GOAL brings you the lowdown on how British players are doing away from home, with many footballers now taking their talents abroad in search of prosperity. Despite the riches and the glamour of the Premier League, it's far from the be all and end all. You can still carve out a fantastic career even while out of the intense spotlight of the English media.
For example, the captain of the Three Lions decided to leave the Premier League just as he was closing in on becoming its all-time leading scorer, while two of his international team-mates are shining at Real Madrid and Scotland's Ballon d'Or nominee is living like a king in Italy.
Every Monday this season, GOAL will provide you with the latest on British stars playing on the continent and beyond. Here's what happened this weekend following a manic international break…
Getty Images SportKane plays sidekick role
By Harry Kane's high standards, this was a pretty slow week for him. He scored once as Bayern Munich smashed Freiburg 6-2 at the Allianz Arena. Therefore, he contributed to merely 16.7 percent of his side's goals. What gives?
Even despite finding the back of the net again, Kane was merely a member of the supporting cast as the Bavarians were forced to come from behind at home. Their visitors rudely sailed into a two-goal lead inside the opening 17 minutes, with both efforts coming from corners. Bayern, whose draw with Union Berlin before the international break interrupted their 16-match winning streak to open the season, took that personally.
Goals from Kane, Lennart Karl, Nicolas Jackson and Dayot Upamecano, plus a fine brace from Michael Olise, saw Vincent Kompany's men eventually run out rampant winners, but it was difficult to ignore their weaknesses defending dead balls ahead of a trip to set-piece kings Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday.
"The first 20 minutes weren't good from us, but then we showed character," Kane said post-match. "The goal to take the lead shortly after half time obviously helped us. We came out with significantly more energy in the second half. We did really well both with and without the ball and showed the true face of FC Bayern. It was a really good win."
In good news for Kane on an individual note, he is now joint-top of the European Golden Shoe rankings after Erling Haaland drew a blank in Manchester City's 2-1 loss at Newcastle on Saturday, with both strikers now level on 14 goals apiece.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportBellingham saves Madrid as Trent finally impresses
Poor Jude Bellingham was surprisingly the subject of a strange campaign from certain corners of the English media during his week away with the Three Lions. Fortunately, the Spanish press recognise his talent is less worthy of inflammatory sh*t-stirring, particularly with Real Madrid lingering from one crisis to another in recent weeks.
Pressure is already mounting on head coach Xabi Alonso despite a fairly positive start to life in the Bernabeu dugout, with the uncertain future of star winger Vinicius Jr one of the main talking points. Results are starting to slide a little too – their 1-0 defeat to Liverpool team in the Champions League a fortnight ago has already aged like milk.
On Sunday, Madrid made the trip to Elche, whose fast start to life back in La Liga has slowed in recent weeks, yet they still gave a decent account of themselves during this clash at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero. Aleix Febas gave the hosts a surprise lead at the start of the second half, before Bellingham's header from a corner was turned in by Dean Huijsen to pull Los Blancos level.
When Alvaro Rodriguez put Elche back in front with six minutes to go, it appeared Madrid would be crashing to defeat, but Bellingham tapped home the second ball from a free-kick after his initial effort was denied to ensure it ended 2-2 and rescue a late point for the visitors.
Bellingham was not the only England international to prove his worth to Madrid, with Trent Alexander-Arnold also turning some doubters into believers with his wicked deliveries from set plays, even despite his haphazard defending. , who gave the right-back a rating of 8/10 when Bellingham only got a 7, wrote: "Honestly, his set pieces are a real treat. He's delivering the ball with flair… and Madrid is getting something out of every attack. The Englishman takes a long-range shot and it sails high. He gets caught out of position for Elche's 1-0 goal. All of Madrid's danger stems from a Trent cross. A low, powerful ball that hits the crossbar. He's everywhere. And another set piece… and a Madrid goal."
Getty Images SportTomori keeps out Inter in derby win
The first Derby della Madonnina of the season swung the way of AC Milan on Sunday, emerging as 1-0 winners in their 'away' match against Inter. A second-half strike from Christian Pulisic was all that separated these two great rivals, though the Nerazzurri spurned several chances to get on the scoresheet, with Hakan Calhanoglu denied from the penalty spot by former Rossoneri team-mate Mike Maignan.
Fikayo Tomori started on the right of a back three and was tasked with trying to clamp down wing-back extraordinaire Federico Dimarco as well as Inter captain Lautaro Martinez. The latter was hooked with 25 minutes remaining despite his side chasing a goal, if you want to know how that particular battle turned out.
At 27, Tomori was the elder statesman in a Milan backline which featured 26-year-old Matteo Gabbia in the middle, while the incredibly raw Strahinja Pavlovic, 24, conceded the penalty for a trip on Marcus Thuram. In fact, Tomori is actually the oldest defender in the entire Rossoneri squad, save for summer signing Pervis Estupinan by a few months, and Massimiliano Allegri has heavily leant on the forgotten England man upon his return to San Siro, featuring in all but two games so far this season.
Allegri proclaimed pre-match that 'whoever wins the most duels will win the derby'. Tomori responded by winning six of his seven in the air and on the floor, while he made all three of his tackles, six clearances, two interceptions and one block.
Getty Images SportMcTominay helps get Napoli back on track
It was always going to be hard for Scott McTominay to return to club level with Napoli and exceed what he achieved over the November international window. His early submission for the 2026 Puskas Award – an outrageous overhead kick, obviously – was the first of many screamers during Scotland's 4-2 win at home to Denmark that saw them book a World Cup spot for the first time since 1998, only enhancing his modern-day legend.
That ought to have served as quite the palette cleanser given Napoli's indifferent defence of their Serie A title. The reigning champions of Italy went into the international break with Antonio Conte playing up the possibility of leaving the club, as is usually customary wherever he goes but is a warning sign nonetheless. A 3-1 triumph against Atalanta at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona snapped a run of three games without victory and would have vastly improved the mood around Naples.
David Neres' first-half double got Napoli on their way, and McTominay's quick thinking allowed the Brazilian to score his second, slipping the winger in down the left before he fired across goalkeeper Marco Carnasecchi to double the hosts' advantage. For those of a Manchester United persuasion wanting to check in on their alumni, Rasmus Hojlund teed up Neres for his first goal of the evening too.
