Brits Abroad: Harry Kane brings misery to Bundesliga fairy tale as Scott McTominay fights through injury pain to score again for Napoli & Jack Harrison delivers for Fiorentina
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.For the next month or so, we won't be hearing from Jude Bellingham after he sustained an injury while playing for Real Madrid. But not to fret, his England team-mates are still delivering the goods on the continent, while a certain Scottish Ballon d'Or contender is continuing to score at an absurd rate. It was, though, a nightmare weekend for two Brits in the French capital, while one of January's weirdest movers from England to mainland Europe showed exactly why he earned such a transfer.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 get stuck into this week's review...For Bayern Munich, two games without a win in the Bundesliga may as well be a lifetime. Such a drought is unacceptable by their standards. After surprisingly losing at home to Augsburg and then being held to a draw at Hamburg, they couldn't afford another slip-up, particularly with Borussia Dortmund reducing their lead at the top of the table to three points by the time they kicked-off on Sunday.The visit of Hoffenheim could have been another banana skin. They've been the feel-good story of the Bundesliga season so far, climbing to third in the table and well in with a shout of Champions League qualification after only narrowly avoiding relegation last year.In typical Bayern fashion, they reminded Germany who rules the land with a 5-1 victory. The game changed after only 17 minutes when Kevin Akpoguma was sent off for hauling down Luis Diaz inside the box. Harry Kane, of course, stepped up and converted from 12 yards.Manuel Neuer gifted Hoffenheim an equaliser soon after before the hosts kicked into gear, as Diaz won another penalty towards the end of the first half, which Kane finished off again, before the Colombian put the match beyond Hoffenheim with a barnstorming hat-trick to take most of the headlines away from the England captain, who was simply happy to have silenced Bayern's recent critics.Kane told DAZN: "There was noise around the team this week after two winless games. It was important to stay calm. We have the entire squad available, everyone is pushing. We started the game really well today. Then after their red card, it took us about 20 minutes to adapt. Credit to them, they're a good team. But we punished them and deserved the win."Unfortunately for Kane, this turned out to be the high point of his Sunday, as his beloved New England Patriots went on to be destroyed by the Seattle Seahawks at the Super Bowl. Still, at least his Bayern side won their game this weekend.Most top teams across Europe have experienced some sort of major injury crisis this season. Napoli, though, will argue they've been hit harder than anyone, losing the likes of Romelu Lukaku and summer signing Kevin De Bruyne for much of the campaign, while the rest of their squad has been in and out of the treatment room across extended periods.Well, save for Scott McTominay, who has only missed one single match this term due to injury. He only managed to play one half of Saturday's trip to Genoa, but that still proved decisive. The reigning Serie A champions went behind to an early Ruslan Malinovskyi penalty, though this was cancelled out by an equaliser from Rasmus Hojlund, and his fellow Manchester United alumni McTominay put them in front moments later.McTominay was withdrawn at half-time and Napoli did their best to try and see out the three points in his absence. When Lorenzo Colombo brought Genoa level and Juan Jesus was sent off for the visitors, that looked a tough ask, yet Hojlund converted a stoppage-time penalty to send the travelling fans crazy and cap off a remarkable 3-2 win.At his post-match press conference, head coach Antonio Conte explained why McTominay had to come off, and joked that he himself may have to come out of retirement to ensure Napoli have enough players."It's a tendon problem he's had since the start of the year," Conte said of the Scotland midfielder. "It hurts him every now and then, it doesn't stop him from playing, but he plays at reduced speeds. He would have continued, but I'd rather have a player who is 100 percent fit than risk a key player like him."It's a crazy season. If we're all intelligent people we'll have to think about the composition of the squad, the transfer market we've done, and many other things, like the fact that we can't draw from the youth system. Long-term injuries like those of De Bruyne and Lukaku have also come into play, as have [Andre-Frank Zambo] Anguissa and [Billy] Gilmour, who