Adam Bate

Harry Kane is already a hero at Bayern Munich. From shaking hands with all 300 members of staff at the club’s base to embracing Oktoberfest and meeting sundry supporter groups, Bavaria has fallen for Kane as surely as those beaten Bundesliga defences. His 24 goals in the competition is the most by any player in history after 20 games and puts him on course to win the European Golden Shoe for the first time in his career. Even Robert Lewandowski’s Bundesliga record of 41 goals in a season is at…

When Sebastian Hoeness was appointed VfB Stuttgart head coach in April, the club were seemingly in disarray. Bottom of the Bundesliga table and already onto their third coach of the campaign, the ambition then was merely to survive. Hoeness’s side proceeded to lose only twice in those final 12 games, including wins home and away against Hamburg in their relegation play-off. What has happened since has been remarkable. The momentum might just carry them into the Champions League. “Getting relegat…

Barcelona progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 home victory over Napoli to secure a 4-2 aggregate win. Two goals early in the game from Fermin Lopez and Joao Cancelo put Xavi Hernandez’s side in total control but Barca had to survive a scare against the Italian champions in the middle part of the match. Amir Rrahmani pulled one back before the break and Jesper Lindstrom missed the target with a header from point-blank range late in the game that would have levelled the ti…

Aston Villa’s long season has been hugely impressive. They are fourth in the Premier League and into a European quarter-final. But coach Unai Emery knows that the decisive matches are ahead of them. “Now, we are in the key moment,” he tells Sky Sports. It helps that he has been here before even if few of his players can say the same. He talks of “protecting the players” in a period that will bring seven games in 20 days, the first of them against Wolves at Villa Park, live on Sky Sports this Sat…

The style with which Roberto De Zerbi has established Brighton in the top half of the Premier League table, this season and last, demands that the 44-year-old coach be considered for the biggest jobs. This weekend, live on Super Sunday, he takes the stage for what could be his Anfield audition. Pep Guardiola has called De Zerbi “one of the most influential managers in the last 20 years” because of his brand of football. The three-time Champions League-winning coach said: “There is no team playin…

As the Harvard Business Review puts it, one of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. Jurgen Klopp is a fine coach. But he became an even better leader because of his willingness to embrace new people and new ideas. His Liverpool side have evolved tactically, adjusting to the trends in the game, but what has made Klopp so successful extends beyond the action on the pitch. It is about the learning culture at Liverpool, the openness to improve. It mi…

As the Harvard Business Review puts it, one of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. Jurgen Klopp is a fine coach. But he became an even better leader because of his willingness to embrace new people and new ideas. His Liverpool side have evolved tactically, adjusting to the trends in the game, but what has made Klopp so successful extends beyond the action on the pitch. It is about the learning culture at Liverpool, the openness to improve. It mi…

Douglas Luiz was always capable of more and he knew it. But it is only under Unai Emery that the Brazilian has become the complete midfielder. It has been a key factor in taking Aston Villa to the brink of Champions League qualification this season. His comments during the international break about having “more freedom” to express himself under Emery reflect his change of role. After being seen as a holding midfielder throughout his first three seasons in a Villa shirt, a different player has em…

The Bundesliga season turned into a procession but not for the team that had won the previous 11 titles. Bayer Leverkusen have blown away the competition to win the trophy for the first time in the club’s history - and without losing a single game. Keep this up for the remaining five fixtures and Leverkusen will break Bayern’s record of a decade ago for the most points ever accumulated in a Bundesliga season. It illustrates that even Bayern at their very best could not compete with this. It is a…

Liverpool’s lethargic first-half performance against Crystal Palace could well have cost them the Premier League title. At this crucial stage of the season, there has been a dip in intensity. Perhaps Harvey Elliott is the man who can up those levels once more? That is the view of many supporters confused as to why Elliott was hooked at half-time during the defeat to Atalanta on Thursday and only entered the fray against Palace after the 80-minute mark. Elliott brings the pressing that Jurgen Klo…