Tag: Stuttgart

Harry Kane scored his 32nd goal of the campaign as Bayern Munich cruised to a 4-2 home win over Stuttgart to claim a record-extending 35th Bundesliga title.

Raphael Guerreiro, Nicolas Jackson and Alphonso Davies joined Kane on the scoresheet, while Chris Fuehrich and Chema Andres scored for the visitors.

Borussia Dortmund’s limp 2-1 defeat at Hoffenheim on Saturday, their second in two matches, left the door open for Bayern, who only needed a point at home to secure the title with four games to spare.

Coach Vincent Kompany left regular starters Kane, Michael Olise, Manuel Neuer, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Dayot Upamecano and Jonathan Tah on the bench with Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final at Bayer Leverkusen in mind.

Bayern fell behind when Chris Fuehrich scored with 21 minutes gone, but roared back, scoring three goals in seven minutes.

Jamal Musiala created Guerreiro’s opener before Luis Diaz laid on two goals in four minutes for Jackson and Davies to grab control of the match by the break.

Kane grabbed another early in the second-half to ensure another Bundesliga crown was quickly added to his burgeoning team trophy collection.

With victory secure, Bayern took their foot off the pedal as an assistant brought bags full of ‘ 2026 Champions’ t-shirts to the sideline.

Andres added a late goal for Stuttgart with two minutes remaining, but Bayern Munich were on cruise control with title celebrations in mind.

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The title victory once again illustrated Bayern’s modern and historical dominance of German football. The Bavarian giants have now won 13 of the past 14 Bundesliga titles. Bayern have 35 league titles, with no other team reaching double figures.

Bayern’s wealth and influence outshines all of their domestic rivals, and this season has been truly remarkable.

Bayern have scored 109 goals, the most in Bundesliga history and eight more than the previous record set back in 1971-72, with four games remaining.

Free-scoring Bayern have 79 points and a goal difference of 80. If the season ended today, Bayern would become the first team to have a greater goal difference than points tally in Bundesliga history.

With four wins in their remaining four games, Bayern could bring up 91 points, equalling the best mark set by their treble-bound side in 2012-13.

Then there are the individual records. Kane, who became the first Englishman since 1930-31 to reach a half-century of goals in a season in all competitions on Wednesday, can still reach Robert Lewandowski’s single-season goals record of 41.

The England captain has 32 goals from his 27 games this campaign and is in with an outside chance of catching Lewandowski.

Michael Olise has 18 assists, three shy of the all-time mark set by Thomas Mueller in 2019-20.

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Holders Real Madrid kicked off the defence of their Champions League crown on Tuesday with a battling 3-1 win at home to Stuttgart in their first game of an expanded tournament.

Kylian Mbappe put Madrid ahead straight after half-time but Stuttgart equalised through Deniz Undav’s header before late goals from Antonio Rudiger and Endrick sealed victory for the Spanish giants.

Stuttgart had the better of an entertaining opening period but Carlo Ancelotti’s team have a habit of grinding out victories when up against the wall and they took the three points despite the visitors’ impressive efforts.

“We suffered at the start because we lost a lot of duels… the important thing was to win and we won, so everything’s good,” said Madrid coach Ancelotti. “You always have to fight at the start of the season, when you aren’t at your best.”

Mbappe reached five goals for the season in seven appearances across all competitions by opening the scoring when he raced into space at the start of the second half.

“I know I can do more, each game I feel better and now I’m scoring goals, and I’m happy here,” Mbappe told Movistar.

“(The game was) hard, but it’s the Champions League — it’s always difficult, but we won at home, we won the first game,” he continued.

“What we know is that the Champions League has changed and it’s important to win quickly to see if we can qualify quickly or not.”

Ancelotti selected full-back Dani Carvajal in central defence with Eder Militao not fit enough to start, while Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni returned from injury to play in midfield.

Real Madrid have lacked a certain balance after stalwart Toni Kroos retired in the summer and the game lurched from end to end under the Santiago Bernabeu lights.

Bundesliga side Stuttgart had more of the ball and the most dangerous chances in the first half, with Enzo Millot heavily involved.

The French midfielder dragged an early shot wide and forced Thibaut Courtois to tip over his dangerous effort from range, the best of a handful of saves by the Belgian.

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At the other end, Kylian Mbappe had two shots saved by Alexander Nubel as he sought his first Champions League goal for Madrid.

Rodrygo had a shot narrowly deflected over while Madrid were awarded a penalty when Maximilian Mittelstadt appeared to catch Rudiger with a clumsy swipe, but the referee cancelled the decision after a VAR referral showed no contact was made.

Courtois thwarted Angelo Stiller and Undav hit the crossbar for Stuttgart, but they were brought crashing down to earth at the start of the second half.

Just 21 seconds after the interval Mbappe found the net, teed up unselfishly by Rodrygo. It was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it and many did, still on their way back to their seats from the Bernabeu bars.

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker was not able to win the club game’s biggest prize while playing in France and his desire to lift the trophy matches Madrid’s obsession with it.

Stuttgart did not get the memo and after Vinicius crashed an effort against the crossbar, the German side levelled.

Jamie Leweling came close himself with a flurry of attempts before hooking a corner back into the danger area for Undav to head past Courtois.

Ancelotti sent 18-year-old Brazil striker Endrick on for the final 10 minutes, hunting a winner to get the holders’ trophy defence off to the perfect start.

The goal arrived swiftly, but not from Madrid’s galaxy of attacking stars. Instead, it was from centre-back Rudiger, who nodded home from Luka Modric’s corner in the 83rd minute.

Vinicius missed a golden chance to seal Madrid’s win but his compatriot Endrick made no mistake with his only opportunity, drilling home from the edge of the box at the death.

The forward opted not to pass to his more experienced teammates and took his shot early, catching out goalkeeper Nubel.

“He’s a kid with a lot of quality and he showed it,” added Courtois. “Obviously he showed personality by not passing to Vini or Kylian and shooting there himself.”

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