Julian Nagelsmann believes Germany's victory over Hungary on Wednesday showed their increasing maturity, even if Toni Kroos is far from satisfied with the Euro 2024 hosts' progress so far.

Germany became the first team to reach the last 16 of the tournament as goals either side of half-time from Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan saw off tricky opponents.

Indeed, head coach Nagelsmann suggested this was the sort of match in which his team might previously have faltered.

"That was a very unpleasant opponent," he told MagentaTV. "You have to win a game like that first.

"It shows a good maturing process. In November, we would not have won this game."

It is only the second time Germany have advanced through the group stage in four major tournaments, but there is no time to relax ahead of their third match against Switzerland.

The hosts will name a strong side as they aim to maintain their momentum.

"It is important that we have as many players from the first XI back on the pitch as possible, because we have deliberately distributed the roles," Nagelsmann added. "We believe in the players' respective strengths in their roles.

"It may of course be that we change one or two players; we have to see how everyone gets through this game. But as of now, everyone is healthy."

That will be music to the ears of retiring midfielder Kroos, who is keen for Germany to go "full throttle" against Switzerland.

He and his team-mates are perhaps wary of a repeat of the last Euros, where Germany came through the group stage but drew their third match and then had to face England in the last 16, losing at Wembley.

"There is little reason for the pressure to drop now because we have a bigger goal than just the round of 16," Kroos said.

He added to RTL: "It is also a statement to come first in the group, and it is important to maintain this run."

Germany made it two wins from two games at Euro 2024 by beating Hungary 2-0, overcoming a stern test to book their place in the last 16.

Having had things their own way from the off in a 5-1 rout of Scotland, Germany were put under more pressure by a Hungary side chasing a response to their defeat at the hands of Switzerland.

Marco Rossi's side created several good chances in front of a nervous crowd in Stuttgart, but they failed to make them count as Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan scored either side of half-time.

Julian Nagelsmann's hosts are now assured of a place in the knockout rounds and can win Group A when they face Switzerland on Sunday.

Hungary's best chance of qualifying, meanwhile, is now as one of the best third-place finishers, with Scotland their opponents on matchday three.

Just 15 seconds had been played when Manuel Neuer was worked for the first time, smothering Roland Sallai's attempt following some hesitant Germany defending.

The hosts soon got on top, though, and they made their dominance of possession count after 22 minutes. Willi Orban appealed in vain for a foul after being nudged by Gundogan, who teed up Musiala to lash home with Peter Gulacsi grounded. 

Neuer then had to remain alert to keep out Dominik Szoboszlai's free-kick, and Germany survived another massive scare on the stroke of half-time.

Sallai reacted quickest to convert on the rebound after Neuer was forced into action by Orban's header, only for an offside flag against the RB Leipzig captain to deny Hungary. 

Another huge chance went begging for Hungary on the hour mark, Barnabas Varga failing to direct his header on target after being picked out by Sallai's left-wing cross.

Hungary were punished for their wastefulness seven minutes later, with Maximilian Mittelstadt's cutback finding Gundogan in space and allowing him to sweep into the bottom-right corner to give the hosts daylight. 

Hungary almost got one back late on as Neuer spilled a looping cross, but Joshua Kimmich got back on the line to clear Martin Adam's shot and preserve the shutout. 

Musiala justifies the hype 

Having doubled Germany's lead over Scotland with a powerful finish into the roof of the net last Friday, Musiala put Nagelsmann's side ahead with a similar strike on Wednesday.

Tipped to play a talismanic role ahead of the tournament, it's fair to say Musiala is living up to the billing.

At the age of 21 years and 114 days, he has become the second youngest player to ever score on his first two starts at the European Championships, after Ferenc Bene at Euro 1964 (19 years, 186 days).

He is also the youngest player in history to score in a team's first two group-stage matches at a single edition of the tournament. 

Hungary give hosts a scare

While Germany were deeply impressive in their demolition of Scotland, Steve Clarke's side failed to attempt a shot on target in a miserable performance, leading many to ask how many conclusions could really be drawn from that game.

Hungary certainly put up more of a fight, with their seven first-half shots the joint-most Germany have faced at the Euros since Turkiye attempted 16 against them in 2008.

Their best opportunity, according to the expected goals figures, came after just 15 seconds as Sallai spurned a chance worth 0.36 xG. That would have been the fastest goal in Euros history, surpassing Nedim Bajrami's 23-second strike against Italy last Saturday.