underwent surgery but continues to have problems."I'll be playing soon! I can't play because there are rules, otherwise I could have helped."There's never a quiet day at Marseille. They have, mind you, brought such chaos upon themselves. From appointing the fiery Roberto De Zerbi as manager to buying Mason Greenwood from Manchester United, OM have essentially told the world they want to be scrutinised and welcome whatever that may bring.On Sunday, those chickens came home to roost. Greenwood started in attack alongside fellow Englishman Ethan Nwaneri, who signed on loan from Arsenal last month, as Marseille were trounced 5-0 by bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain. Nwaneri was hooked at half-time with PSG already two goals up, but there wasn't much expectation on him to deliver given his status as a relative unknown on France's south coast until a few weeks ago."He wasn't having a great night; he wasn't getting much support from his team-mates. He needed to be protected, like all young players," De Zerbi said at his press conference of the teenager.But for Greenwood, this was a proper humiliation. There has seemingly been a campaign to soft-launch himself back into the England fold - and you should read here as to why that cannot be allowed to happen - but when the time came for him to deliver on the biggest stage, he dropped an egg. The French press haven't been forgiving.Writing for La Provence, Marseille's largest news outlet, columnist Frederic Speich said: "A ghostly figure, Mason Greenwood drifted through Le Classique like a shadow."Mason Greenwood remained outside the door of this Classique where he was not invited anyway, leaving Ousmane Dembele to dazzle this match with his class to tip it in favour of the Qatari-Parisian club in shameful, almost unacceptable proportions. The reigning Ballon d'Or winner had a field day, tormenting a defence of cones and securing a brace (as well as the honorary man-of-the-match trophy) while the Englishman did everything wrong, drifting through this third duel of the season between the two institutions like a shadow. A ghost, the cynics would sneer."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingBarcelona ensured they stayed top of La Liga with a 3-0 triumph at home to Real Mallorca, with most praise reserved for scorers Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Marc Bernal.Marcus Rashford was the only member of the Barca starting frontline not to find the back of the net, though it wasn't for the want of trying. The Manchester United loanee took eight shots and created two chances before he was substituted on 67 minutes to a warm ovation from a 45,000-strong Camp Nou crowd.Mundo Deportivo columnist Lobo Carrasco praised Rashford for 'hitting the right key' to try and break down Mallorca's low block. "Plenty of build-up play, few clear-cut chances," Carrasco wrote of the early knockings."Seeing Barcelona's lack of attacking depth - Lamine was calm, observing and warming up - Dani Olmo showed how to trouble Mallorca: by shooting from outside the box. Rashford joined in on the brilliant idea, and that's when Barcelona saw the light."It's off the pitch where Rashford has been the centre of attention for Barca lately, however. Club president Joan Laporta is running for another term in the upcoming elections, and he has promised to keep the England forward at the club in the long term, either by triggering the £26 million ($35.4m) clause in their agreement with United, reducing that fee in fresh negotiations or extending his loan.Rashford is a popular figure at Barcelona and would like to stay. It will now come down to whether the club has the money, or how willing United are to sanction his exit on a more permanent arrangement.One of the stranger moves of the January transfer window saw Jack Harrison leave Leeds United and join Fiorentina on loan with an optional purchase clause. It only makes a little bit more sense when you realise La Viola aren't exactly thriving, but rather are fighting against relegation and have been mired in Serie A's bottom three for every week bar one since matchday seven.Fiorentina welcomed a Torino side led by Scotland's Che Adams to the Stadio Artemio Franchi this weekend looking to move within a point of safety, only to squander that opportunity at the last. Cesare Casadei, once of Chelsea, put Torino ahead midway through the first half, and when the hosts' star forward Albert Gudmundsson picked up an injury shortly after the interval, it seemed like it was going to be another long day for the people of Florence.But on came Harrison for Gudmundsson, and boy did he make an impact. Manor Solomon, on loan from Tottenham and