Harry Kane scored a hat-trick after coming on as second-half substitute to guide Bayern Munich to a 5-0 victory at Stuttgart.
The Bavarian club, who have opened up an 11-point lead at the top, were a goal up but struggling against the aggressive hosts until the introduction of Kane on the hour mark. Stuttgart were also left with 10 men for the last 10 minutes after the dismissal of Lorenz Assignon.
Bayern, who host Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, were lucky to go into the break with a one-goal lead thanks to Konrad Laimer’s 11th-minute strike. Stuttgart first saw Nikolas Nartey’s header that went in ruled narrowly offside and Chema also came agonisingly close to scoring in stoppage time.
Deniz Undav, who has scored six of Stuttgart’s last eight goals as he battles to reclaim his Germany spot before next year’s World Cup, came even closer with a powerful shot in the 59th that Jonas Urbig in Bayern’s goal tipped over the bar.
The introduction of Kane tipped the balance in the visitors’ favour and the England captain opened his account with a crisp, low drive in the 66th. The Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nübel then let a weak shot from the Bayern substitute Josip Stanisic slip through his hands to make it 3-0 and to make matters worse, Bayern earned an 80th-minute penalty after a handball and red card for Assignon, and Kane easily converted it.
The forward completed his hat-trick from a Michael Olise cutback in the 88th to take his league tally to 17 goals and lift the Bundesliga leaders to 37 points, 11 ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, who reduced the gap to eight points when they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 6-0.
Kane has now scored a total of 58 goals for club and country so far in 2025, more than he has ever scored before in a calendar year as a professional, with his previous best being 56 in 2017.
“It’s something I’m not used to, but I did it a couple of times this season,” Kane said of his substitute role. “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.” Bayern battled past Union Berlin 3-2 in the German Cup last 16 on Wednesday.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored a first-half hat-trick as his side won 5-3 at Real Betis in La Liga on Saturday, bouncing back after conceding an early goal to cruise to victory and extend their overnight lead to four points over Real Madrid, who host Celta Vigo on Sunday.
Barcelona went behind to an Antony goal in the sixth minute, but Torres struck twice to put them in the lead by the 13th minute, and Roony Bardghji made it 3-1 just after the half-hour mark with his first La Liga goal for the club before Torres completed his hat-trick.
A Lamine Yamal penalty increased Barca’s lead but Betis never gave up, with Diego Llorente reducing the deficit from a corner in the 85th minute and Cucho Hernández adding a penalty five minutes later, but it proved too little, too late as Barca held on to win.
“I think the first half was very good, and I think we were very tired towards the end of the second … I want to be positive in my assessment of this match, but we’re certainly going to analyse everything, and the important thing is that we won,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. “I started Ferran Torres, and I knew this is his stadium. He’s scored here many times, even for the national team before … he’s confident in himself, and that’s crucial for a striker,” he added.
Athletic Bilbao’s Alex Berenguer scored an 85th-minute winner as they beat Atlético Madrid 1-0 at home, dealing a serious blow to the visitors’ title hopes.
There were plenty of fireworks in the game, but little in the way of goal-scoring chances as both sides struggled to get shots on target, and when they did, the two goalkeepers showed that they were in fine form.
Bilbao’s Unai Simon pulled off a superb first-half save with his right foot to deny Thiago Almada, and Jan Oblak came to Atlético’s rescue to prevent Nico Williams from scoring in the second half.
Atlético striker Alexander Sørloth came off the bench in the 62nd minute and almost gave his side the lead 22 minutes later, but again Simon came to his side’s rescue, and this time it was to be even more decisive. He quickly restarted play and the ball made its way to Williams on the right. The winger rattled the ball across the face of the penalty area for the onrushing Berenguer to fire home the winner.
Earlier in the afternoon, third-placed Villarreal beat Getafe 2-0, while a penalty in first-half stoppage time gave Alavés a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad in their mid-table clash. Barcelona top the standings on 40 points after 16 games, with Madrid four points behind them with their game in hand. Atlético are fourth on 31 points, Betis are fifth on 24 points.
In Italy, Inter moved top of Serie A with a comfortable 4-0 win over Como at San Siro, where the home side ended the visitors’ 11-match undefeated league run.
Como’s last loss came in August but Inter proved too strong a challenge and they are the first team to score more than one goal against Cesc Fàbregas’s side this season. Inter are on 30 points, two ahead of Milan, who are away to Torino on Monday, and Napoli, who host Juventus on Sunday. Como are sixth on 24 points.
Inter took the lead in the 11th minute. Luis Henrique took the ball from inside his own half into the box and his pass picked out Lautaro Martínez who hit his first-time shot beyond Jean Butez.
Como lost the striker Álvaro Morata to injury with just over half an hour gone and they failed to register an effort on target before the break. The visitors finally created some danger when Jesús Rodríguez crossed to the back post but Tasos Douvikas, who replaced Morata, somehow sent the ball over the bar from close range.
Álex Valle then headed over from a floated Nico Paz ball into the box, but just as Como finally came out of their shell, Inter doubled their lead in the 59th minute. Federico Dimarco’s corner bypassed everyone at the front post and Marcus Thuram stuck out a foot to poke home from just in front of the keeper.
Hakan Calhanoglu put an end to any hope of a late Como comeback nine minutes from time when he collected a clearance outside the area and drilled his strike past a flat-footed Butez. Inter continued to pour forward and Carlos Augusto hammered home from a Dimarco cross with four minutes remaining to wrap up a statement win against what should have been tricky opponents.
Paris Saint-Germain returned to winning ways in Ligue 1 after losing to Monaco last week, battering 10-man Rennes 5-0 in their final home match of 2025. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck twice while Senny Mayulu, Ibrahim Mbaye and Gonçalo Ramos were also on the scoresheet for Luis Enrique’s side.
They remain one point behind league leaders Lens, who were grateful for Wesley Saïd’s late strike in a 2-1 victory at Nantes. Toulouse claimed a first win in seven matches by edging out Strasbourg 1-0.