Reckless Kane used his elbow as weapon
Harry Kane can count himself a lucky boy. His swinging elbow to the face of Gabriel Magalhaes in the 55th minute was dangerous, reckless and involved excessive force.
Kane knew what he was doing, as you can tell from his glance back at Gabriel to see where his opponent was. As soon as you take your eyes off the ball and play the man, you are asking for trouble.
The elbow is a dangerous area when it comes to officiating, because it can easily be used to inflict considerable damage. This was a prime example of that, where Kane used his elbow as a weapon, and the swinging motion combined with the look back at Gabriel moments before the contact leaves the Bayern Munich striker with no defence.
It qualifies as a violent action and had he committed the offence in the Premier League, I am sure he would have been sent off. It is a nailed-on red card for me.
Uefa is notably more relaxed when it comes to VAR usage and I was surprised Dutch official Pol van Boekel and his assistant Dennis Higler elected not to review it at all. Had Kane connected with an elbow playing in the English top flight, I have no doubt the referee would have been advised to go to the screen and take a second look.
On Sunday I gave Casemiro the benefit of the doubt for his rash challenge on Luis Diaz in the 2-2 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool, but I can see no leeway on this occasion.
As it was, Kane can consider himself extremely lucky to have only received a yellow card that leaves him available for the second leg. It could prove to be a crucial and potentially decisive moment in this quarter-final tie.