European football: Kane fires hat-trick as Bayern Munich thrash Hoffenheim

  • England captain hits ninth treble for Bundesliga leaders

  • Real Madrid sink Espanyol to keep up perfect start

Bayern Munich maintained their flawless start in the Bundesliga by beating Hoffenheim 4-1 away on Saturday after Harry Kane netted two penalties and bagged his ninth hat-trick for the German league leaders.

It was Kane’s second hat-trick of the campaign, after a second-half treble in their season opener against RB Leipzig, and he moved five clear at the top of the scoring charts with eight league goals in four matches.

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Champions League roundup: Kairat Almaty’s long journey goes unrewarded

  • Kazakhstani side beaten 4-1 at Sporting

  • Frankfurt and Brugge enjoy victories

Kairat Almaty’s debut in the league phase of the Champions League was ruined by conceding three goals in four second-half minutes as Sporting ran out 4-1 winners at the Estádio José Alvalade.

The visitors from the city of Almaty in south-eastern Kazakhstan undertook the longest journey ever recorded between two clubs in Champions League history, and they struggled to find their rhythm in the first half. Sporting were handed a penalty after 21 minutes when Aleksandr Mrynskiy brought down Luis Suárez, but Morten Hjulmand’s spot kick was kept out by 18-year-old Kairat goalkeeper Sherhan Kalmurza.

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James O’Connor retained for Wallabies’ crunch Tests against All Blacks

  • Flyhalf included despite flying to England to join new club Leicester

  • Coach Joe Schmidt’s preferred scrumhalf Jake Gordon returns

James O’Connor has been retained in Australia’s squad for back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests against New Zealand despite flying to England on Monday to join his new club Leicester.

O’Connor’s inclusion denies Western Force playmaker Ben Donaldson a recall following his recovery from a thigh injury, with coach Joe Schmidt opting for Tom Lynagh and Tane Edmed as his other flyhalf options in the 34-man squad named on Thursday.

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Champions League roundup: PSG rout Atalanta, Thuram leads Inter past Ajax

  • Finalists of last season make winning starts to campaigns

  • Pafos and Bodø/Glimt both earn draws away from home

Paris Saint-Germain picked up where they left off following the club’s triumph last season as they opened their new Champions League campaign with an impressive 4-0 win against Atalanta at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Marquinhos opened the scoring inside the first three minutes, and PSG followed that up with goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes and Gonçalo Ramos, demonstrating the high pressing and fluid play that have become hallmarks of their game.

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Champions League roundup: Juventus stun Dortmund with late double in 4-4 epic

  • Qarabag fight back from 2-0 down to beat Benfica

  • Union Saint-Gilloise win at PSV on league phase debut

It was a dramatic opening night in the Champions League, with Juventus and Borussia Dortmund sharing eight second-half goals while Qarabag shocked Benfica.

Dusan Vlahovic and Lloyd Kelly scored in stoppage time to inspire a dramatic Juventus escape, as they secured a 4-4 draw in a game where all eight goals came after the break.

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Kylian Mbappé wins it for Real Madrid after Alexander-Arnold injury and Carvajal head-butt

Kylian Mbappé converted two penalties to secure Real Madrid a 2-1 victory against Marseille in their Champions League group-stage opener despite playing the final stages with 10 men after their captain, Dani Carvajal, was sent off.

Carvajal had not started the match, coming on after five minutes when Trent Alexander-Arnold pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury.

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Serie C club Crotone placed under judicial administration due to mafia infiltration

  • Italian club last played in the top flight in 2020-21

  • ’Ndrangheta clans had infiltrated ticketing operations

The Italian third-tier club Crotone have been placed under judicial administration for a year because police found “sufficient evidence” of pervasive mafia infiltration, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Crotone, based in the southern Calabria region that is home to the powerful ’Ndrangheta mafia, are seventh in Group C of the Serie C league, on five points from four games. They played in Serie A for two consecutive seasons almost 10 years ago, and in 2020-21.

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Vingegaard wins Vuelta after final stage cancelled amid pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid

  • Organisers cancel stage and declare Vingegaard winner

  • Protesters threw barricades into the street on Gran Vía

The final stage of the Vuelta a España was abandoned in chaotic and violent scenes, after groups of pro-Palestine protesters swamped the finish line area and presentation podium in central Madrid on Sunday.