Poor finishing – as well as three saves from Neuer – cost them, and Germany upped the ante in the second half to pull away.

Day two of Euro 2024 picked up the excitement where it left off, with a historic round of games on Saturday.

Switzerland joined Germany level on points at the top of Group A with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary before Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in their Group B opener with three first-half goals.

Italy's European Championships title defence got off to a perfect start as they bounced back from conceding the earliest goal in the tournament's history (23 seconds) by beating Albania 2-1.

While the football continued to entertain, there was also plenty of action on social media. Here's a pick of some of the best posts.

What might have been for Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon's official X account drew plenty of attention as the admin latched onto the hype over Jamal Musiala, following the Germany international's magical display against Scotland.

Musiala grew up in England, and represented AFC Wimbledon, via the Corpus Christi Primary School, in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

It's clear from the highlights of that match, in which Musiala scored a hat-trick and left defenders mesmerised - a bit like he did on Friday - that he was a special talent.

Embolo back on the scene

Breel Embolo endured an injury-hit campaign for Monaco, but he is back to fitness in time to feature for Switzerland, for whom he remains a crucial player.

And after coming on as a second-half substitute, Embolo sealed the three points as the Swiss beat Hungary 3-1 in the first game of the day. 

As the official Euro 2042 X account pointed out, Embolo has now netted in successive Euros tournaments for his nation.

Birthday boy

Pascal Gross is a newcomer to Germany's squad, and came on for his major tournament debut during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

The Brighton midfielder then celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, with Germany's official X account sharing the celebrations.

That big win over Scotland, and his Euros bow, was surely a great way to welcome in his 34th year.

UEFA turns 70

Gross was not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday.

Indeed, UEFA marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, which came on June 15, 1954.

"It's a story of devotion, dedication and dreams..." shared the governing bodies' official X account.

Barcelona show pride of record-breaking youngster

Spain got off to the perfect start in the so-called 'group of death' with a rampant 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

But, when the team sheets came out before the game, all the headlines quickly turned to Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to appear at the Euros at 16 years and 338 days.

After an impressive performance by the youngster, Barcelona were quick to remind fans where he came from with a post on X: "He's very good... and he's ours."

Van Dijk, Simons and De Ligt put to the test

The Netherlands are yet to open their campaign in Euro 2024, but put aside their preparation to take some time to answer questions from young fans.

Xavi Simons was quizzed on which defender scares him the most - fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk - while the captain and Matthijs de Ligt rated their chances of winning the tournament.

Final preparations

England open their campaign when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and on Saturday, Gareth Southgate's team ran through their MD-1 training session.

All 26 players were involved in the session, with England allowing their fans to watch on live via a post on X.

Only part of the session was broadcast, however, so any Serbia spies could not garner too much information about Southgate's tactics ahead of the Group C clash.

Scotland were no match for Germany as the rampant Euro 2024 hosts made a dream start to the tournament on Friday.

Florian Wirtz got the ball rolling in the 10th minute, becoming the youngest scorer of an opening goal at the European Championships in the tournament's history.

The excellent Jamal Musiala soon made it 2-0, rifling home after he was set up by Kai Havertz inside the area.

In Wirtz (21 years, 42 days) and Musiala (21 years, 109 days), Germany became the first team in European Championship history to have two players aged 21 or younger score in the same match.

Havertz turned scorer when he slotted in from the penalty spot before half-time, with Scotland defender Ryan Porteous seeing red for a lunge on Ilkay Gundogan, after a VAR review.

Porteous became the second Scottish player sent off at a major tournament, after Craig Burley in the 1998 World Cup against Morocco.

It is the first time a player has been sent off in the opening game of the Euros since 2012, when both Sokratis (Greece) and Wojciech Szczesny (Poland) were dismissed in a 1-1 draw.

Havertz's successfully converted spot-kick also ensured Germany went in at half-time 3-0 up – it is just the third time in European Championship history a team has scored three goals in the first half of a game, along with France vs Belgium in 1984 (3-0 at half-time) and France vs Iceland in 2016 (4-0 at half-time).

Germany made their numerical advantage count to go on and secure the biggest win by a host nation in their opening match at a European Championship tournament, and their biggest victory ever at the Euros, with an own goal from Antonio Rudiger the only negative.

Indeed, that own goal was kind to Scotland, who had only one shot, which they failed to get on target, and mustered an xG of only 0.01, in comparison to Germany's 2.17.

It marks the first time Scotland have failed to have a shot on target in a major tournament match since 1992, when they faced the Netherlands in the Euros.

