Harry Kane has done Spurs fans one last favour this season — refusing to hand Arsenal the favourites tag ahead of the Champions League final.
Knocked out by PSG across two legs after a 5-4 first-leg thriller and whatever carnage followed, Kane was measured but pointed in his post-match assessment. "PSG being champions probably hold the right to be slight favourites," he said, "but overall, two top teams going at it and it will be an even match."
That's not nothing. Kane spent years at Spurs watching Arsenal from across north London, and any suggestion that the Gunners are marching into a final as frontrunners clearly didn't sit right with him.
Style points — and a dig worth reading between the lines
The more interesting quote came when Kane drew a line between different approaches to the game. "Us and PSG have a similar way of going about it," he said, before noting that "some of the other top teams have a different style." He didn't say Arsenal. He didn't need to.
Bayern and PSG produced a 5-4 first leg that had people talking about the death of defensive football. Arsenal, who ground their way through to a first European final in decades, play nothing like that. Kane knows it. So does anyone who's watched both sides this season.
What it means for the betting market is fairly clear: if you backed Arsenal outright or are looking at final winner odds, Kane's framing — PSG as slight favourites, two contrasting styles, an "even" contest — reflects what the numbers already suggest. This isn't a mismatch. It's a coin flip with tactical wrinkles.
Kane's frustration runs deeper than the result
He wasn't shy about the refereeing, either. Two handball decisions went PSG's way across the two legs, and Kane wasn't letting that go quietly. "How you give the handball last week and don't give it this week, both are just crazy," he said. PSG, in his view, should have also had a player sent off. "Maybe the atmosphere got to him," Kane said of the referee — which is about as pointed as elite footballers get in press conferences.
As for the season overall, Kane called it "very strong" while acknowledging that the Champions League "always comes down to the final margins." Bayern had chances across both legs. They didn't take enough of them. That's the story.
"Right now I am just disappointed. It's tough to take right now."
