Harry Kane racked up his 20th Bundesliga goal in a record 14 games as he fired Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win over Stuttgart on Sunday.
Here, the PA news agency looks at the exploits of the England captain – and his international team-mate Jude Bellingham, who scored again for Real Madrid the same night.
Kane shatters record
Kane’s double against Stuttgart took him to 20 goals in the German top flight 50 per cent quicker in terms of matches than the previous record, held since the Bundesliga’s inaugural season in 1963-64 by Uwe Seeler.
The late Hamburg and West Germany striker scored 20 in his first 21 league appearances for his hometown club and 30 in 30 that season, taking his Hamburg tally to 297 in 267 games after several prolific years in the Oberliga Nord before the formation of the new national top flight.
His record came under threat in 2020 from another name familiar to Premier League fans as Erling Haaland made a mid-season move to Borussia Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg. The Norwegian scored 11 in 15 games in the remainder of that season and began 2020-21 with 10 in seven.
He therefore missed out on Seeler’s record by one game before passing 20 in style with four in a 5-2 win over Hertha Berlin.
Kane, though, has produced an unprecedented start.
He netted on his Bundesliga debut against Werder Bremen and scored twice against Augsburg before being shut out by Borussia Monchengladbach.
A goal against Bayer Leverkusen made it four in four games, followed by a hat-trick against Bochum. Goals against RB Leipzig and Mainz took him to nine in eight games.
He scored eight in his next three, successive hat-tricks against Darmstadt and Dortmund and a brace against Heidenheim, and also scored against Cologne before Sunday’s historic double.
In all he has three hat-tricks and three doubles and has scored in 11 of his 14 league appearances. Four Champions League goals take his Bayern total to 24 in 21 appearances.
The last man to score 20 goals or more in the first half of a Bundesliga season was Kane’s predecessor in Bayern’s number nine shirt, Robert Lewandowski, who had 22 in 2020-21 and went on to score 41 in the season – breaking Gerd Muller’s Bundesliga record of 40, also for Bayern in 1971-72. Muller in 1968-69 was the only other player to reach 20 by this stage.
Golden Boy Bellingham
Bellingham’s form this year earned him Tuttosport’s Golden Boy award in November and the Kopa Trophy at October’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, awarded respectively to Europe and the world’s best young player.
A stunning start to his LaLiga career has raised the possibility of the 20-year-old pushing for the main Ballon d’Or award in future seasons, with Sunday’s opener in Madrid’s 4-1 win over Villarreal being his 17th goal in 20 appearances for the Spanish giants.
That includes 13 in 15 league games, with doubles against Almeria, Osasuna and bitter rivals Barcelona, the latter to earn a last-minute Clasico win after Barca had led 1-0.
He has also scored Champions League goals against Union Berlin, Braga and in both meetings with Napoli to further justify his claim to Zinedine Zidane’s old number five shirt at the Bernabeu.
Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Freiburg: Sahin's side remain perfect on home soil
Borussia Dortmund maintained their perfect home record this season as they eased to a 4-0 victory over nine-man Freiburg at Signal Iduna Park.
Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Julian Brandt and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens were all on target for Nuri Sahin's side, who leapfrogged their opponent to fifth place in the Bundesliga table.
The hosts broke through in the seventh minute as Beier latched onto Ramy Bensebaini's throughball before finishing, while Nmecha's superb long-time strike doubled the lead five minutes before the break.
Freiburg were seeking their first away win over Dortmund since October 2001, and their task became even harder in the 63rd minute when Patrick Osterhage was dismissed for a second bookable offence.
Sahin's side capitalised on their numerical advantage three minutes later, as Brandt floated a delicious free-kick into the top corner.
Bynoe-Gittens then completed the rout in the 77th minute, with the visitors' misery compounded right at the death when Junior Adamu was given his marching orders for violent conduct.
Data Debrief: Home comforts continue for Dortmund
Dortmund have now won all six of their home league games in 2024-25, stretching their streak across all competitions to 11 matches - only topping that with a run of 14 straight wins in 1994.
They are also now unbeaten in 17 home league meetings with Freiburg, who have failed to score in five Bundesliga outings this term - with only St. Pauli (six) unable to find the net on more occasions.
Atletico Madrid 2-1 Deportivo Alaves: Sorloth hits late winner in Simeone's 700th game
Alexander Sorloth hit an 86th-minute winner as Atletico Madrid defeated Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in Diego Simeone's 700th game in charge of the club.
Atletico went behind early on in Saturday's LaLiga clash as Javi Galan conceded a penalty for a handball, with Jon Guridi sending goalkeeper Jan Oblak the wrong way from the spot to make it 1-0 in the seventh minute.
But the hosts found a way back when Sorloth's header hit the arm of Abdel Abqar and Antoine Griezmann converted the penalty to draw level in the 76th minute.
The game looked to be heading for a draw, but Rodrigo De Paul fed Sorloth and the Norwegian attacker squeezed in the winner at the near post four minutes from time.
Atletico moved up to second place in the Spanish top-flight. Meanwhile, Alaves are 16th with 13 points from 14 matches.
Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 Heidenheim: Hat-trick hero Schick inspires five-star comeback
A hat-trick from Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick inspired the Bundesliga champions to come from two goals down to beat Heidenheim 5-2 on Saturday.
The emphatic triumph saw Xabi Alonso's side extend their unbeaten league run to nine matches, moving them up to fourth but still nine points behind leaders Bayern Munich.
However, Leverkusen found themselves behind inside the opening 10 minutes when Niklas Dorsch was teed up by Marvin Pieringer inside the box.
Heidenheim doubled their advantage soon after through Mathias Honsak, who danced his way beyond three defenders before finishing into the bottom left corner.
But two goals in two minutes from Exequiel Palacios and Schick drew the hosts level, with Leverkusen able to take a hold of the contest after the interval.
Schick notched his second of the game seven minutes after the restart to put Leverkusen ahead when he brilliantly flicked Florian Wirtz's cross beyond Kevin Muller.
The Czech striker completed his hat-trick with a header in the 71st minute, with Granit Xhaka sealing the win with a curled finish into the far left corner.
Data Debrief: Patrik hero
Ahead of kick-off, Leverkusen were dealt a huge injury blow with in-form striker Victor Boniface potentially ruled out until next year, but they needn't have worried.
Schick grasped his opportunity with both hands, putting on an impressive display and ending the game with more shots on target (four) and more touches in the opposition box (13), while also accumulating a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.37 to Leverkusen's 2.05 total.
He has now scored three or more goals in a Bundesliga game on three occasions for Leverkusen, with only Ulf Kirsten (seven) having done so more times for the club.
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