Brits Abroad: Harry Kane hits rare career first to preserve Bayern Munich's unbeaten record while Jobe Bellingham red card costs Borussia Dortmund dearly

Mainz's trip to the Allianz Arena was not supposed to be a happy one. Urs Fischer's side were sat rock bottom of the Bundesliga with only six points and one win to their name from 13 games before their clash with Bayern Munich, who, in stark contrast, had picked up 37 points from a possible 39 to top the table once again.

For much of the first half, the match went according to script, with Bayern dominating and taking the lead on the half-hour mark through 17-year-old sensation Lennart Karl. But out of nowhere, Kacper Potulski headed in an equaliser just before the break, and Jae-sung Lee nodded the visitors in front in the 67th minute, leaving Bayern staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat.

In the end, though, they were bailed out by the irrepressible Harry Kane. The England captain won a penalty with only three minutes of normal time remaining and stepped up to convert it in trademark fashion. Bayern pushed for a third thereafter, but had to settle for a 2-2 draw, which preserved their unbeaten league record in 2025-26, but was still a major shock, as Kane himself admitted.

"We were in complete control for the first 44 minutes and had many chances to score. The sudden equaliser just before half-time changed the momentum. We came out of the break dominant again, but lacked the last touch," the 32-year-old told reporters. "They then scored a nice goal, and we had to fight back. Mainz fought hard and gave it their all; they did a good job. We've had a lot of games in a short period, but that's no excuse. Of course, we wanted to go into the winter break with two wins. A draw at home is disappointing, but we have to accept it and move on."

There was, however, a notable consolation for Kane, who brought up his 50th goal for Bayern in 2025. That's the first time he has ever reached a half-century for his club in a calendar year, and new landmarks are getting harder to come by for a player who has broken records for fun since moving to Germany. Kane wasn't at his best against Mainz, but still made the difference when his team needed it most, and this will no doubt only be a hiccup for Vincent Kompany's all-conquering side.

Dutch icon Ruud Gullit claimed Jude Bellingham is Real Madrid's best player and called the England midfielder a "victim" after Xabi Alonso's side went down 2-1 at home against Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday. Bellingham certainly worked harder than any other Madrid player in that contest, and that was the case again during their latest La Liga outing against Alaves on Sunday.

Madrid emerged 2-1 winners to ease the pressure on Alonso and stay within touch of Barcelona at the Liga summit, but it wasn't pretty. There were sloppy displays all over the pitch once again, with Toni Rudiger the man at fault for Alaves' surprise equaliser in the 68th minute. 

Moments of individual quality from Kylian Mbappe and Rodrygo got Madrid over the line, but it was Bellingham who led by example. His tireless efforts in the middle of the park prevented Los Blancos from capitulating against a determined opponent, with the 22-year-old posting six recoveries and eight duel wins over the 90 minutes.

Speculation over Alonso's position will continue, but he is convinced that the dressing room is still behind him, as he told reporters after the final whistle: “We’re all in this together. We’re fighting through the good times and the not-so-good times. Today, with the conditions we had, the team competed very well.” And no one epitomised that fighting spirit more than Bellingham.

Barcelona maintained their four-point lead over Real Madrid with a routine 2-0 victory over Osasuna at the renovated Camp Nou. Hansi Flick's side are purring again after an inconsistent start to the campaign, and it's no coincidence their upturn in form has coincided with Raphinha's return from injury.

The Brazilian was the match-winner on Saturday with a second-half brace, and his first goal was particularly impressive. He rifled the ball into the corner from just outside the box after picking up a pass from Pedri, showing once again that he only needs a sight of the posts to make a devastating impact.

The same cannot be said for Marcus Rashford at the moment, though. The Manchester United loanee failed to score for the fifth league game in a row, and was largely ineffective. He missed one big chance, lost possession 20 times and didn't post a single accurate cross before being replaced by Frenkie de Jong in the 74th minute.

Rashford was always heavily involved in Barca's build-up play, but he does not yet match up to the likes of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal for quality. He's still too wasteful in the critical moments and needs to show more composure, as reflected by his underwhelming record of just six goals in 22 appearances for the club in all competitions to date.

Still, the fact that he is still playing regularly for one of Europe's finest teams is a real feather in his cap. Rashford has earned the trust of Flick, who hailed the 28-year-old's "fantastic mentality" in the build-up to the game. He won't start as often now Raphinha is back, but Rashford has an important role to play in Barca's latest assault on three trophy fronts, and if he can improve his decision-making, he may yet earn the permanent move to Catalunya that he craves.

Jobe Bellingham just cannot catch a break. The former Sunderland ace has struggled to prove himself since his summer move to Dortmund, but played the full 90 minutes of their 2-2 draw with Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League last week, and impressed enough to retain his place in Niko Kovac's starting XI for a trip to Freiburg on Sunday.

