Harry Kane chases ninth straight Champions League scoring game against Viking

Some streaks build up game by game without anyone really noticing, until one day you check the numbers and realize you're looking at something approaching history. That's exactly what's happening with Harry Kane right now. The English striker arrives at Bayern Munich's visit to Norway carrying a number that turns heads: he has scored in his last eight consecutive Champions League matches, and the opponent this time, debutants Viking, is the next test to stretch that run to nine.

Vincent Kompany's Bayern side travels with the goal of continuing their unbeaten run this season, which so far includes six wins and two draws. But beyond the team result, all eyes will be on whether the "Hurricane" shows up on the scoresheet again, something that has become almost routine over the past several months.

Kane's streak began on January 21 of this year, in matchday 7 of last season's league phase, with a brace in a win over Union Saint-Gilloise. Since then, he hasn't stopped scoring: PSV, Atalanta (with another brace in the second leg of the round of 16), both the quarterfinal and semifinal ties against Real Madrid and PSG, and this season's opener against Bodø/Glimt. The only match in that stretch where he didn't score was the first leg of the round of 16 against Atalanta, simply because he didn't get any minutes.

Lewandowski and Van Nistelrooy in his sights

If Kane finds the net against Viking, he would reach nine consecutive matches scoring at least one goal in the Champions League. That would put him alongside two major names in European soccer: Robert Lewandowski, who achieved it while wearing the Bayern jersey between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, and Ruud van Nistelrooy, who put together his run with Manchester United during the 2002-03 campaign.

The all time record, though, remains out of reach for now. That mark belongs to Cristiano Ronaldo, who during the 2017-18 season reached 11 consecutive matches scoring, a streak that began with a brace in nothing less than the Cardiff final against Juventus (the final in which Real Madrid lifted their twelfth Champions League title) and ran all the way to the quarterfinals of the following campaign, again against the Italians. That season Real Madrid would also end up as champions, this time against Liverpool.

So far this season, Kane has racked up five goals in total: three in the Bundesliga, one in the DFB-Pokal and one in the Champions League. Still modest numbers compared to last season, when the Englishman put up an eye-popping tally: 73 goals in 65 matches between club and country. Given that track record, nobody would be surprised if the Norwegian stadium ends up celebrating a goal of his too.