Steve Clarke's team put in a sorry performance, and must now pick themselves up to face Switzerland. They will go into that match on Wednesday on the back of suffering their heaviest defeat at a major tournament since they lost 7-0 to Uruguay at the 1954 World Cup.

Germany, meanwhile, already have one foot in the knockouts, and could get the job done by beating Hungary.

Musiala really was sensational, completing five of his eight dribble attempts while also having six touches in the opponent's box – four more than Scotland managed altogether.

And finally, this match was the first match in European Championship history to see a red card, a penalty scored and an own goal scored.

Euro 2024 has started in style, even if Scotland fans will be in a hurry to forget this result.

Julian Nagelsmann hailed his Germany players for the way they handled the pressure of being Euro 2024 hosts in their 5-1 win over Scotland, adding he was surprised by the lack of aggression on show from Steve Clarke's men.

Germany recorded the biggest opening-game win at a European Championship, with Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Niclas Fullkrug and Emre Can scoring.

The result made Nagelsmann just the second coach to win his first Euros game by four or more goals, after Sweden's Lars Lagerback in 2004 (5-0 versus Bulgaria).

It was also Germany's biggest victory at the Euros, and the first time Scotland had conceded five or more goals in a competitive game since they were trounced 6-0 by the Netherlands in a Euro 2004 qualifier 21 years ago.

Germany endured a troubled build-up to their home tournament, with Nagelsmann only having eight games to prepare after Hansi Flick was sacked last year.

He believes they did an excellent job of handling the pressure that comes with a home opener, telling ITV Sport: "I'm happy, I'm satisfied. 

"In the first game as the home country… we looked back at the first games of the last tournaments and there can be a kind of pressure.

"Especially in the first 20 minutes, we were brilliant, we had great ball possession and great counter-pressing. 

"I was happy with the performance and we stayed focused for the whole game.

"We conceded one goal, but in the end it's okay. Our players were complaining about conceding that goal, which is a good sign when we were already four goals in the lead."

Scotland did not attempt a single shot on target and failed to register an effort of any kind until Scott McKenna forced an own goal off Antonio Rudiger in the 87th minute.

Nagelsmann admits he was expecting more from Clarke's team, who found themselves three goals and a man down by half-time as Ryan Porteous was sent off for a horror challenge on Ilkay Gundogan. 

"I was kind of surprised that Scotland weren't that aggressive in the first 20 minutes," Nagelsmann said.

"I think they were surprised by our possession, which was really concentrated. They started the game very well and made one mistake in the first 15 minutes.

"Then they were kind of surprised, kind of afraid. They felt we had players in the offensive row that could score goals so they defended low. 

"They didn't make the high pressure like they sometimes did in the qualifiers. I think the first 20 minutes were the key to the game."

Florian Wirtz needed only 10 minutes to spark Euro 2024 into life.

After a brilliant season for Bayer Leverkusen, in which he was named the Bundesliga's Player of the Season, Wirtz came into Euro 2024 as one of the standout youngsters.

His first-time finish to put Germany ahead in Munich on Friday, a cute side-footed effort that Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn could only help in off the post, proved why everyone is so excited to see how Julian Nagelsmann gets the best out of a player who scored 18 goals and set up 19 more in all competitions in 2023-24.

Wirtz's goal set Germany on their way to a 5-1 rout – the biggest win for a host in the opening match of a Euros in the tournament's history.

He was not the superstar of Germany's performance, though. His fellow youngster, Jamal Musiala, was spellbinding.

Having lashed in a wonderful second goal for the hosts, Musiala ran the show in the final third, and played a key role with a wonderful pass when super-sub Niclas Fullkrug made it 4-0 midway through the second half.

Musiala, who was the one bright spark from Germany's dismal performance under Hansi Flick at the 2022 World Cup, teased and toyed with Scotland. He attempted eight dribbles, completing five, had a game-high six touches in the opposition box and came out on top in nine of his 15 duels before he was replaced, fittingly perhaps, by the vastly experienced Thomas Muller.

The intriguing question ahead of kick-off was how Nagelsmann, the youngest-ever coach in the history of the Euros, would manage to get those two fantastic number 10s into the same team.

His answer was to dovetail the duo with an experienced midfield – Ilkay Gundogan (33) played ahead of Robert Andrich (29) and the imperious Toni Kroos (34) – and it worked a treat.

Wirtz is the youngest player to score the opening goal at a Euros, and the youngest player to net for Germany at the tournament. 

