4 d. ago Harry Kane at Bayern: how a marriage of convenience turned into true love | Andy Brassell

After scoring 100 goals in record time, the striker is open to extending his stay at a club where he is now treasuredAs the flight carrying Bayern Munich’s squad and staff glides into the south-western corner of Cyprus in Monday’s early evening, some of their experienced, decorated players might reflect that, until very recently, they never expected to be here as they gaze out of their windows. Their hosts, Pafos, have certainly come a long way to breathe this rarefied air, removing from their path along the way no less a name than Crvena Zvezda, whose vintage team themselves vanquished Bayern in an epic semi-final on their route to becoming European champions back in 1991.Finding yourself somewhere you didn’t necessarily expect to be is a continued theme from Bayern’s weekend. Yes, they certainly expected their routine 4-0 win over Werder Bremen (a name that, like the boys from Belgrade, has known more glorious incarnations in the past) on Friday night, but for once it felt like it...

Politics

1 week ago Gladbach’s late rally could earn Polanski chance to save their season | Andy Brassell

While a draw at Leverkusen changes little on paper, it could be vital for the beleaguered visitors and their interim coachA week is a long time in the Bundesliga but, for Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach, if Sunday afternoon is anything to go by, this season promises to contain the lessons of several regular years. For Leverkusen, having had such an invigorating liftoff on Kasper Hjulmand’s debut with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt, it was a reminder of how much work there is still to do. But for Gladbach, it was confirmation that yes, there is at last the first shard of light at the end of the tunnel.Last weekend Gladbach – five times Bundesliga winners, not to mention double Uefa Cup champions in the glory years of the 1970s – were humiliated at home by Werder Bremen, beaten 4-0 and getting off lightly, with Werder’s own 3-0 home loss to Freiburg on Saturday underlining just what a bad defeat that was. After the firing of the former Leverkusen boss Gerardo Seoane and ...

Politics

2 w. ago Rare talent Rashford emphatically announces himself at Barcelona’s summit | Andy Brassell

The first two goals of his loan spell suggest that England forward’s stay at Barcelona could become more than a marriage of convenienceIt was the day that Uefa confirmed, as kick-off approached in Barcelona’s Champions League season, that La Liga’s champions would begin their home campaign in the competition against Paris Saint-Germain next month where they ended the last one, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. With their supporters getting ready to renew their journey up the slopes of Montjuic that few of them care for, their climb to potential glory mirrors the hopes of one of their new arrivals.And how he has arrived. Flags do not get planted at the summit much more emphatically than this, and Marcus Rashford could not have picked his moment better to announce himself with Barcelona. His first two goals for the club, setting them on the road towards a trophy this team is determined to make theirs on a night back in his homeland, with the vacuum of the transcendent but injured ...

Politics

2 w. ago Man Utd 'don't need' £62.5m signing as Ruben Amorim told player can save season

Manchester United have started this season as poorly as they left off last term, but Joleon Lescott thinks that while one summer recruit wasn't needed, Bryan Mbeumo could be a difference maker

Economics

2 w. ago Köln upset Wolfsburg’s birthday party with latest ever Bundesliga goal | Andy Brassell

Home team were heading for a win to celebrate their 80th, but then up popped Jakub Kaminski in the 14th minute of added time“I thought we got off to a good start until the thunderstorm.” In context it was a standard, anodyne, flat-batted answer by Köln’s Marius Bülter as he strove to analyse his team’s efforts. Quite unwittingly, it captured the chaos of the afternoon perfectly. It was an afternoon that was supposed to be about VfL Wolfsburg as the club celebrated their 80th birthday with as much flourish as this industrial corner of Lower Saxony could muster, with billowing clouds of green and white smoke accompanying club legends including 2009 champion Grafite and iconic defender Naldo leading the team on to the pitch in front of a (rare) sold-out crowd.Yet typically Köln, the club that does football drama like few others, rudely barged in and made it all about themselves. In Lukas Kwasniok they have a new coach who, like the club’s best down the years, knows how to lean into the...

Politics

2 w. ago Köln spoil Wolfsburg’s birthday party with latest ever Bundesliga goal | Andy Brassell

Home team were heading for a win to celebrate their 80th, but then up popped Jakub Kaminski in the 14th minute of added time“I thought we got off to a good start until the thunderstorm.” In context it was a standard, anodyne, flat-batted answer by Köln’s Marius Bülter as he strove to analyse his team’s efforts. Quite unwittingly, it captured the chaos of the afternoon perfectly. It was an afternoon that was supposed to be about VfL Wolfsburg as the club celebrated their 80th birthday with as much flourish as this industrial corner of Lower Saxony could muster, with billowing clouds of green and white smoke accompanying club legends including 2009 champion Grafite and iconic defender Naldo leading the team on to the pitch in front of a (rare) sold-out crowd.Yet typically Köln, the club that does football drama like few others, rudely barged in and made it all about themselves. In Lukas Kwasniok they have a new coach who, like the club’s best down the years, knows how to lean into the...

Politics