another ex-Leeds star, picked out the top corner from distance on 51 minutes to bring the home crowd to their feet. With their next attack, Fiorentina went in front, and it was thanks to Harrison's through ball for Moise Kean to bury at the near post.Fiorentina had several opportunities to kill the game for good, and four minutes into six added on at the end of the 90, they were punished for their wastefulness. In came a free-kick from Gvidas Gineitis, and Guillermo Maripan rose highest to break purple hearts and ensure the points were shared."It's the simple things that I think we're not doing right at the minute," Harrison told Fiorentina club channels. "We have a lot of quality and it's a big club, but the basics let us down for the two goals. There's positives to take from this game as well, the way we created the goals was good, but this moment is a difficult moment for sure. For me, personally, I've been through this many times and I know what it takes to get through these difficult situations - a lot of character and togetherness."Ruben Loftus-Cheek has scarcely been the picture of perfect health throughout his career. This season, though, is very different. The versatile, jack-of-all-trades midfielder has sat out a mere two games for AC Milan all year, and emerged as a useful option for returning manager Massimiliano Allegri.Milan extended their unbeaten run to 22 Serie A games with a statement 3-0 win away at Bologna, as England international Loftus-Cheek out-duelled Scotsman Lewis Ferguson in the midfield battle. The 30-year-old broke the deadlock with a well-taken effort from close range after the hosts failed to clear their lines, with Adrien Rabiot squaring for Loftus-Cheek to divert the ball high into the net. Rabiot himself got on the scoresheet after Christopher Nkunku converted from the penalty spot.Allegri was full of praise for the former Chelsea duo after the final whistle. "Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek are players of enormous quality," he said to DAZN. "It was always going to be a game that we needed to take seriously, because they have been very decent at the back. Bologna are a dangerous team that plays well. The boys did well defensively and offensively."It was a good game tonight. In my opinion, we have to do better in ball management. We played well because Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek did well, allowing us to play with the ball and giving us depth."

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.For the next month or so, we won't be hearing from Jude Bellingham after he sustained an injury while playing for Real Madrid. But not to fret, his England team-mates are still delivering the goods on the continent, while a certain Scottish Ballon d'Or contender is continuing to score at an absurd rate. It was, though, a nightmare weekend for two Brits in the French capital, while one of January's weirdest movers from England to mainland Europe showed exactly why he earned such a transfer.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 get stuck into this week's review...For Bayern Munich, two games without a win in the Bundesliga may as well be a lifetime. Such a drought is unacceptable by their standards. After surprisingly losing at home to Augsburg and then being held to a draw at Hamburg, they couldn't afford another slip-up, particularly with Borussia Dortmund reducing their lead at the top of the table to three points by the time they kicked-off on Sunday.The visit of Hoffenheim could have been another banana skin. They've been the feel-good story of the Bundesliga season so far, climbing to third in the table and well in with a shout of Champions League qualification after only narrowly avoiding relegation last year.In typical Bayern fashion, they reminded Germany who rules the land with a 5-1 victory. The game changed after only 17 minutes when Kevin Akpoguma was sent off for hauling down Luis Diaz inside the box. Harry Kane, of course, stepped up and converted from 12 yards.Manuel Neuer gifted Hoffenheim an equaliser soon after before the hosts kicked into gear, as Diaz won another penalty towards the end of the first half, which Kane finished off again, before the Colombian put the match beyond Hoffenheim with a barnstorming hat-trick to take most of the headlines away from the England captain, who was simply happy to have silenced Bayern's recent critics.Kane told DAZN: "There was noise around the team this week after two winless games. It was important to stay calm. We have the entire squad available, everyone is pushing. We started the game really well today. Then after their red card, it took us about 20 minutes to adapt. Credit to