Once Musiala drilled home, Germany became the first team to have two players aged 21 or younger score for them in the same Euros match.

But it was not all about the flair of youth at the Allianz Arena, where the only blemish on Germany's copybook was an Antonio Rudiger own goal as Scotland mustered a meagre 0.01 xG and failed to have a shot on target.

Kroos, in the first game of his swansong, led the game for touches (108), and completed 101 (99 per cent) of his 102 passes. It was his crossfield pass that opened up the pitch for Joshua Kimmich to cut inside from the right and lay on Wirtz's opener.

Gundogan nipped around, linking the play; the Barcelona midfielder won the penalty from which Kai Havertz made it 3-0 – and which led to Scotland defender Ryan Porteous becoming the second Scottish player sent off at a major tournament, after Craig Burley in the 1998 World Cup against Morocco. 

At the back, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made his 35th appearance at a major tournament. It saw the 38-year-old surpass Philipp Lahm as Germany's all-time appearance maker in the Euros and World Cup combined.

Indeed, for all the talk that Nagelsmann had gone with a relatively inexperienced squad for this home tournament, and that it could act as a way to build towards the 2026 World Cup, Germany's starting XI on Friday had an average age of 29 years and 22 days. 

That makes it Germany's oldest starting XI at a World Cup or Euros since 2000.

There was a healthy balance all around the pitch for Germany, as Nagelsmann became only the second manager to win by four goals in his first game at the European Championship, along with Lars Lagerback in 2004 (Sweden 5-0 Bulgaria).

And the men in the middle are worth a mention.

Havertz is no longer the bright new hope for German football, but the 25-year-old was hugely impressive as he led the line, providing the assist for Musiala and coolly converting his penalty.

Niclas Fullkrug, fresh from helping Borussia Dortmund reach the Champions League final, replaced Havertz around the hour mark. Soon after, he fired in a wonderful strike.

He will be playing a back-up role in this tournament, but he should not mind that. Three of Fullkrug's major tournament goals have been as a sub, a joint-record for a European nation, along with Hungary's Laszlo Kiss, Portugal's Rui Costa, and Germany's Andre Schurrle.

Fullkrug's club-mate Emre Can, a late call-up, rounded matters off late on. 

Germany have not always clicked under Nagelsmann, but they are clearly the best team in Group A and have the weight of a nation behind them.

Hungary and Switzerland will likely provide sterner tests than Scotland, though with a perfect blend of youth and experience, the hosts laid down a marker.

Euro 2024 hosts Germany got off to a flying start as they comprehensively dispatched Scotland 5-1 on Friday.

Goals from Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug blew Scotland away at the Allianz Arena.

But while the football entertained, there was also plenty of action on social media.

Here's a pick of the best posts.

The special... two?

Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson enjoyed a great rivalry on the touchline down the years, but there was no sign of that as the two watched on from the stands in Munich.

Unfortunately for Ferguson, Scotland were on the receiving end of a hammering.

We can only wonder what these two greats had to say about Scotland's sorry performance, though surely they will have been full of praise for Germany.

Honouring a great

Franz Beckenbauer passed away in January, and ahead of the opening game, his wife Heidi led a touching tribute to der Kaiser.

Moral support

Nathan Patterson is not fit to feature for Scotland, but the Everton full-back has travelled out to Germany to support his team-mates.

Unfortunately for Scotland, it didn't quite work out, and Patterson will be needing to provide plenty of moral support after their heavy defeat in Munich.

Pickford gets quizzed

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was fulfilling his media duties on Friday, and he stopped by to answer some fan questions ahead of the Three Lions' opener against Serbia.

Pickford was quizzed on how he copes with the pressure as kick-off approaches - "Enjoy the moment", he said - while revealing former England shot-stopper Joe Hart, who retired last month, has served as an inspiration.

Young guns exciting Schweinsteiger 

Bastian Schweinsteiger helped Germany to World Cup glory in 2014, so it feels like he is pretty well placed to pass judgement on up and coming stars.

And when asked on X for the players he was most excited to see in action at Euro 2024, the former Bayern Munich midfielder picked out Florian Wirtz, Cole Palmer and Rafael Leao.

Wirtz certainly delivered, as he starred in Germany's big win over Scotland. Will Palmer and Leao be equally as impressive for England and Portugal respectively?

Picture perfect

Olivier Giroud is one handsome devil, so it's no surprise that he's a photographer's dream.

