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• Harry Kane savours Champions League ‘war’ with England team-mate Jude Bellingham

  Harry Kane is ready to go into battle against Jude Bellingham for a spot in the Champions League final before the pair aim to lead England to Euro 2024 glory.

  England captain Kane moved to Bayern Munich from Tottenham last year while Bellingham left Borussia Dortmund to join Real Madrid.

  Both helped their respective clubs to Champions League quarter-final wins over Premier League sides on Wednesday night as Bayern beat Arsenal and Real saw off Manchester City on penalties. Bellingham scored in that shoot-out while Kane netted a first-leg spot-kick at the Emirates Stadium.

  Those wins tee up a mouth-watering semi-final clash between two clubs who have won 20 European Cups between them.

  Despite Arsenal and City being eliminated, meaning the first semi-final line-up since 2020 with no Premier League clubs, Kane believes there will still be plenty of English interest in how he and Bellingham fare.

  “Jude has had a fantastic season, he’s a top player,” he said.

  “I’m really happy for him but it will be another war against his team – but that’s the experiences that we both went abroad to try to achieve, to play in these big nights in the Champions League, to play in these big semi-finals.

  “It will be one to enjoy and I’m sure there will be a lot of English fans watching both of us. We have to focus on ourselves. Of course, I’ll say hello but once we’re on the pitch, it’s business.”

  Kane is still yet to win a major trophy in his career and also has the added incentive of the Champions League final taking place at Wembley on June 1, with either Dortmund or Paris St Germain awaiting the winner of Real and Bayern.

  “For both of us, for sure,” Kane replied when asked if Wembley is the dream for him and Bellingham.

  “With Wembley being our national stadium, it’s extra motivation there for us but there are two games ahead of us before that, which are going to be really tough so we have to focus on that.

  “Real Madrid are a big club with amazing history in the Champions League so it’s going to be a really difficult game for us.

  “But that’s what the semi-finals of the Champions League are all about, the biggest teams, so we enjoy this tonight and then prepare for that game in a couple of weeks.”

• I saw only one team – Rodri bemoans Real Madrid’s tactics after City’s Euro exit

  Rodri claims he “saw only one team” trying to win as he bemoaned Real Madrid’s tactics following Manchester City’s heartbreaking Champions League quarter-final loss.

  City’s European title defence ended in agonising fashion at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday as the Spanish giants prevailed 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw on the night meant the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate.

  It was a clash the holders completely dominated, racking up 33 attempts on goal to the visitors’ eight, but Real defended deep to frustrate them and ultimately ended their hopes of a second successive treble.

  City midfielder Rodri said: “To be honest, I saw only one team. In terms of defending, they defended (well). They knew how to suffer and we know how tough Real Madrid are.

  “But in my opinion we should go through with that amount of chances but this is the trick of this competition. They know how to play it. We congratulate them.

  “We gave everything, there is nothing to regret. This is football sometimes. This shows how difficult it is to win it, as we did last season. It was very frustrating and sometimes it is difficult to explain.”

  City’s exit from the competition they won with a Rodri goal in Istanbul last year, coupled with Arsenal’s loss to Bayern Munich, means there are no English semi-finalists for the first time since 2020.

  City had to chase the tie after Rodrgyo pounced to put Real ahead after 12 minutes.

  They created a plethora of chances in a storming response, with Erling Haaland going the closest in the first half when he headed against the bar.

  Further opportunities came and went after the break and it was not until the 76th minute that Kevin De Bruyne finally broke through to net a deserved equaliser.

  But De Bruyne spurned a good chance to win it when he fired over soon after and, with extra-time failing to separate the sides, it came down to spot-kicks.

  Ederson saved from Luka Modric but Bernardo Silva’s attempted Panenka was too easy for Andriy Lunin, who also denied Mateo Kovavic as Real went through.

  The Premier League leaders now have little time to pick themselves up before heading to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea on Saturday.

  Rodri said: “We will have to digest the loss but we will have to wake up, stand up. We still have two more competitions to play for.

  “We need the mentality (to be) positive, to find any ambition that right now is difficult to find. Tomorrow we will find it and go against Chelsea, try to be in another final and fight for the Premier League.”

  City will need to assess key pair Haaland and De Bruyne who, along with Manuel Akanji, were substituted before the penalty shoot-out.

  Haaland was removed at the end of the regulation 90 minutes with the influential De Bruyne leaving the action in the second period of extra-time.

  Manager Pep Guardiola said: “Erling and Kevin asked me to go out – they could not continue, like Manu. The game we were playing, they were amazing, but they could not continue.”

• We’ll get back up – Martin Odegaard urges Arsenal to respond to European exit

  Captain Martin Odegaard has backed Arsenal to roll with the punches as they aim to keep their season on track against Wolves on Saturday.

  The Gunners were knocked out of the Champions League following a 1-0 defeat by Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, with the German side progressing to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate courtesy of Joshua Kimmich’s bullet header.

  The disappointment at the Allianz Arena followed on from Sunday’s 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa that dented Arsenal’s Premier League title charge.

  Mikel Arteta’s side are now two points behind leaders Manchester City and face a tricky trip to Molineux this weekend, knowing victory would take them top with City playing in the FA Cup.

  The PA news agency understands there are some concerns within the club over tiredness and fatigue taking their toll on the players at such a crucial stage of the season, especially in the second half of the Villa game.

  Following the two damaging defeats, Odegaard conceded the Champions League exit will hurt – but feels Arsenal have plenty still to play for.

  “I mean it takes a little bit to get going again, but I think what you play for in the league is enough motivation for all of us,” he said.

  “So we just have to stick together, get back up, and keep pushing. We can still do something very special.

  “I think that is enough motivation to just keep going, keep working hard and pushing each other. We have to keep going.

  “Every game now is so important, it has been for a while. It has been so tight and so competitive.”

  Kimmich headed home in the second half after Arsenal had enjoyed the best of a tense first 45 minutes, in which Gabriel Martinelli wasted the best chance for the visitors.

  Bayern now go on to face Real Madrid in the last four after the LaLiga giants beat City on penalties, meaning there is no English club in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.

  “I think it was, again, a very tight game, as the home game was,” added Odegaard.

  “But I think you see it in front of the goals, that’s where we lost the tie. It was a bit similar to the home game.

  “We gave away a very easy goal today and we are not sharp enough in front of the opponent’s goal. That’s where the games are decided and that’s where we lost the game.

  “We wanted to do more, so at the moment we are just disappointed. It has been a long time since we have been here (in the Champions League), but at the moment it is disappointing.

  “We wanted to go further. We wanted to go all the way. First of all, we are disappointed, but I think we have done something good as well.

  “Every time you get hit you have to stand up and go again. The key thing is to stand together and lift each other up. Then, as I said, we have something really nice to play for, so that’s where we have to put the mindset now.

  “Of course we want to win something and that’s been the big goal. But I think we can’t look too far ahead, we have to take it day by day, and game by game.

  “First of all, now we have to lift each other up and we have to get ready for the next game. Then we move on from there.”