Harry Kane scored as Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Freiburg on Saturday to move six points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at RB Leipzig. Kane and English compatriot Eric Dier created the opener in the 15th minute. Dier found Kane who drilled a low shot through the fingers of Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu. The goal was Kane’s first from open play since mid-November and his 17th in 17 league games this season. Bayern doubled their lead after 54 minutes when Kim Min-jae outmuscled Atubolu and headed in a Joshua Kimmich corner.

Freiburg made Bayern sweat when Matthias Ginter headed in a corner with 22 minutes remaining, but the German giants held firm to bounce back from Wednesday’s surprise 3-0 Champions League loss at Feyenoord.

“We’ve played better games than that,” Kimmich told Sky Germany.

“But that is exactly what you need sometimes. We deserved to win.”

Bayern’s win means defending champions Leverkusen are now six points behind the league leaders, after they dropped points in the league for the first time since early November at Leipzig.

Florian Wirtz impressed throughout and was instrumental in Leverkusen’s opener.

The Germany midfielder shrugged off two defenders with a jink and shot against the post, with Patrik Schick well placed to tap in and put Leverkusen in front after 18 minutes.

Leverkusen’s controversial second, scored on the 36-minute mark, was also created by Wirtz.

Near the sideline, the 21-year-old won the ball from Leipzig’s David Raum, while appearing to sink his studs into the defender’s leg.

With Raum on the ground, Wirtz dribbled goalwards and cut the ball back to Aleix Garcia, who calmly slotted home.

Raum had his revenge just five minutes later, thumping in a deflected free kick off the crossbar to cut Leverkusen’s advantage.

Leipzig equalised from another set piece with five minutes remaining. Xavi Simons sent a spiralling free kick into the box which Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba turned into his own net.

“We’re not satisfied, things could have been better but they could have been worse. We’ll keep going,” said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso.

Schick added: “We weren’t effective enough up front and Leipzig played well today. Not many teams win here.”

Dortmund struggles continue

In their first match since sacking coach Nuri Sahin, 10-man Borussia Dortmund also let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at home against Werder Bremen.

Dortmund’s chances took an early hit when centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck was red carded for a last-man foul after 21 minutes.

The hosts were dangerous despite the disadvantage and took the lead seven minutes later when Julian Brandt found Serhou Guirassy who headed in his eighth league goal of the season.

Dortmund looked in charge when Guirassy’s 51st-minute cross was turned into his own net by Bremen defender Marco Friedl, but Bremen levelled things up with two goals in eight minutes.

Former Dortmund midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt unleashed a rocket from outside the box before Marvin Ducksch caught the hosts napping, running in behind and scoring to level things up.

Dortmund sporting director Lars Ricken confirmed after the game that interim coach Mike Tullberg would remain in charge for Wednesday’s home Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk.

Elsewhere, Mainz continued their impressive run this season, beating Stuttgart 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Nelson Weiper and Anthony Caci.

Relegation candidates last campaign, Mainz’s win sends them sixth, one point behind Stuttgart and Leipzig and in contention for a Champions League place.

A stoppage time goal from Keven Schlotterbeck took Augsburg to a 2-1 home win over Heidenheim.

In Saturday’s late game, Borussia Moenchengladbach host last-placed Bochum.

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane will hope to overcome a slump in front of goal when his side travel to face Freiburg on Saturday. With 16 goals in 16 games this season, Kane still tops the Bundesliga goalscoring charts, but the numbers bely a trend which may worry the league leaders. Kane has not scored from open play since November, a run of seven games in all competitions, although the England captain’s remarkable reliability from the spot has glossed over the dip in form. He has scored two penalties in that time, extending his tally to 27 consecutive spot-kicks converted for club and country dating back to his 2022 World Cup quarter-final miss against France.

In Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League loss at Feyenoord, Kane and Bayern were dominant with the ball but were unable to convert a number of chances.

The 31-year-old missed four games in December with a hamstring strain and is clearly not yet back to 100 percent.

“Of course we need his goals,” Bayern’s sporting director Max Eberl said of Kane.

“He hasn’t scored but he knows that and is probably more critical of himself than anyone else.

“He’s experienced many highs and a few lows. If there’s anyone who can handle a dip, it’s Harry Kane.”

Freiburg coach Julian Schuster said Thursday his side will be facing a Bayern side stung by defeat.

“When a team loses, there’s automatically a bit of extra spice next time around. And we all know what it means when Bayern suffer a loss.”

In his first season in charge, Schuster has his side sitting eighth. Freiburg are particularly strong in their Black Forest home, where they have lost just once in nine games.

Schuster said Bayern’s midweek loss shows it is possible “to find gaps and to hurt them”.

Leverkusen head to RB Leipzig on Saturday, knowing they could close the gap at the top to just one point if they win and Bayern lose.

Xabi Alonso‘s defending champions had their own midweek setback, losing 2-1 at Atletico Madrid despite taking the lead in Spain.

Leipzig are 10 points behind Leverkusen but remain the only side to have beaten them in the league since May 2023, winning 3-2 away in August.

Leipzig defender David Raum says Leverkusen are “another calibre” of team but promised “to make it as difficult as possible for them”.

Dortmund’s 2-1 Champions League loss at Bologna on Tuesday was followed a day later by the sacking of coach Nuri Sahin.

Mike Tullberg, Sahin’s interim replacement, will be on the sidelines in Saturday’s home clash with Werder Bremen tasked with getting Dortmund back to winning ways.

Last season’s Champions League finalists sit 10th in the league and have won just one of their past nine games in all competitions.