That being said, it's rare that the person behind the camera is one of his team-mates, but Giroud could only smile, and offer a cheeky pose, as Benjamin Pavard sneakily grabbed a camera and tried to get the perfect shot while the France number nine was holding a press conference.

Bayern Munich travel to Stuttgart this weekend and are ready to rotate their side with the Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid to come four days later, manager Thomas Tuchel said.

The league title has been secured by Bayer Leverkusen, and with the Bundesliga's top five clubs guaranteed Champions League football next season, Saturday's clash between Bayern in second and third-placed Stuttgart is not crucial.

"We will give a few players the chance to pick up some rhythm," Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"Of course, we will also take a few players out and allow ourselves to adapt the rhythm to Wednesday. 

"But that doesn't relieve us of our responsibility, that those who play have to fight and show grit there."

Bayern drew 2-2 at home to Madrid on Tuesday, a game Matthijs de Ligt missed due to injury, and the Dutch defender will also sit out the trip to Stuttgart in the hope of making the return game in Spain.

"Matthijs de Ligt won't be in the squad, as the plan is that he returns to training on Sunday, then we have got three days," Tuchel said.

"Jamal Musiala won't be in the squad. Same procedure there. Dayot Upamecano will try and train [Friday], so we'll see."

Leroy Sane scored in the draw with Madrid, after missing the last four league games through injury. The winger has played three Champions League games in that time and will be in the squad for Stuttgart.

"You always try to have a connection to the players. Leroy's been training with pain for seven or eight weeks, but is always available," Tuchel said.

"He has a high threshold. He deserves the utmost respect there. He's a bit short there at the moment because he can't train properly. 

"But he is in training and is coming to Stuttgart."

Bayern have 69 points, five ahead of Stuttgart with three games remaining.

What the papers say

Manchester City will be hoping to stave off competitors Liverpool, Barcelona and Paris St Germain for 21-year-old Bayern Munich forward Jamal Musiala according to the Independent. The 21-year-old from Germany has scored 10 goals in 23 matches in the Bundesliga this season.

The Mirror says Arsenal are now rethinking their plans for Brentford striker Ivan Toney due to the form of German forward Kai Havertz. The 24-year-old has scored five goals in his last seven matches, with the club now considering looking for a younger forward.

Chelsea could let 11 players leave the club this summer, the Sun says, with 24-year-old midfielder Conor Gallagher expected to be one of those players.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Viktor Gyokeres: The 25-year-old Sporting Lisbon forward is a top transfer target for Arsenal, but they will have to pay £85million to match the club’s release clause.

Piero Hincapie: Tottenham could look to sign the 22-year-old Bayer Leverkusen defender as manager Ange Postecoglou has made a defender one of his priorities in the summer, Teamtalk says.

Harry Kane broke the record for most goals scored by a debutant in a Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich secured a 5-2 comeback win at bottom club Darmstadt to draw themselves within seven points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

The England captain was replaced after colliding with a post late in a contest in which Tim Skarke opened the scoring against the run of play in the 28th minute before his goal was cancelled out by the first of two from Jamal Musiala.

Kane, who earned an assist for the equaliser, nodded home his historic 31st goal in the German top flight before the break, when Oscar Vilhelmsson also came inches away with a crossbar-clipping effort.

Darmstadt lost momentum after Musiala extended Bayern’s advantage with a 64th-minute strike before Serge Gnabry and Mathys Tel added their names to the scoresheet, with Vilhelmsson only able to claw back a stoppage-time consolation.

Bayern quickly got down to business with early efforts from Eric Dier, Joshua Kimmich and Kane, narrowly escaping danger when, despite dominating with over 80 per cent possession in the first 20 minutes, Mathias Honsak’s sharply deflected effort forced Manuel Neuer into an alert palmed save.

Darmstadt took an unlikely lead from a sequence that began with a lovely long ball from deep inside the hosts’ half, eventually allowing the agile Honsak to evade a pair of Bayern defenders and release Skarke, who slotted past Neuer into the bottom right.

Bayern looked to reply quickly as Musiala completely missed his target with a close-range header, but he made no mistake when Aleksandar Pavlovic pulled the ball back to Kane, who took a loose touch before teeing up Musiala’s low finish.

The England captain handed Bayern the lead on the stroke of half-time with an historic header from Kimmich’s cross, the goal standing after a VAR review and the lead preserved at the break after Vilhelmsson could only rattle the crossbar with his attempt at an equaliser.

