MADRID (AP) — Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane practiced on Monday and is expected to be available against Real Madrid in their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Kane missed the win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday because of a minor ankle issue sustained in training with England last week.
He took part in training in Munich before the club traveled to the Spanish capital for Tuesday's match at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said he will wait until gameday to decide whether to use Kane.
“It was important that he did a lot of training today," Kompany said. "I don’t think he’s lost his rhythm. We’ll wait until tomorrow and then decide ... We have a great squad and are ready for the two legs.”
Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior praised Kane.
“He is a goal-scorer. He is a great player,” Vinícius said. “But Bayern is a great team and has many players who switch positions and make it difficult for us. Whoever plays it will be tough.”
Bayern defender Joshua Kimmich said Kane was “massively important” for the team.
“He’s not just a finisher. He’s an absolute leader, a role model. He has a special mindset for an attacking player," Kimmich said. "If he plays, his leadership qualities will be important.”
Bayern eliminated Atalanta in the last 16, while Madrid got past Manchester City.
“We’ve prepared for Real and we’ve seen what they did against Man City,” Kompany said. "It’s perhaps the toughest away game you can play, but we want to win.”
Madrid and Bayern are meeting in the knockout stage for the sixth time in the past 14 seasons. Madrid has won four of the two-leg matchups with Bayern since the 2011-12 season; once in the quarterfinals and three times in the semifinals, most recently in 2024. Bayern won in the 2012 semifinals after a penalty shootout.
“Bayern is an unbelievable team,” Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa said. “We have a lot of respect for them. They’re having an exceptional season. Bayern has been the most consistent side in Europe this season. They’re fearless, aggressive, very focused defensively, with an unbelievable striker in Harry Kane.”
Bayern is unbeaten in its last 13 games in all competitions with 11 wins, while Madrid is coming off a 2-1 loss at Mallorca on Saturday that hurt its La Liga title hopes.
“We don’t think about not winning the tie and there is only one possible scenario, which is to beat Bayern and get through the tie,” Arbeloa said. “It’s the only thing we want and the only thing we believe in.”
Arbeloa also downplayed criticism of Kylian Mbappé, who has been questioned by some in Madrid recently. Mbappé is coming off a controversial knee injury that reduced his playing time with the Spanish club.
“Mbappé knows perfectly well what Real Madrid is,” Arbeloa said. “We’ve all seen images of Kylian Mbappé wearing the Real Madrid jersey, dreaming of becoming a Real Madrid player. What he has done to come here wasn’t easy.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during a La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Real Madrid in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior in action in front of Mallorca's Pablo Maffeo during a La Liga soccer match between Mallorca and Real Madrid in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary 's elections on April 12 will have profound aftershocks as many in the European Union hope for the defeat of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is widely seen as endangering the future of the 27-nation bloc.
Orbán, the EU's longest-serving leader, has trailed in the polls. His 16-year grip on power has tested the EU system of governance meant to ensure peace through economic and political integration after the ravages of the world wars. His rival Péter Magyar told The Associated Press he would repair Hungary's relationship with the EU if elected.
The bloc is grappling with enormous threats: the rise of right-wing populism, conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Russian sabotage efforts, Chinese economic expansion and a White House that is upending decades of transatlantic cooperation.
But Orbán's vetoes have limited EU responses. Lawmakers and analysts say he has used his right of veto and a deep understanding of how the bloc disperses funding to entrench his power and gain outsize influence by blocking decision-making to extract concessions.
“He entered a club, read the rules, figured out how he can rig the rules, and then started to be a free rider and blackmail all of the other club members,” said Dániel Hegedűs, deputy director with the Berlin-based Institute for European Politics. “The question is, how long will the club members tolerate it?”
It didn't start that way. After the Cold War, Hungary joined the EU along with nine other countries in 2004, the bloc's largest expansion ever. There was widespread optimism for Hungary, said Jim Townsend, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
But after economic crises, Orbán came to power by promising prosperity to both the rich and poor, said Gábor Scheiring, a former Hungarian lawmaker now teaching at Georgetown University in Qatar. He also built bonds with conservative politicians across the bloc.
Orbán began vilifying the EU, often comparing Brussels to the Soviet Union, even while receiving massive amounts of EU money, and resisting pressure to reverse democratic backsliding.
From 2014 until 2022, "Hungary was one of the biggest beneficiaries of EU funds,” Scheiring said. “Orbán could navigate the EU system really well: get all the money and get away with his political shenanigans.”
The EU grew frustrated with Orbán's failures to ensure judicial independence, protect media freedom and rein in corruption. It began freezing billions in funding to Budapest in 2022 over breaches of rule-of-law standards.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orbán frequently used his veto power to stymie efforts to support Kyiv and sanction Moscow. His closeness with Russian President Vladimir Putin was noted.
Last month, when Orbán reneged on a deal struck in December to provide Ukraine with a 90-billion euro ($104-billion) loan, the famously amiable European Council President Antonio Costa was visibly irked: “Nobody can blackmail the European Union institutions,” he said.
Many in the EU see Magyar, Orbán's election opponent, as a potential escape route from his obstruction. Magyar told the AP that he would pursue a “constructive but critical” relationship with the bloc, and that he believed Hungary's election will be “a referendum on our country’s place in the world.”
As many see it, a thorn in the EU's side is that major decisions require unanimity among its members. Critics say it has kept the bloc from taking stronger actions on other critical issues like the war in Gaza.
An internal European Parliament report shows that Orbán has vetoed far more than any other leader in the EU's history, said Daniel Freund, a German lawmaker.
“It’s staggering. No one else even comes close,” Freund said. “This is the biggest design flaw in the EU that he has exposed.”
Orbán's vetoes have led to calls to reform the bloc's foundational treaties to buttress against future authoritarians — or Orbán himself, if he wins the election.
There are ways to do that, but each has limitations.
The EU could reduce the number of issues that require a unanimous vote. That would allow measures to pass with a simple majority of the 27 national leaders representing roughly two-thirds of the bloc's population.
Hegedűs said the European Commission “could play even more hardball” by crafting sanctions to address specific breaches of EU rules.
Some politicians have even proposed invoking Article 7 of the Treaty of the EU, a legal measure that could revoke Hungary's voting rights in the bloc.
That would require the agreement of all the EU's other leaders, however, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he would veto such a measure.
There are other tools the EU could use.
The European Commission has not approved Hungary’s bid to draw some 16 billion euros ($18.4 billion) as part of an EU program to boost members' defense capabilities. The 18 other countries that submitted plans to use the funds have been approved.
If Orbán is reelected, the EU could use that funding as a bargaining chip to extract concessions such as lifting his veto of the 90 billion euros to Ukraine, Hegedűs said. But there’s no guarantee he won’t find other policies to veto once Hungary gets the money.
“What will the EU offer in two to three or four months when the next strategic decision will come and Orbán will block again?” Hegedűs said.
Orbán's conduct has prompted a reexamination of how the EU accepts new members and monitors current ones.
The ongoing negotiations with Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine to join the EU are increasingly shaped by the tumultuous experience with Hungary.
In February, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said the 12 countries including Hungary that joined the EU from 2004-2007 “led to a new era of stability for our continent."
But without naming Hungary or any other nation, Kos said a lesson learned from 2004 is that “we need to have safeguards that ensure new members stick to the rules.”
“If countries go backwards on our fundamentals, such as democracy and rule of law, the safeguards must bite," the commissioner said, adding: “No Trojan horses."
McNeil reported from Brussels.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaks during an assembly of European far-right parties with Orbán’s Patriots for Europe group, in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
