Euro Debrief: Kane has become the king of assists

Welcome to The Euro Debrief, the Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate rounds up some of the key stories from the latest matches across the continent. This week:

• Kane is the assist king
• Barcelona win in Madrid
• Inter close gap on Lazio
• Eleven in a row for PSG
• Weghorst denies Ajax

Bundesliga: Kane is assist king

Whisper it but Harry Kane has gone four games without scoring a goal. That has only happened once before in his Bayern Munich career and in that sequence he went off at half-time in one game and came on as a second-half substitute in another. Drought!

It is not an issue for Kane or club because the England captain laid on both goals for his team-mates in a 2-1 win at Mainz that maintains Bayern’s place at the top of the Bundesliga table. The Ballon d’Or winner has become the competition’s king of assists this season.

His square pass set up the first for Joshua Kimmich and his lay-off left Lennart Karl with the simplest of tasks for the second. Following on from his lofted assist for Konrad Laimer to score against Atletico Madrid in midweek, it is a growing element of Kane’s game.

Not only does he have more assists – eight – than anyone else in the Bundesliga but only Lamine Yamal can match that across Europe’s major leagues so far. It represents a shift in his game and explains why Bayern had the confidence to give him a long-term deal.

Kane has already matched his best-ever Bundesliga season for assists and is showing he is capable of adapting his game still further. His mere presence creates space for others and is a fascinating evolution that shows again why he is so special.

Saturday 21st November 5:20pm


Kick off 5:30pm

Borussia Dortmund kept pace with Bayern at the top with a victory over Elversberg by the same scoreline. In the absence of top-scorer Serhou Guirassy for the first time in the Bundesliga this season, Felix Nmecha stepped up to score twice in the second half.

For Brajan Gruda, it was a brace of assists that set RB Leipzig on their way to a 5-2 win over Augsburg. Niclas Fullkrug’s eight-game scoring streak ended at Stuttgart but Patrik Schick was in the goals again with Leverkusen’s winner in the derby in Cologne.

Bundesliga results: Hamburg 3-1 Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Elversberg, Mainz 1-2 Bayern Munich, Paderborn 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig 5-2 Augsburg, Stuttgart 1-1 Werder Bremen, Cologne 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg 2-0 Union Berlin, Hoffenheim 2-1 Schalke.

LaLiga: Big moment in title race

Atletico Madrid were heading to top spot in LaLiga when Julian Alvarez set up Giuliano Simeone for the opening goal against leaders Barcelona at the Metropolitano on Sunday evening. But two goals from Fermin Lopez turned the game around to secure a big win.

It was a typically competitive start by Diego Simeone’s side, enough to fuel the argument that Hansi Flick’s Barca have an issue asserting themselves against the strongest sides after those back-to-back losses against Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain recently.

But Flick will be massively encouraged by the response from his side. It is well worth checking out the winner, wonderfully set up by Lamine Yamal, but the control with which Barca saw it out was significant. Instead of Atletico leapfrogging them, they are five points ahead.

Real Madrid are up to second and back ahead of their city neighbours in the table after a convincing 3-0 win away to Valencia, whose struggles continue. Kylian Mbappe scored again despite being booed by the home fans but Arda Guler impressed most.

This column mentioned last week that Yan Diomande has taken Vinicius Junior’s spot on the left while the Brazilian is out but it is the Turkish playmaker from wide who is bringing such balance to Madrid’s attack and is the reason why Vini now has a problem.

Arda Guler, who scored one and assisted Mbappe’s goal, brings such creativity cutting inside that pairing two flyers down the flanks would see Madrid lose a dimension to their game. With Fede Valverde, who scored one of his now trademark stunners from right-back, there are promising signs for Jose Mourinho.

It is also worth mentioning newly-promoted Racing Santander who won at Malaga and might be the most fun team in LaLiga. They have conceded more goals than anyone but Racing are still in the top half for possession – and crucially points. Their positivity is paying off.

LaLiga results: Sevilla 0-0 Alaves, Malaga 1-2 Racing Santander, Espanyol 0-0 Deportivo A Coruna, Osasuna 1-1 Athletic Club, Valencia 0-3 Real Madrid, Elche 0-2 Real Betis, Real Sociedad 1-0 Rayo Vallecano, Celta Vigo 0-0 Levante, Villarreal 2-0 Getafe, Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona.