Musiala extended Bayern’s advantage with a fine bit of footwork to weave through a sea of blue shirts before sending a strike through Schuhen’s legs, the ball appearing to deflect off the foot of the Darmstadt keeper.

It was Musiala who set up Gnabry for Bayern’s fourth, playing through the substitute who slotted home three minutes after his 71st-minute introduction, then came inches away from a hat-trick when he clipped the crossbar from the right.

Kane crashed into a post as he looked to tuck in the rebound and was eventually replaced by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in what Gareth Southgate will hope was a precautionary measure after he was seen hobbling around the pitch.

Eight minutes of stoppage time were not going to be enough for Darmstadt especially after Tel bundled home, but Vilhelmsson did his best to send the home supporters home happier when he snatched back a late consolation with a flicked finish.

England captain Harry Kane made Bundesliga history as he became the first man to score four hat-tricks in a debut season as Bayern Munich routed lowly Mainz 8-1.

Kane struck after 13 minutes, in first-half stoppage time and 20 minutes from the whistle to take his tally for the season to 30 league goals, in the process equalling Uwe Seeler’s record in a first campaign in Germany’s top flight.

Leon Goretzka helped himself to a double and goals from Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala and substitute Serge Gnabry, with Nadiem Amiri replying for the visitors, completed a win which eased Bayern back to within seven points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who host Wolfsburg on Sunday.

There were goals too at Borussia Park as Monchengladbach and Cologne played out a 3-3 thriller.

Faride Alidou put the visitors in front after just seven minutes and then restored their advantage after Franck Honorat had levelled.

Robin Hack made it 2-2 and then fired the home side ahead with his goals coming in as many minutes, but Damion Downs ensured the spoils were shared.

Ten-man Borussia Dortmund maintained their place in the top four with a battling 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.

The visitors looked to be cruising when first-half goals from Donyell Malen and Jadon Sancho put them 2-0 up, but Marcel Sabitzer’s stoppage-time dismissal for a challenge on Mitchell Weiser left his side up against it, although Justin Njinmah’s strike 20 minutes from time was as good as it got for the hosts.

Thomas Isherwood’s own goal and a second from Christoph Baumgartner handed RB Leipzig a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Darmstadt, while Jeffrey Gouweleeuw’s first-half strike was enough to hand Augsburg a 1-0 win over Heidenheim.

Inter Milan moved 18 points clear at the top of Serie A with a hard-fought victory at Bologna.

Yann Bisseck’s first-half header clinched a 13th successive win in all competitions and stretched Inter’s advantage over second-placed Juventus, who host Atalanta on Sunday.

Substitute Eldor Shomurodov scored twice to help ease Cagliari to a precious 4-2 victory over bottom-of-the-table Salernitana.

First-half efforts from Gianluca Lapadula and Gianluca Gaetano and Shomurodov’s first put the home side 3-0 ahead and although Grigoris Kastanos and Giulio Maggiore dragged the visitors back into it, Shomurodov made sure with 14 minutes remaining.

Kristian Thorstvedt fired Sassuolo to a first league win in nine attempts as his goal secured a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Frosinone, for whom substitute Kaio Jorge missed a late penalty.

Substitute Daniel Maldini came to Monza’s rescue with a late winner to see off Genoa in a mid-table battle at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

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The visitors led 2-0 through Matteo Pessina and Dany Mota, but goals from Albert Gudmundsson and Vitinha made it 2-2 before Maldini won it with 11 minutes left.

In LaLiga, fine finishes from Portu and Savio sent Girona back above Barcelona into second place courtesy of a battling win over Osasuna.

Portu’s sweet first-half strike and a deft toe-poke from Savio sealed a 2-0 victory at the Municipal de Montilivi Stadium in which Michel’s men created enough chances to have won far more comfortably.

Real Sociedad needed a late goal from Andre Silva to maintain their bid for a top-six finish with a 3-2 win at Granada.

The hosts led 1-0 and 2-1 courtesy of Myrto Uzini’s double either side of Umar Sadiq’s equaliser, but were pegged back with 10 minutes remaining when Robin Le Normand levelled to set the stage for Silva to win it five minutes later.

Juanmi scored either side of half-time as Cadiz dented Atletico Madrid’s top-four hopes with a 2-0 win at the Ramon de Carranza Stadium, while Hugo Duro’s 40th-minute goal proved sufficient to secure a 1-0 home victory for Valencia over Getafe.

