European roundup: Barcelona rescue point, Milik sends Juventus second
Barcelona twice fought back to secure a 2-2 draw at Real Mallorca on Tuesday, maintaining their unbeaten start to the La Liga season.
Mallorca’s early pressure paid off as they took the lead after eight minutes when Vedat Muriqi capitalised on a poor clearance from the Barcelona goalkeeper, Marc-André ter Stegen. Raphinha scored an equaliser with a powerful shot into the bottom-left corner in the 41st minute, only to see Abdón Prats restore the home side’s lead in stoppage time with a simple finish after Predrag Rajkovic’s superb long clearance from goal and a Muriqi header.
Mallorca took their foot off the gas in the second half and the substitute Fermín López tapped home Raphinha’s low cross from the right to make it 2-2 in the 75th minute.
Barça move up to 17 points but could be overtaken as La Liga leaders on Wednesday by Girona, who are one point adrift and visit Villarreal, and Real
Madrid, who have 15 points and host Las Palmas.
Two early goals set Sevilla on their way to a 5-1 home win over Almeria. Youssef En-Nesyri headed home after seven minutes and just a minute later the lead was doubled courtesy of a fine solo strike from Dodi Lukébakio. Suso’s curling effort wrapped up the win before the interval with Érik Lamela adding a fourth before a Luis Suárez penalty reduced the arrears, only for Kike Salas to make it five in stoppage time.
Arkadiusz Milik’s 57th-minute goal secured Juventus a 1-0 home victory over Lecce, moving them up to second in Serie A. Milik tapped the ball in after Adrien Rabiot’s header back across the face of the goal.
Lecce, who were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time after Mohamed Kaba earned a second yellow card for diving, were solid in their defence but failed to register a single shot on target. “We were up against a Lecce side that allowed you very little, but we stayed balanced and made the most of our chances,” the Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri, told DAZN.
Bayern Munich cruised past the third-tier club Preussen Münster 4-0 despite having several players missing, including Harry Kane, in their delayed German Cup first-round match on Tuesday.
But Serge Gnabry had to be taken off injured after 11 minutes with a broken bone in his left arm and will be sidelined for weeks. He had fallen down after a challenge in the fourth minute but had tried to play on. The Bayern coach, Thomas Tuchel, said the Germany international would undergo surgery on Wednesday. “It is bitter for him personally but also for us,” Tuchel said. “He is an important player with a great character.”
Bayern fans threw hundreds of tennis balls on to the pitch in protest against the decision to hold the German Super Cup last month on the day of the Cup first round, forcing Bayern to delay their first-round match. It had no effect on their team’s performance as Eric Maxim ChoupoMoting, Konrad Laimer, Frans Krätzig and Mathys Tel all found the net.
Lille’s inconsistent start to the Ligue 1 season continued as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat to Reims. Paulo Fonseca’s side have won just two of their six opening league games and early goals from Mohamed Daramy and Keito Nakamura saw them slip up once again despite Benjamin André’s second-half consolation.