Champions Bayern end season with 4-0 win at Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane is the first player in Bundesliga history to be crowned top scorer in his first two seasons. (dpa/AP pic)
SINSHEIM : Champions Bayern Munich crushed hosts Hoffenheim 4-0 in the Bundesliga finale today as record-breaking Harry Kane was crowned the league's top striker for a second straight season.
Bayern had already secured the title two weeks ago but were ready to finish their title-winning season in style when Michael Olise whipped in a fierce freekick for a 33rd minute lead.
He then turned provider, feeding Joshua Kimmich to power in their second goal eight minutes after the restart.
Kane was initially on the bench but hit the post in the second half before providing Serge Gnabry with an assist for Bayern's third goal.
The England captain, who won the first major title of his career with the Bundesliga trophy this season, did find the target in the 86th minute, slotting in from close range for his 26th league goal of the season.
He became the first player in Bundesliga history to be crowned top scorer in both his first two seasons.
Witness football history in Malaysia as Manchester United take on the Asean All-Stars – it's the clash you can't afford to miss.
Book your seat now at myticketempire.com/manumy before they're gone!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-FIFA's Wenger promises better pitch quality at 2026 World Cup
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Champions League - Semi Final - First Leg - Arsenal v Paris Saint Germain - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - April 29, 2025 Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo MIAMI (Reuters) -FIFA's Global Football Development chief Arsene Wenger acknowledged that the quality of pitches hosting Club World Cup matches in the U.S. was not good enough, but insisted it would be better when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup. The pitches, often very dry and sprinkled with water during cooling breaks or at halftime, have been widely criticised, mainly by coaches and players of the European teams taking part. "I've been personally on the pitch at Orlando," former Arsenal manager Wenger said on Saturday. "It's not at the level that the European clubs are used to because it's not perfect, but that will be rectified for the World Cup next year." Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique raised the issue early in the expanded Club World Cup tournament. "The ball bounces like a rabbit," Luis Enrique said after his team's opening 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid. "Today, for example, the field used to be artificial turf, and now it's natural grass laid over it, which means it has to be watered manually. It's a big problem for the way we play." "FIFA really needs to take this seriously. Not just the stadium fields but also the training pitches. If we're calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can't imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes." (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Malay Mail
9 hours ago
- Malay Mail
From icon to outcast: PSG brace for Messi reunion as Club World Cup pits them against Inter Miami
ATLANTA, June 28 — Paris Saint-Germain have come to the Club World Cup as newly crowned champions of Europe, but a meeting with the Inter Miami of Lionel Messi in the last 16 this Sunday brings back memories of unhappier times for the French club. PSG's stunning 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in Munich at the end of last month which allowed them to win the UEFA Champions League for the first time completed an incredible season for the Qatar-backed side under the coaching of Luis Enrique. It is no coincidence that PSG achieved their crowning glory in their first season after definitively shifting their focus away from signing superstar players to instead allow a brilliant coach to work with a hungry, dynamic young team. Kylian Mbappe's move a year ago to Real Madrid followed the departures in 2023 of Neymar, the world's most expensive signing when he joined in 2017, and Messi, in the same summer Luis Enrique was appointed. When PSG pounced in August 2021 to sign Messi after a cash-strapped Barcelona were unable to keep him, the French side logically thought the Argentinian could be the man to deliver elusive Champions League glory. Messi, who was 34 at the time, thought the same thing. 'My dream is to win another Champions League and I think I am in the ideal place to have that chance and to do it,' he said at his unveiling. Alas, it did not work out that way, either in Messi's first season in Paris, under compatriot Mauricio Pochettino in 2021/22, or in the next campaign under Christophe Galtier. PSG had got to the Champions League final and then semi-finals in the two seasons prior to Messi's arrival, so he looked like the final piece in the jigsaw. Instead they went backwards with him in the side, going out of Europe's elite club competition in the last 16 two years running. All is not forgiven Having to fit in Messi – with his estimated annual salary of 30 million euros (US$35.2 million) after tax – as well as Neymar and Mbappe may have increased the star appeal, but it weakened them as a team. Towards the end the Barcelona legend was even being jeered by some sections of the PSG support who felt Messi's commitment to the cause was not what it should have been. Messi was a PSG player when he inspired Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in late 2022, but there were only flashes of his genius at club level in France. His statistics stand up to any scrutiny, with 32 goals and 35 assists in 75 appearances, and he did win two Ligue 1 titles while helping increase PSG's value as a brand. But one memorable quote by a columnist in French sports daily L'Equipe rather summed things up. 'PSG have not been better than they were before because of he seemed to have as much desire to play in Ligue 1 as he did to go to the dentist,' wrote Vincent Duluc. Fast forward two years and Messi is enjoying the twilight of his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami, the team he has helped to qualify for the knockout stage of this Club World Cup. Fate has therefore thrown up a last-16 showdown with PSG on Sunday in Atlanta, at the same stadium where he scored a marvellous free-kick to secure a 2-1 win over Porto last week. 'All is not forgiven', said the front page of L'Equipe in France on Friday as it described the feelings of 'failure and bitterness' left behind from the Argentine's spell there. Miami coach Javier Mascherano, meanwhile, believes the unhappy memory of his time in Paris could spur Messi on. 'It's clear that for us it's better if he plays angry, because he's one of those players who, when he has something on his mind, gives an extra effort,' Mascherano told ESPN. With Luis Enrique and PSG boasting big ambitions of adding a world title to their European crown, there would be even more bitterness felt if Messi – days after his 38th birthday – managed to knock them out on Sunday. — AFP
The Star
13 hours ago
- The Star
Cricket-Jayasuriya decimates Bangladesh as Sri Lanka win by innings and 78 runs
FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Second Test - England v Sri Lanka - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - August 30, 2024 Sri Lanka's Prabath Jayasuriya in action Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo (Reuters) -Spinner Prabath Jayasuriya led the charge with a five-wicket haul as Bangladesh collapsed for just 133 in their second innings, handing Sri Lanka a win by an innings and 78 runs, with the hosts clinching a 1-0 victory in their two-test series on Saturday. Bangladesh lost six wickets within 33 runs as their batters were unable to repeat the heroics that secured a draw in the first test in Galle on Colombo's spin-friendly track. "There was a difference between (the) two matches ... that's a good morale booster for us, losing the toss and putting the opposition under pressure," Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said at the post-match presentation ceremony. After Bangladesh posted 247 in their first innings, opener Pathum Nissanka scored 158 in a player-of-the-match performance, aided by Dinesh Chandimal (93) and Kusal Mendis (84) as Sri Lanka secured a commanding 211-run lead with a total of 458. Anamul Haque (19) tried to give Bangladesh a fast start in the second innings but fell to Asitha Fernando (1-22), while his opening partner Shadam Islam (12) mistimed a cover drive and got caught just three balls later as Jayasuriya (5-56) took his first wicket of the match. De Silva (2-13) trapped fellow skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who scored twin centuries in the first test, with a leg before wicket dismissal to leave the visitors reeling at 70-4. "Very disappointing after how we finished the first Test, the way this one went," Shanto said. "We had opportunities but... always took easy options and made mistakes while batting." Mushfiqur Rahim (26), Bangladesh's other centurion in the previous match, was the next to fall as he was bowled by Jayasuriya, kicking off a collapse where Bangladesh lost their last five wickets in less than 11 overs. Sri Lanka will play three One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches against Bangladesh next month, with the first ODI set for Wednesday. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