Ruben Aguilar’s first-half header dashed Brest’s hopes of closing the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain as they went down 1-0 at Lens, while second-half goals from Nicolas Tagliafico and Mama Balde secured a 2-0 win for Lyon at Lorient.

Record-breaking Harry Kane scored his fourth hat-trick of the Bundesliga season as Bayern Munich hammered Mainz 8-1.

Kane’s move to Bayern looks set to coincide with the first time in 12 years they will not win the title, but he is breaking all sorts of individual records.

Another treble saw him take his tally to 30 league goals for the season, with Robert Lewandowski’s seasonal record of 41 under severe threat with nine games to go.

Four hat-tricks is a record in a debut Bundesliga season and reaching 30 means he is just the second-ever player to reach that tally in his debut season, with Uwe Seeler also doing it in the league’s inaugural season in 1963-64.

Leon Goretzka (two), Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala, who Kane assisted with an outrageous crossfield pass, and Serge Gnabry also scored as Bayern cut the gap to seven points on leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who have a game in hand.

Kane’s goals have not been able to keep Bayern on the coat-tails of Leverkusen, who had opened up a huge lead at the top of the table.

But the England captain cannot stop scoring and he needed just 13 minutes to open his account when he converted from Musiala’s pass.

Six minutes later Goretzka made it two as he bundled home a rebound after Kane’s header glanced the post.

Kane looked primed to have a chance to add another from 12 yards after they were awarded a penalty for handball, but VAR overturned the decision – and then Mainz got themselves back into the game when Nadiem Amiri rifled home from 25 yards.

But Bayern were in no mood to drop more points and put their visitors to the sword.

Former Tottenham striker Kane made it 3-1 in first-half injury time with a brilliant finish, superbly controlling Goretzka’s cross and firing home.

Muller got in on the act two minutes after the restart as he tapped home Musiala’s cross before the 21-year-old got on the scoresheet himself just after the hour.

He had Kane to thank, though, for delivering a brilliant arching ball that sent him clear and he did the rest.

Gnabry joined in the fun five minutes later with a mesmerising finish, flicking home Goretzka’s cross with his back to goal.

Kane added another match ball to his collection when he got on the end of Eric Dier’s header at the far post to create history.

Goretzka completed a good afternoon’s work in added time as he headed home Joshua Kimmich’s cross.

Harry Kane produced a long-range stunner to help Bayern Munich close out 2023 with a 2-1 win at Wolfsburg.

Kane fired home from 25 yards in the 43rd minute for his 21st Bundesliga goal of the season to put Thomas Tuchel’s side in control after Jamal Musiala opened the scoring on his landmark appearance.

Wolfsburg captain Maximilian Arnold reduced the arrears on the stroke of half-time with a fine strike of his own, but Niko Kovac’s men were unable to take points off his former side Bayern, who stayed second and four points behind Bayer Leverkusen going into the mid-season break.

Tuchel could only name six substitutes at Volkswagen Arena and remained without Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich.

It was actually Wolfsburg who made the stronger start with Manuel Neuer forced to deny Mattias Svanberg early on, but it was not a sign of things to come.

Kane got his first sight of goal soon after although failed to connect sufficiently enough with his attempted volley as Bayern tried to stamp their authority on proceedings.

The visitors dominated possession and should have broke the deadlock in the 28th minute, but Thomas Muller failed to find the net with two efforts after Leroy Sane’s centre.

Muller, fresh from signing a new contract on Tuesday, headed against the crossbar minutes later before he turned provider with 33 minutes on the clock.

Bayern’s experienced attacker cut inside and produced a superb cross with his left foot that Musiala headed home to mark his 100th Bundesliga appearance in style.

A second assist followed for Muller 10 minutes later, but it was all about Kane as he curled into the top corner from range for his 25th goal in all competitions this season before he celebrated by sliding towards the corner flag.

It was not a perfect half for Tuchel though after Wolfsburg reduced the deficit in stoppage time when Arnold’s swerving effort beat Neuer from long range.

Wolfsburg pressed for a second after the break and had penalty appeals turned down when Svanberg went down in the area following contact from Kim Min-Jae, but play was waved on.

Tuchel reacted soon after with Matthijs de Ligt introduced for his first appearance since November 1 following a knee injury.

Raphael Guerreiro could have sealed the points with 16 minutes left, but his close-range shot was blocked.

Wolfsburg did fashion one late opportunity and Neuer punched away Arnold’s speculative effort.

Jan Vertonghen does not believe there will be two players who dominate the Ballon d'Or during the next decade in the way Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have done.

