer obviously was a big part, but everybody is going to be talking about the subs. You can’t take Harry Kane off.”

Real are now one game away from clinching a record-extending 15th European crown, with Bayern’s domestic rivals Dortmund standing in their way at Wembley on June 1, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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