GOAL provides you with the major takeaways from British stars playing overseas, including the current England captain and Los Blancos' star midfielder
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OK, so the Easter weekend didn't quite bring more twists and turns in the world of European football as it did for the people of Jerusalem when Jesus Christ was said to have returned from the dead, but there was still plenty of drama to be feasted upon.
The title races in Spain and Italy swung to and fro even if those in England and Germany moved one step closer to meeting a finite end, while La Liga gaining an extra Champions League qualification place has added more spice to their mid-table scramble as has been the case in the Premier League.
There's still every chance that Britain's two premier players in Europe, Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, end the season as champions of their respective countries on the continent, while Scott McTominay has been doing all he can to join them in such a pantheon. With the 2024-25 season heading down the home stretch, GOAL fills you in on how the home nations' finest exports are doing…
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱AFPEnd to Kane's curse is near
The wait is almost over. Within the next week, Kane could be a champion at long last. Bayern Munich romped their way to a 4-0 win at Heidenheim on Saturday, and with Bayer Leverkusen held to a 1-1 draw at St Pauli 24 hours later, they now have an eight-point lead atop the Bundesliga with only four games remaining.
Much talk out of Bavaria heading into Saturday's game at the Voith-Arena was centred on providing a more-than-adequate response to Bayern being dumped out of the Champions League by Inter in midweek, so Kane breaking the deadlock at the end of a flowing team move – and with his usual brute force on his weaker left foot – set the tone for a memorable day. The England captain swivelled inside from 25 yards and unleashed a fierce drive into the bottom corner to get his side on their way, with Konrad Laimer, Kingsley Coman and Joshua Kimmich also on the scoresheet.
That goal was Kane's 60th in 60 Bundesliga appearances since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023, and this brought about special praise from club director Max Eberl: "Harry is doing it himself. He's scoring the goals, getting involved and getting on well with his team-mates. Harry is doing everything, we as a club are doing everything – and of course we want to bring the title back to Munich."
The German media were also glowing in their reviews of Kane's performance, even if a famed perfect score from escaped him, with playing up his selfless "willingness to compromise". Eternal and immortal compliments aren't too far away now.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportBellingham & Madrid stay on Barca's heels
Like Bayern, Real Madrid also had plenty to prove after unceremoniously being dumped out of the Champions League, falling 5-1 on aggregate to Arsenal despite the club and Spanish media doing all they could to play mind games with the Gunners.
Bellingham was thrust back into the role of the protagonist against Athletic Club in a 1-0 triumph amid Kylian Mbappe's suspension – the Frenchman was whistled by the Santiago Bernabeu crowd when shown on the stadium's futuristic screens – as an attacking midfielder-false nine hybrid between wingers Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. Though he covered plenty of ground and essentially did the running of veteran playmaker Luka Modric for him, he still lacked that cutting edge and missed a couple of good chances.
Nevertheless, Madrid still responded to Barcelona's 'remontada' against Celta Vigo in style, as Federico Valverde smashed in a stoppage-time winner to snatch the three points and ease the pressure on everyone at the club, not least under-fire manager Carlo Ancelotti. They are four points behind Barcelona with six rounds of fixtures remaining, while their Copa del Rey final is looming over the horizon.
For his lung-busting efforts, Bellingham was afforded some kudos by the Spanish press, though the fires of social media were far less forgiving after failing to come up with a telling contribution himself. You can't please everyone, it seems.
AFPMcTominay continues Neapolitan legend
Scott McTominay's move to Napoli could hardly have gone any better for him and any worse for Manchester United to this point. While the Red Devils are lingering in 14th in the Premier League, the Scotland midfielder is into double figures of goals in Italy – only Romelu Lukaku on 12 has more than him in the famous sky blue – while becoming a favourite among the people of Naples.
This weekend, Napoli moved level on points with Serie A leaders Inter, who were beaten 1-0 at Bologna. Antonio Conte's side put the pressure on the Nerazzurri a day earlier after McTominay's header earned a 1-0 win of their own away at Monza.
There's always some sort of culture or civil war going on at Napoli, and the Italian press have taken aim at Conte lately for his assertions that his squad simply are not good enough to go stride-for-stride with a team like Inter. Yet here was McTominay once again coming to their rescue, all the while the British media hammer United for allowing him to leave the club so easily in the first place.
AFPGreenwood criticised despite brace
The circus of Marseille is completely inescapable even when they're winning comfortably, but this is a club who were chaotic at the best of times even before they decided to take a punt on Mason Greenwood and had Roberto De Zerbi fanning the flames of controversy every week, so it's hard to have much sympathy.
After being lambasted by De Zerbi and the French media in recent weeks for his substandard work rate, Greenwood was targeted with a banner by Marseille fans prior to their 5-1 demolition of Montpellier, telling him and winger Luiz Henrique to 'get a move on'. The forward responded with two goals, including a penalty taken with his weaker right foot. Even despite these contributions, outstanding praise for Greenwood was in short supply from the press, even if he was hailed as the game's best player.
Meanwhile, fellow Englishman Jonathan Rowe was also among the goals for OM, ending a goal drought which lasted six months. The former Norwich City attacker broke his duck in some style too, racing onto a delicious cross from Ulisses Garcia and flicking the ball in at the near post with the outside of his boot on the volley.
Marseille put a halt to their barren run of late and moved back up to second in Ligue 1 with four rounds of fixtures to go, taking advantage of Monaco's draw with Strasbourg. A top-four finish would be enough for OM to qualify for the Champions League.