Messi scooped his record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or on Monday in Paris.

The 36-year-old led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar last year, and also enjoyed a fine individual season with Paris Saint-Germain.

This Ballon d'Or will almost certainly be Messi's last. Since 2008, he or Ronaldo have won every edition of the award bar two, with Luka Modric taking it in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022.

Messi finished ahead of Erling Haaland – who scored 52 goals in his first season at Manchester City – and his former club-mate Kylian Mbappe, who played a direct part in 50 goals in all competitions for PSG and was the World Cup's leading scorer.

While Haaland and Mbappe have been tipped to fight it out for the award over the next decade, former Tottenham and Ajax defender Vertonghen thinks the days of two players dominating are over.

"I don't think it's going to be two guys dominating for the next 15 years," Vertonghen, an Athlete Partner for APEX, told Stats Perform.

"There are a lot of massive talents. Obviously, you've got Haaland and Mbappe already there for a couple of years, but then if you look at [Jude] Bellingham, what he's doing now, [Jamal] Musiala, I love him, Phil Foden, Vinicius [Junior].

"Those are the young guys. I hope one day a defender or even a goalkeeper [can win]. Thibaut Courtois was very close the year [Real Madrid] won the Champions League.

"I'm probably forgetting 10 or 15 more names. With Belgium, we have a great couple of young guys. There's so many, and I hope one day it could go to a Belgian one."

Bellingham enjoyed a strong season with Borussia Dortmund, though has taken his play up to an elite level since his move to Real Madrid.

The England midfielder finished 18th in the overall voting, with Bayern Munich star Jamal Musiala coming in 26th, 20 places behind Vinicius.

Kevin De Bruyne came fourth in the vote, and Vertonghen enthused over his compatriot's quality.

"Kevin, his passing ability is the one that stands out - you know that he is known for his assists and his vision, but he understands the game so well," he said.

"He knows how to use the space, where to run, he is very, very good in pressing which is something you don't really think of when you think of him, you think of assists, vision, scoring goals, but the way he is able to understand how a team builds up, he's just a genius of the pitch.

"Whenever I played against him with Tottenham, we would always try to build up on the other side because he's the one that will get the team going."

Harry Kane helped Bayern Munich to a 3-1 win at Galatasaray as they remained in firm control of Group A in the Champions League.

Bayern took an early lead through Kingsley Coman but after Mauro Icardi’s 30th-minute penalty brought the hosts level, they had to soak up considerable pressure in Istanbul before two goals in the last 20 minutes secured a 16th straight group-stage win.

Kane got the first in the 73rd minute and then teed up Jamal Musiala to add another soon after as Galatasaray’s 23-match unbeaten run was ended.

After Icardi spurned an early opportunity for the hosts, Coman silenced the home crowd eight minutes in when Bayern hit Galatasaray on the break.

Leroy Sane broke down the left, cut inside and spread the ball for Coman, who had space after Kazimcan Karatas over-committed and went to ground too early, to drill home.

Galatasaray responded well to the setback, pouring forward and creating chance after chance.

Sven Ulreich did well to turn Kerem Akturkoglu’s shot around the post but was then grateful to see the Turkey forward spurn a gift, firing over the crossbar after the Bayern goalkeeper cleared the ball straight to him.

Galatasaray were rewarded on the half-hour mark when Icardi was caught by a sliding Joshua Kimmich as he tried to connect with a low cross, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot.

Icardi, who missed from the spot against Manchester United, made no mistake this time with a cheeky chip down the middle once Ulreich had already committed.

The chances continued to come as Wilfried Zaha, Sacha Boey and Akturkoglu had shots blocked before half-time.

Just before the hour Lucas Torreira stooped to meet Dries Mertens’ free-kick at the front post but could only find the side-netting, and the former Arsenal midfielder then played in Icardi whose shot was again blocked.

Their failure to convert the chances they had created cost them as Bayern came forward late on.

Kane put them back in front with 17 minutes left. He tried to meet Musiala’s low cross from the right with a flick from his trailing leg but when that effort was blocked, the ball bounced up for him to prod home.

It was then Kane’s turn to set up Musiala, who rifled home a shot from the edge of the box.

Galatasaray seemed to know they were beaten and the intent they had shown for so much of the night was gone.

Instead it was Bayern who threatened to score again, with Fernando Muslera denying Sane before Eric Choupo-Moting headed narrowly over from a Kimmich corner.

The win extended Bayern’s perfect start to the campaign as they top the standings with nine points.