them, they're a good team. But we punished them and deserved the win."Unfortunately for Kane, this turned out to be the high point of his Sunday, as his beloved New England Patriots went on to be destroyed by the Seattle Seahawks at the Super Bowl. Still, at least his Bayern side won their game this weekend.Most top teams across Europe have experienced some sort of major injury crisis this season. Napoli, though, will argue they've been hit harder than anyone, losing the likes of Romelu Lukaku and summer signing Kevin De Bruyne for much of the campaign, while the rest of their squad has been in and out of the treatment room across extended periods.Well, save for Scott McTominay, who has only missed one single match this term due to injury. He only managed to play one half of Saturday's trip to Genoa, but that still proved decisive. The reigning Serie A champions went behind to an early Ruslan Malinovskyi penalty, though this was cancelled out by an equaliser from Rasmus Hojlund, and his fellow Manchester United alumni McTominay put them in front moments later.McTominay was withdrawn at half-time and Napoli did their best to try and see out the three points in his absence. When Lorenzo Colombo brought Genoa level and Juan Jesus was sent off for the visitors, that looked a tough ask, yet Hojlund converted a stoppage-time penalty to send the travelling fans crazy and cap off a remarkable 3-2 win.At his post-match press conference, head coach Antonio Conte explained why McTominay had to come off, and joked that he himself may have to come out of retirement to ensure Napoli have enough players."It's a tendon problem he's had since the start of the year," Conte said of the Scotland midfielder. "It hurts him every now and then, it doesn't stop him from playing, but he plays at reduced speeds. He would have continued, but I'd rather have a player who is 100 percent fit than risk a key player like him."It's a crazy season. If we're all intelligent people we'll have to think about the composition of the squad, the transfer market we've done, and many other things, like the fact that we can't draw from the youth system. Long-term injuries like those of De Bruyne and Lukaku have also come into play, as have [Andre-Frank Zambo] Anguissa and [Billy] Gilmour, who underwent surgery but continues to have problems."I'll be playing soon! I can't play because there are rules, otherwise I could have helped."There's never a quiet day at Marseille. They have, mind you, brought such chaos upon themselves. From appointing the fiery Roberto De Zerbi as manager to buying Mason Greenwood from Manchester United, OM have essentially told the world they want to be scrutinised and welcome whatever that may bring.On Sunday, those chickens came home to roost. Greenwood started in attack alongside fellow Englishman Ethan Nwaneri, who signed on loan from Arsenal last month, as Marseille were trounced 5-0 by bitter rivals Paris Saint-Germain. Nwaneri was hooked at half-time with PSG already two goals up, but there wasn't much expectation on him to deliver given his status as a relative unknown on France's south coast until a few weeks ago."He wasn't having a great night; he wasn't getting much support from his team-mates. He needed to be protected, like all young players," De Zerbi said at his press conference of the teenager.But for Greenwood, this was a proper humiliation. There has seemingly been a campaign to soft-launch himself back into the England fold - and you should read here as to why that cannot be allowed to happen - but when the time came for him to deliver on the biggest stage, he dropped an egg. The French press haven't been forgiving.Writing for La Provence, Marseille's largest news outlet, columnist Frederic Speich said: "A ghostly figure, Mason Greenwood drifted through Le Classique like a shadow."Mason Greenwood remained outside the door of this Classique where he was not invited anyway, leaving Ousmane Dembele to dazzle this match with his class to tip it in favour of the Qatari-Parisian club in shameful, almost unacceptable proportions. The reigning Ballon d'Or winner had a field day, tormenting a defence of cones and securing a brace (as well as the honorary man-of-the-match trophy) while the Englishman did everything wrong, drifting through this third duel of the season between the two institutions like a shadow. A ghost, the cynics would sneer."