One to watch: Patrik SchickWhile Kane may be struggling for his best level, the same cannot be said of Bayer Leverkusen frontman Patrik Schick.

The Czech striker has scored 12 goals in his past eight games — none of which have come from the penalty spot.

Schick’s form means Leverkusen have not missed the injured Victor Boniface, who looks set to return to the squad this weekend.

The 28-year-old Schick spent the 2019-20 season on loan at Leipzig, netting 10 goals in 28 games, but he has never scored against his former employers.

Bayern Munich had not lost a Champions League group game since 2017 until a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Wednesday that hinted at a new era of European glory for the English side. Villa relived the club’s greatest ever night, when they beat Bayern to lift the European Cup in 1982, in their first home match at the continent’s elite level for 41 years. The Birmingham club’s fortunes have been transformed in less than two years since Unai Emery took charge, catapulting Villa from battling relegation at the bottom of the Premier League to finishing in the top four last season.

Now two games into their first ever experience since the European Cup was rebranded to the Champions League, they are one of just seven sides with maximum points.

Bayern’s previous group stage defeat, 41 games ago, also came at the hands of Emery when in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spaniard’s time in France and as Arsene Wenger’s successor at Arsenal did not end well.

However, he has a track record of lifting up European football’s middleweights to trade blows with the continent’s giants.

Emery won three consecutive Europa Leagues at Sevilla and lifted the competition for a fourth time with Villarreal in 2021 to deliver the club’s first ever major trophy.

The next season Villarreal reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking out Juventus and Bayern along the way.

Villa are now reaping the rewards of Emery’s shrewd tactical mind and ability to polish rough diamonds.

– ‘Moving forward’ –

Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham were among the sides with bigger budgets that were beaten into fourth place by Villa in the Premier League last season.

In doing so, Emery’s men beat both title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal 1-0 at Villa Park in December and repeated that trick against a Bayern team that arrived in England in free-scoring form.

Bayern were stifled by Villa’s organisation and hit with the sucker punch by super sub Jhon Duran.

The Colombian lobbed Manuel Neuer 11 minutes from time to score his fifth goal this season after coming off the bench.

Emi Martinez was then needed to make two huge saves in the dying moments as a Bayern side that had averaged over four goals a game since Vincent Kompany took charge were shut out.

“It’s a statement but there are still a lot of games to play. We want to qualify in the top eight,” said Argentina’s World Cup winner Martinez.

“This is the loudest Villa Park that I’ve heard since I joined the club, that’s for sure.

“It’s a club that is moving forward. I love playing here, I love the fans. This is a win for them.”

Emery’s gameplan even won the seal of royal approval. He was afforded an audience with Villa fan Prince William, who was among the more than 40,000 crowd celebrating a famous night.

“I told him the best moment we can pass is days like today,” said Emery of his meeting with Britain’s future king.

“I don’t know where (Villa can go) but we are going to try to enjoy the way. Today we (will) remember how we played, who we played and the Champions League final from 42 years ago. It was a special day.”

Forward Morgan Rogers was playing in the Championship earlier this year for Middlesbrough, but is another who Emery has moulded into a player now taking the Champions League in his stride.

“It’s a pinch me moment,” Rogers said of his meteoric rise. “We’re not here to just compete, we’re here to try and win games.”

In 1982 Bayern legends Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge were among those stunned by Villa’s upstarts in Rotterdam.

Over four decades on, the German giants were left to lick their wounds again on a night that will be long remembered in the Midlands.

Michael Olise had a hand in four goals and Harry Kane scored again as Bayern Munich ran riot to win 5-0 at Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Olise, who arrived from Crystal Palace in the summer, scored twice and laid on two more in the win, while Kane had a goal to go with his two assists. The big win continued Bayern’s stunning week, with a 6-1 win at promoted Holstein Kiel followed by a 9-2 home victory over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.

Kane created Olise’s 23rd-minute opener and the goalscorer then turned provider, dribbling down the right and threading a perfect pass for Jamal Musiala to score shortly afterwards.

Olise then assisted Kane’s 57th-minute goal, the England captain’s 10th goal so far for Bayern this season in six games all competitions.

Olise scored again and Kane set up Serge Gnabry to make it five against Bremen, whose only win against Bayern dating back to 2008 came this January in Munich.

Kane scored his first Bundesliga goal on debut at Bremen in August last year and now has 41 league strikes, more than any other English player.

“We’ve got so much quality up front and we’re having fun playing football,” Musiala told Sky, adding “but we will face tougher opponents.”

Bayern host champions Bayer Leverkusen next Saturday.

Fellow top-four rivals Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Stuttgart and RB Leipzig all play on Sunday, but Bayern are guaranteed to finish the weekend in top spot as the only side to have won all four of their opening league matches.

Two goals in the opening six minutes put Union Berlin on course for a 2-1 win at home against Hoffenheim.

Tom Rothe and Jeong Woo-yeong scored early for the home side but a 67th-minute goal from former Union forward Marius Buelter set things up for a nervy finish in the German capital.

Union however dug deep to win their second match of the season and keep their unbeaten record alive, while Hoffenheim have lost their past three in the league.

Freiburg scored three second-half goals to win 3-0 at Heidenheim, with Italy midfielder Vincenzo Grifo getting a double after Ritsu Doan opened the scoring.

An 89th-minute goal from Shuto Machino snared a 2-2 draw for Holstein Kiel at Bochum, giving the promoted side their first-ever points in the top division.

Kiel took the lead through a Benedikt Pichler goal after 15 minutes but Matus Bero and Lukas Daschner both scored to give Bochum a 2-1 advantage at halftime.

Later on Saturday, Eintracht Frankfurt host Borussia Moenchengladbach.