GOAL runs the rule over the British players earning a living away from their homeland, with plenty more stars deciding to leave their comfort zones in search of a better footballing life elsewhere. The Premier League is still obviously one of the world's most entertaining divisions and the Championship can prove fantastic for development, but there are more options out there.
There were extremely mixed fortunes for the Britons on the continent this weekend. While there was a hat-trick for a certain Three Lions captain, other England internationals came under fire for their disappearing acts, while there were two red cards for us to sink our teeth into.
Every Monday this season, GOAL brings you the latest on British stars abroad, what they're getting up to, who is reaching the greatest heights and who needs to come home. Let's dive in…
Kane off the bench to hit Bayern treble
There would have been a few eyebrows raised among Bayern Munich supporters when it was announced Harry Kane would begin Saturday's match at Stuttgart among the substitutes, with Nicolas Jackson drafted into the starting XI in his place. The visitors led by only a single goal – a delightful flick from Konrad Laimer – by the time the England captain was introduced on the hour mark, while their hosts had already threatened and had a strike of their own ruled out by VAR in the first half.
From the moment Kane took to the pitch, Bayern raced away with the three points. His first contribution was an old-school goal on 66 minutes, finding space around 25 yards out and picking out the bottom corner with a low drive clocked at 128 km/h. Josip Stanisic added a third when his speculative effort trickled through the arms of goalkeeper Alexander Nubel, who is still contracted to Bayern, before Lorenz Assignon's red card for a handball on the line set up Kane's finale. The striker converted from the penalty spot and then guided in a low cross from Michael Olise to ensure the reigning Bundesliga champions ran out 5-0 winners on the banks of the River Neckar.
"It's something I'm not used to, but I did it a couple of times this season," Kane told the press of coming on as a substitute. "The boss wanted to keep me fresh and save energy. I came on after 60 minutes with a couple of other guys and we were able to exploit the space and get the goals. We had a tough battle in the cup midweek and today we faced one of the best teams in the league away, but we looked stronger in the last half an hour and punished them."
Of course, Vincent Kompany was asked to explain this decision in his press conference, to which he said: "I had this change in mind before the game started. We have four games in 11 days. If I start Harry every game and he plays 90 minutes, I'll get questions about why he always plays. Every time we played Stuttgart, we've always grown stronger as the game progressed. I felt the spaces would be bigger when Harry came on, it was a good moment for him to come. And he did what he does."
Kane received a perfect player rating from Germany's premier sports outlet and made team of the week for a sixth time already this season, while Stuttgart counterpart Deniz Undav hailed him as the 'best striker in the world'. "Ice cold in front of goal and good with the ball, that makes him so good. Great player and striker," the former Brighton forward added.
An extraordinary Saturday means Kane has now set a new record of 58 goals in a calendar year, with Bayern still to play three more times before their Christmas break. This is far from a striker in decline.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRashford fires blank on rare Barca start
While Kane has been finding the back of the net from all angles lately, his England team-mate, Marcus Rashford, has now gone eight games without a goal for club and country. Having managed to shake off some rust that had compromised his fitness in recent weeks, he was handed his first Barcelona start since before the November international break for Saturday's trip to Real Betis.
It turned out to be a cracking affair that went down as one of the games of the weekend, with Barca eventually securing a 5-3 win. They went behind early on to a fine strike from Rashford's former Manchester United colleague Antony, though Betis would go into the half-time break 4-1 down following a hat-trick from Ferran Torres and a first La Liga goal from summer signing Roony Bardghji. A late effort from Diego Llorente and a stoppage-time penalty from Cucho Hernandez saw Betis reduce the final deficit to only two goals.
For a match of such chaos, it was surprising that Rashford didn't contribute it. He missed all of his five shots and didn't even come up with an assist, losing his grip atop La Liga's standings to Lamine Yamal, whose tally of seven moved him ahead of the Englishman's six.
Talk of making Rashford's move from United permanent has cooled considerably since mid-autumn, with focus now centred on how Barcelona plan to replace the ageing Robert Lewandowski ahead of the expiry of his contract. Catalan outlet have touted Ferran as a longer-term solution up top, which could theoretically free up the funds needed to keep Rashford, though this isn't referenced in their reporting.
Getty Images SportBattered Bellingham goes missing
The pressure is ramping up on Real Madrid boss Xabi Alonso, though he has hardly been helped by the performances of some of his star players. In Sunday's game at home to Celta Vigo, none of them turned up.
Los Blancos' triumvirate of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham are making difficult work of fitting in the same team. It is typically the Frenchman that pulls the rabbit out of the hat to save their skin, but even he couldn't break down a stubborn Celta side.
Nerves jangled around the Bernabeu when the teams went into the break on level terms, perhaps fear creeping in that the hosts would fail to keep pace with La Liga leaders Barcelona. When Williot Swedberg fired the Galicians ahead on the other side of the restart, that shaken home crowd grew restless, and its energy translated to the pitch.
There was fury when Borja Iglesias' elbow to Bellingham's face, which left the midfielder bleeding profusely, yielded no punishment. Minutes later, Fran Garcia was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence after charging into the back of Swedberg. Madrid huffed and puffed in their search for a leveller despite their one-man disadvantage, only for Alvaro Carreras to be sent off for dissent as the game entered five minutes added time. Endrick, an unused sub, was also shown a red card for his protestations on the sidelines.
Swedberg's second of the evening to round off the 2-0 win for Celta saw the Bernabeu turn mutinous, with Madrid now four points behind Barcelona and just one ahead of third-placed Villarreal, who have a game in hand on Alonso's men. Bellingham was roundly criticised by the Spanish press for his loose touch and inability to keep the ball, losing a match-high eight duels. "He's having trouble turning quickly when receiving the ball in midfield," was notable criticism, though he was also praised for upping his work ethic when Madrid went down to 10.
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Getty Images SportMcTominay battles through pain
Another Brit in the wars this weekend was Scott McTominay. The Scotland midfielder complained of muscle discomfort during Napoli's crunch clash against Juventus at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, yet soldiered on and completed the full 90 minutes regardless.
His impact on the game was subdued compared to his usual headline-grabbing exploits, though he still managed to rattle the woodwork and see a free-kick whistle narrowly wide. Instead, it was fellow Manchester United alumni in Rasmus Hojlund who stole the show, with the Dane scoring both of the champions' goals in a 2-1 victory to send them back up to first in the Serie A standings.
Antonio Conte reserved special praise for the ragged McTominay in his post-match presser, claiming the midfielder has stepped up in a 'state of emergency' at Napoli with seven key players, including Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku, out injured.
"McTominay, like everyone else, is certainly doing something important and extraordinary in terms of understanding the situation, taking responsibility, and growing," Conte said. "It shows in everyone… We played against Atalanta, Qarabag, Roma, Cagliari, and Juventus- strong teams – while we were in a state of emergency. I'm amazed by the enthusiasm and energy the team is putting in. Now we need to rest because Benfica awaits us, and we'll try to prepare better. We need to recharge our batteries."
McTominay turned 29 on Monday and will be able to celebrate his birthday knowing he remains the best player in Serie A at present. In the longer term, he also has a World Cup showdown with Brazil to look forward to following Friday's group-stage draw. Some life, that.