Serie A: Inter close gap on Lazio

Lazio’s run of six consecutive wins in Serie A came to an end as they had to settle for a draw away to Napoli. It was still a good result for Gennaro Gattuso’s surprise leaders in Italy given that it was Kevin De Bruyne who came the closest to winning it for the hosts.

Even so, the result means Inter were able to close the gap to just one point with a 2-0 win over Como at San Siro. Cesc Fabregas’ side had plenty of possession but lacked the cutting edge of the reigning champions who scored twice early to control the game.

Roma closed the gap too, extending their lead as Italy’s top scorers and maintaining their unbeaten record with a 3-0 win over Sassuolo. Rodrigo Mora, subbed with Roma two up at Old Trafford on Tuesday, was involved in all the goals, scoring the last himself.

The Portuguese teenager is a tremendous talent. Could he drive Roma on to the title? “Inter are best placed to win,” said his coach Gian Piero Gasperini afterwards. “For the rest, all of us are in the mix, us included.” It is beautifully poised going into the break.

Elsewhere, Torino and Lecce traded own goals, while Milan picked up three points at Genoa to put that alarming European defeat to Ferencvaros behind them. Juventus came from behind twice to draw at Fiorentina but stay six points adrift of the top four.

Serie A results: Venezia 2-1 Udinese, Cagliari 1-0 Frosinone, Torino 1-1 Lecce, Parma 1-2 Bologna, Roma 3-0 Sassuolo, Napoli 1-1 Lazio, Genoa 1-2 Milan, Monza 0-1 Atalanta, Inter 2-0 Como, Fiorentina 2-2 Juventus

Ligue 1: Eleven in a row for PSG

Paris Saint-Germain followed up their six-goal demolition of Villarreal in the Champions League with a more underwhelming 1-0 victory at home to Troyes but their run continues. Luis Enrique’s side have now won 11 games in a row in all competitions.

The European champions stay two points clear at the top because Lille and Paris FC both earned away wins. Lassine Sinayoko scored the only goal of the game away to Auxerre to take his tally for the season in Ligue 1 to nine, two clear of anyone else.

Elsewhere, Monaco dropped points late on against Le Mans, while Lyon, who are between coaches with Carlos Vicens set to replace Paulo Fonseca, lost at Brest. All of which has allowed Marseille to rise to fourth as they continue their climb up the table.

Having beaten Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday, Marseille saw off Lens to make it five consecutive wins domestically for Bruno Genesio’s side. They are much improved since the window closed and things have settled down at a club where things are never calm.

It helped that Lens were the opposition. That second-place finish under Pierre Sage already feels an age ago for club and coach. Sage’s successor Dino Toppmoller is long gone. It was Yannick Cahuzac who oversaw that 9-1 beating by Como in midweek.

A response was required. Instead, Lens gifted Marseille the opener after 90 seconds as a result of an awful defensive mix-up. Even when they levelled, Lens contrived to lose late on. The shame of that 9-1 will take longer than an international break to go away.

Ligue 1 results: Toulouse 3-1 Strasbourg, Auxerre 0-1 Paris FC, Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 Troyes, Rennes 1-2 Lille, Angers 0-2 Nice, Brest 2-0 Lyon, Le Havre 0-2 Lorient, Le Mans 1-1 Monaco, Lens 1-2 Marseille.

Elsewhere: Weghorst denies Ajax

It was a strange Sunday in the Eredivisie as the big three not only all had different results away from home but all had spells on top of the table. Once it was over, it was reigning champions PSV, who had started the day in third place, who finished it back on top.

Feyenoord had been two up at Heerenveen but lost 5-3 to present Ajax with the chance to move top and confirm their improvement under Michel. Instead, Twente came from two down to snatch a point thanks to Wout Weghorst’s 95th-minute penalty leveller.

Weghorst left Ajax in the summer and his replacement Tolu Arokodare, who opened the scoring, has done well. But it is nine in 12 for him at Twente now. Strong work. With PSV making no mistake in beating Cambuur 5-2 it is all set up for an exciting title race.

Whether that will be the case in Portugal is not so clear. Benfica did manage a 95th-minute goal of their own through Vangelis Pavlidis but Marco Silva’s side are still five points behind perfect Porto who won late again to make it 11 wins from 11 for them.

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