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingBarcelona ensured they stayed top of La Liga with a 3-0 triumph at home to Real Mallorca, with most praise reserved for scorers Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Marc Bernal.Marcus Rashford was the only member of the Barca starting frontline not to find the back of the net, though it wasn't for the want of trying. The Manchester United loanee took eight shots and created two chances before he was substituted on 67 minutes to a warm ovation from a 45,000-strong Camp Nou crowd.Mundo Deportivo columnist Lobo Carrasco praised Rashford for 'hitting the right key' to try and break down Mallorca's low block. "Plenty of build-up play, few clear-cut chances," Carrasco wrote of the early knockings."Seeing Barcelona's lack of attacking depth - Lamine was calm, observing and warming up - Dani Olmo showed how to trouble Mallorca: by shooting from outside the box. Rashford joined in on the brilliant idea, and that's when Barcelona saw the light."It's off the pitch where Rashford has been the centre of attention for Barca lately, however. Club president Joan Laporta is running for another term in the upcoming elections, and he has promised to keep the England forward at the club in the long term, either by triggering the £26 million ($35.4m) clause in their agreement with United, reducing that fee in fresh negotiations or extending his loan.Rashford is a popular figure at Barcelona and would like to stay. It will now come down to whether the club has the money, or how willing United are to sanction his exit on a more permanent arrangement.One of the stranger moves of the January transfer window saw Jack Harrison leave Leeds United and join Fiorentina on loan with an optional purchase clause. It only makes a little bit more sense when you realise La Viola aren't exactly thriving, but rather are fighting against relegation and have been mired in Serie A's bottom three for every week bar one since matchday seven.Fiorentina welcomed a Torino side led by Scotland's Che Adams to the Stadio Artemio Franchi this weekend looking to move within a point of safety, only to squander that opportunity at the last. Cesare Casadei, once of Chelsea, put Torino ahead midway through the first half, and when the hosts' star forward Albert Gudmundsson picked up an injury shortly after the interval, it seemed like it was going to be another long day for the people of Florence.But on came Harrison for Gudmundsson, and boy did he make an impact. Manor Solomon, on loan from Tottenham and another ex-Leeds star, picked out the top corner from distance on 51 minutes to bring the home crowd to their feet. With their next attack, Fiorentina went in front, and it was thanks to Harrison's through ball for Moise Kean to bury at the near post.Fiorentina had several opportunities to kill the game for good, and four minutes into six added on at the end of the 90, they were punished for their wastefulness. In came a free-kick from Gvidas Gineitis, and Guillermo Maripan rose highest to break purple hearts and ensure the points were shared."It's the simple things that I think we're not doing right at the minute," Harrison told Fiorentina club channels. "We have a lot of quality and it's a big club, but the basics let us down for the two goals. There's positives to take from this game as well, the way we created the goals was good, but this moment is a difficult moment for sure. For me, personally, I've been through this many times and I know what it takes to get through these difficult situations - a lot of character and togetherness."Ruben Loftus-Cheek has scarcely been the picture of perfect health throughout his career. This season, though, is very different. The versatile, jack-of-all-trades midfielder has sat out a mere two games for AC Milan all year, and emerged as a useful option for returning manager Massimiliano Allegri.Milan extended their unbeaten run to 22 Serie A games with a statement 3-0 win away at Bologna, as England international Loftus-Cheek out-duelled Scotsman Lewis Ferguson in the midfield battle. The 30-year-old broke the deadlock with a well-taken effort from close range after the hosts failed to clear their lines, with Adrien Rabiot squaring for Loftus-Cheek to divert the ball high into the net. Rabiot himself got on the scoresheet after Christopher Nkunku converted from the penalty spot.Allegri was full of praise for the former Chelsea duo after the final whistle. "Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek are players of enormous quality," he said to DAZN. "It was always going to be a game that we needed to take seriously, because they have been very decent at the back. Bologna are a dangerous team that plays well. The boys did well defensively and offensively."It was a good game tonight. In my opinion, we have to do better in ball management. We played well because Nkunku and Loftus-Cheek did well, allowing us to play with the ball and giving us depth."






