[ NEW BOARD GAME ]
Bayern Munich and their talisman Harry Kane lost 3-0 to Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday to put a huge dent in their title hopes. To make matters worse, Bayern are in a mess partly of their own making, with loaned-out star Josip Stanisic playing a major role in Leverkusen's vital victory.
Xabi Alonso is doing a miraculous job in charge of Die Werkself, who have not tasted a defeat in any competition all campaign. Their 27th, and perhaps most important, victory of the season came in a hotly-anticipated home meeting with Bayern.
Within 20 minutes, the Bavarian giants were made to bitterly regret their decision to loan out Stanisic in the summer, as the 23-year-old stormed in at the far post to give Leverkusen the lead. Stanisic's celebration did no justice to the importance of the goal as he remained respectful to his parent club.
Loaning the German to a title rival could prove catastrophic once the scores are settled, with the two runaway leaders still separated by only five points. Alex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong netted in the second half of Saturday's clash to compound Bayern's misery.
Leverkusen have stretched their lead in the Bundesliga and the red-hot form of Alonso's side shows no sign of slowing. Meanwhile, defeat at the BayArena threatens to leave Kane without any silverware in his debut season with Bayern.
The England captain and Tottenham legend left the Premier League in the summer with hopes of finally opening his barren trophy cabinet. For all his goals - and there have been plenty - Kane is yet to get his hands on German silverware.
Die Roten have won 33 league titles in total and the past 11 in a row. Kane missing out in his debut campaign, having scored at a staggering rate for his new club, would therefore be a catastrophe.
Bayern remain in contention for the Champions League, with a two-legged knockout tie against Lazio coming up next month, but poor domestic form will hardly strike fear into their European rivals.
