MUNICH: Bayern Munich rested newly-crowned Ballon d’Or winner Harry Kane as they cruised past second-tier Magdeburg 6-1 in the German Cup second round on Wednesday.
On Monday, Kane became the first English player since Michael Owen in 2001 to win the prestigious award, football’s top individual honour, and was rested two days later as his club managed his workload ahead of a demanding run of domestic and European fixtures.
Michael Olise scored twice, either side of Ismael Saibari’s goal, before two strikes in three minutes from Alphonso Davies and Nathaniel Brown late in the second half gave them a four-goal advantage.
With assistant coach Aaron Danks on the bench for the second successive match after coach Vincent Kompany collapsed during a training session last week, Bayern were troubled in the first half when Magdeburg briefly equalised and also hit the post on the stroke of halftime.
But the visitors could not keep up with Bayern’s tempo after the break as the hosts eased into the next round with teenager David Santos-Daiber hitting their sixth goal in stoppage time.
The Bavarians, who lead the Bundesliga title race, face rivals Borussia Dortmund in the Klassiker on Saturday before travelling to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League next week.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany forward Deniz Undav’s 90th-minute strike took VfB Stuttgart to a 1-0 win at 10-man Paderborn.
Stuttgart, finalists in 2025, had a one-man advantage after Laurin Curda’s 37th-minute red card but could not break down a stubborn Paderborn.
After striker Ermedin Demirovic had two efforts saved, Undav took matters into his own hands and turned in a Chris Fuehrich cross with extra time looming.
Japan forward Keisuke Goto scored twice in the final 15 minutes to overturn a 2-1 deficit as Freiburg won 3-2 at home against VfL Wolfsburg.
Goto’s Japan team-mate Kento Shiogai also bagged a brace, while Freiburg’s Igor Matanovic opened the scoring.
Elsewhere, second-division sides Dynamo Dresden and Hertha Berlin both won 2-0 against Schalke and Jeddeloh, respectively, while Kaiserslautern eliminated Hannover.
Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2026