As huge crowds engulfed the finish area, the race leader Jonas Vingegaard, his Visma Lease-a-bike team and the rest of the peloton were forced to turn back from the city centre, with more than 55km still to race on stage 21. In an official statement, the Vuelta organisers said: “For security reasons, stage 21 of La Vuelta has been ended early. There will be no podium ceremony.”

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European football: Juventus’s Vasilije Adzic snatches thrilling win over Inter

  • Napoli stay stop after Højlund scores in win at Fiorentina

  • Mbappé helps 10-man Madrid win; Kane double for Bayern

Juventus snatched a dramatic 4-3 win at home to Inter, with Vasilije Adzic netting a stunning added-time winner in a game in which a Thuram brother scored for each side, but Napoli stayed top with a 3-1 win at Fiorentina.

In Turin, Juventus took the lead in the 14th minute through Lloyd Kelly. Inter equalised on the half-hour mark with Hakan Calhanoglu’s strike but Juventus were back in front thanks to Kenan Yildiz eight minutes later.

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All Blacks humiliated by Springboks in Rugby Championship with heaviest ever defeat

  • South Africa thump New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington

  • Tourists score 36 unanswered points in second half

The All Blacks suffered their heaviest-ever Test defeat as South Africa beat New Zealand 43-10 in Wellington to revive their Rugby Championship campaign.

Cheslin Kolbe scored a try in each half and Damian Willemse, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman and André Esterhuizen also touched down at the end of ambitious and clinical attacks as South Africa ran in six tries to one.

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Jasper Philipsen sprints to victory on stage 19 to complete Vuelta hat-trick

  • Belgian rider wins his third stage of 2025 race

  • Jonas Vingegaard adds four seconds to overall lead

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen sprinted clear at the end of stage 19 to seal his third win at this year’s Vuelta a España on Friday while Jonas Vingegaard added four seconds to his overall advantage over Joño Almeida.

After 160km of relatively flat riding in west central Spain, Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Philipsen burst to the front near the finish and never looked like being caught. Denmark’s Mads Pedersen was the first to make his move but could not hold off Philipsen and he crossed the line in second place with Venezuela’s Orluis Aular third.

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Vuelta a España: Ganna wins time-trial stage shortened after pro-Palestine protests

  • Italian wins 12.2km time trial with time of 13 minutes

  • Almeida closes gap on overall leader Vingegaard

Filippo Ganna tore through the final third of Thursday’s shortened individual time trial to win stage 18 of the Vuelta a España in Valladolid, and third-placed João Almeida gained 10 seconds on the overall leader, Jonas Vingegaard.

Ganna, the Italian time-trial specialist, repeated his success of two years ago in the same city but had an agonisingly long wait after the Ineos Grenadiers rider was fifth out of the gate, setting a time of 13 minutes.

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Tom Lynagh and Len Ikitau scratched from Wallabies squad for Argentina clash

  • Injured pair ruled out of Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test

  • Tane Edmed will wear No 10 jersey for first time

Flyhalf Tom Lynagh and centre Len Ikitau have been ruled out of Australia’s Rugby Championship Test against Argentina in Sydney on Saturday in a blow for the Wallabies.

Lynagh is nursing a hamstring strain following the last-gasp 28-24 win over the Pumas in Townsville, while Ikitau has a laceration on his knee that had failed to heal enough to take the field on Saturday.

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Vuelta a España: Egan Bernal wins stage 16 curtailed by pro-Palestinian protesters

  • Colombian outsprints Landa; Vingegaard retains lead

  • Stage shortened by 8km after protesters blocked road

Pro-Palestinian protesters continue to disrupt the Vuelta a España, with stage 16 ending on Tuesday 8km before the scheduled finish at ­Castro de ­Herville because of protests close to the line. The Colombian rider Egan Bernal won the stage, with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the overall race lead.

“We have a big protest at three kilometres before the line. We will decide the stage winner and take times at eight kilometres before the line,” the race directors announced on Radio Vuelta.

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Vuelta a España: Egan Bernal wins stage 16 curtailed by pro-Palestinian protesters

  • Colombian outsprints Landa; Vingegaard retains lead

  • Stage shortened by 8km after protesters blocked road

Pro-Palestinian protesters continue to disrupt the Vuelta a España, with stage 16 ending on Tuesday 8km before the scheduled finish at ­Castro de ­Herville because of protests close to the line. The Colombian rider Egan Bernal won the stage, with Jonas Vingegaard retaining the overall race lead.

“We have a big protest at three kilometres before the line. We will decide the stage winner and take times at eight kilometres before the line,” the race directors announced on Radio Vuelta.

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