Much of the pre-match fanfare focused on the Bavarians’ new €100m man, and he lived up to that hype.
After being introduced into the starting line-up by Thomas Tuchel, it took only four minutes for the England captain to make a telling impact - he played a perfectly weighted through ball to Leroy Sane, who raced through on goal and slotted home past Jiri Pavlenka.
That joy appeared to be short-lived though when Niclas Fullkrug headed home from Marvin Ducksch's free-kick, but the effort was ruled out for offside.
Bayern were in the mood to inflict more damage, as Jamal Musiala, Noussair Mazraoui and Leon Goretzka all came close to doubling the visitors’ advantage before the break.
The hosts needed a reaction, and as the smoke from the flares cascaded down onto the pitch, Leonardo Bittencourt came within inches of restoring parity to the scoreline. He cut a frustrated figure after sliding in to meet Fullkrug’s enticing cross, only to see the ball go inches wide of the target.
Fullkrug was leading Werder’s resurgence after the restart, and he lifted the crowd with him in a promising start to the second half.
Hollywood scriptwriters had their pens ready when Kane took advantage of some space on the edge of the box, but Pavlenka was on hand to make a fine one-handed save.
The match was being played at a pulsating pace, as Jens Stage’s speculative strike went wide. Bayern were not having things their own way, with the match suddenly on a knife edge, in what previously looked like a procession to victory for the champions.
But just when his new employers needed him, Kane delivered. Alphonso Davies laid the ball on a plate for the Three Lions skipper to provide a deflected strike past Pavlenka.
Kane’s night was complete in the 84th minute with what looked like a slight knock, and was withdrawn as part of a triple change from Tuchel.
The damage was not done though, as stoppage-time goals from Sane and Mathys Tel added extra gloss onto the scoreline.
Bayern continued their unbeaten run against Werder Bremen to 32 games across all competitions, but it was a case of what might have been for Ole Werner’s side.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