Dortmund could have closed the gap on Bundesliga leaders Bayern to seven points with a victory, and they looked on course for exactly that when Ramy Bensebaini opened the scoring in the 31st minute. But early in the second half, the momentum of the game switched.

Gregor Kobel played a hospital pass into Bellingham instead of clearing his lines as Freiburg pressed hard to win back possession, and Philipp Treu nipped in ahead of the 20-year-old. Bellingham had no choice but stick out a leg and try to stop the Freiburg full-back, but didn't make contact with the ball and inadvertently tripped him just as it looked like he would race through one-vs-one with Kobel.

The referee had little choice but to show Bellingham a red card for denying Freiburg a clear scoring opportunity. It was his first sending off in a Dortmund shirt and only the second of his career, which must have been very hard to take under the circumstances. Kobel, after all, was the one culpable, not Bellingham.

Dortmund subsequently lost control of the game with only 10 men, and Freiburg eventually stole a point thanks to an acrobatic finish from Lucas Holer. Bellingham will now serve a minimum one-game suspension, meaning he will miss BVB's final league game of the year against Borussia Monchengladbach. 

There will be no rap on the knuckles for the Birmingham City academy graduate behind the scenes, though. "It was a chain of events, it was avoidable. In that action, there are many things you can do better. Jobe tries to save it. Someone always ends up being involved – this time it was Jobe," Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said to the media.

Kobel, meanwhile, had the good grace to accept the responsibility for the incident: "I have to see that better, I have to help Jobe there. I’m sorry for him. In the end I’m happy to take the blame, that’s okay."

Last week was arguably the worst yet of Scott McTominay's spell at Napoli, which has otherwise exceeded the expectations of pundits and fans alike across the continent. The Scotland international was the driving force behind the club's run to Scudetto glory after his 2024 move from Manchester United, and has also been a consistently brilliant performer in the first half of the 2025-26 season for Antonio Conte's side.

However, McTominay had a rare off-day against former manager Jose Mourinho on Wednesday as Napoli slumped to a Champions League defeat at Benfica, and found himself on the losing side once again at the weekend away at Udinese. The Serie A holders went down 1-0 courtesy of wonderful strike from Jurgen Ekkelenkamp in the 73rd minute, slipping to third in the standings as a result, with Inter moving to the summit after capitalising with a 2-1 win at Genoa.

McTominay produced an improved showing, winning all of his aerial duels and completing 92 percent of his passes, but he could not prevent Udinese from winning the midfield battle, and was outshone by another Brit in the form of former Aston Villa star Keinan Davis. Napoli might have lost by a wider margin had Davis not had a goal disallowed, and he provided the assist for Ekkelenkamp after beating two Napoli defenders to a loose ball.

"We were too worried and fearful," Conte admitted in his post-match press conference. The Italian coach did not, however, have any question marks about the application levels from his players, as he added: "I have nothing negative to say about the guys who are giving their all in this emergency." That was no doubt aimed at McTominay, who is still setting an example for his team-mates with his endeavour on and off the ball.

Napoli, however, do not look as cohesive as they did last term, and McTominay has been forced into a limiting, deeper role. Conte must find the right balance again on Thursday when his side host AC Milan in the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final, or else the wheels could really start to come off.

"I see him every day, he has huge potential," Roberto De Zerbi said after watching Mason Greenwood fire Marseille to a 3-2 victory over Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League. "I don't see any other players in Europe at the same level. He has the potential to win the Ballon d'Or. It will be up to him to decide whether he wants to do everything he can to fight for it or not."

Greenwood struck twice against the Belgian side, and was on the scoresheet again when Marseille hosted Monaco on Sunday. De Zerbi's side didn't play well, but the ex-Manchester United forward lifted them to three points, finding the top corner with a superb first-time shot in the 82nd minute to send Marseille third in Ligue 1.

Winning the Ballon d'Or doesn't seem like a realistic goal for Greenwood because Marseille likely won't have the legs for a sustained Ligue 1 title challenge or a long European run, but there's no reason he can't force a nomination. Greenwood matched 2025 Golden Ball winner Ousmane Dembele's haul of 21 Ligue 1 goals last season, and is the outright leader for the top scorer prize this time around with 11 goals from his first 15 appearances.

"Mason came into the game very well," De Zerbi said to Ligue 1+ after Greenwood's latest star turn. "He faded a bit, but there are times when I want to take Mason off the pitch, but he's a player who can win you the game at any moment." Indeed, the 24-year-old also has four goal contributions to his name from six Champions League outings, putting himself back on the map after putting the controversial end to his United career behind him.

Greenwood still has plenty of detractors and probably won't ever get a second chance in the Premier League or with the England national team, but it's impossible to ignore his impact at Marseille. Barcelona have been linked with a 2026 swoop, and it's certainly easy to imagine him being even more deadly in a team full of world-class players. If he keeps up his current output, more doors will open.