Harry Kane claims he made ‘one of the best assists’ of his career in Mainz thrashing as Bayern Munich forwards highlights creative qualities despite hat-trick heroics

The England captain scored a hat-trick as Bayern reduced Bayer Leverkusen's lead at the top of the Bundesliga to seven points. After the contest, where the 30-year-old became the first man to score four hat-tricks in his debut Bundesliga season, the former Tottenham striker spoke about the importance of the victory and his stunning cross-field pass for Germany winger Musiala on Saturday.

He said: "Hopefully this game will be a bit of a restart for the rest of the season. We used the momentum today (Saturday), it was a great performance from start to finish. We took advantage of our chances against a difficult opponent. Now we have to build on this performance in the coming weeks. I feel good at the moment and we are creating a lot of chances as a team. There are still a few games left, so I want to add more goals. Of course I'm also happy about my assist for Jamal [Musiala], I saw him in the corner of my eye. That was perhaps one of my best assists in my career. It’s nice that Jamal made it worthwhile."

Bayern picked up a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Lazio in the Champions League in midweek to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition and this rout of Mainz may give them belief they can claw back Leverkusen's hefty advantage. However, there is a real possibility the Bavarians fail to pick up a major trophy in a season for the first time since 2011/12.

Leverkusen, who are unbeaten this campaign, could go 10 points clear at the top of the table again when they host Wolfsburg on Sunday evening, with Bayern next in action away to relegation-threatened Darmstadt on Saturday.