Barcelona remain on top of La Liga after Raphinha scored the only goal in their hard-fought 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés. It was a timely reminder of the Blaugrana’s offensive strength, and Raphinha showed his clinical touch with a strike from close range deep into added time of the first half. The goal was initially ruled out, however a VAR check made sure it secured all three points for Barcelona as they cemented their nine point lead ahead of arch rivals Real Madrid. This result will no doubt give them renewed motivation as they continue to battle for a third consecutive league title this season.
Barça and Xavi saw the fruits of their investment in techology pay off with a 1-0 win after Iñaki Williams’ goal was overturned due to a VAR spotted handball in the build-up. Meanwhile, La Liga served up plenty of other drama with Real Sociedad’s draw at Mallorca, Mikel Merino being sent off at the death, an entertaining 1-1 stalemate between Real Betis and Villarreal and Sevilla’s late Érik Lamela winner over fellow strugglers Almería giving them enough breathing space for now as they moved out of the relegation places. With technology playing such a vital role in how things shook out, it is unlikely teams will think twice about investing even more heavily on reliable referee assistance tools – lest the outcome be decided somewhere down the line by some dubious call.
What a roller-coaster ride! In an eventful contest at the Stadio Olimpico, Roma was beaten 4-3 by Sassuolo this past Saturday. Despite going down 2-0 early on, thanks to Armand Lauriente’s brace, Paulo Dybala and Nicola Zalewski were able to give Roma hope that maybe they could still come out with a point. However, Marash Kumbulla’s challenge on Domenico Berardi in first-half stoppage time resulted in a penalty scored by the latter, while the former was sent off. Andrea Pinamonti put the away side 4-2 up, but Georginio Wijnaldum managed to score in time added on at the end as Roma tried to salvage something from the match. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as they crashed out of fifth place and out of José Mourinho’s debut game in Serie A.
Juventus’ thrilling 4-2 victory against Sampdoria had fans on the edge of their seats. Bremer and Adrien Rabiot gave Juve a 2-2 draw by half-time, then after 64 minutes Rabiot snatched his double and Matías Soulé completed the win in added time. Plus, the excitement continued with Torino’s 2-0 win over Lecce and Fiorentina claiming a solid 2-0 victory against Cremonese, while Hellas Verona and Monza drew 1-1. All in all, it was another entertaining night of Serie A football which left two satisfied – and one relieved – teams celebrating at the end of the match.
The second-placed Marseille team in Ligue 1 had a tough night, unable to maintain their lead after the sending off of Leonardo Balerdi in the first half. Despite the deficit created from his absence, Chancel Mbemba and Alexis Sánchez showed great aptitude to build an advantage for their side at home, with a penalty goal finally pushing them ahead. However, in their pursuit of victory it was not meant to be as Jean-Eudes Aholou came back with two late goals just two minutes apart, denying OM a deserved win and instead sharing the points in an incredible 2-2 draw.
Lens’s impressive 4-0 mauling of Clermont Foot was the highlight of an exciting weekend in the Bundesliga, with Loïs Openda leading the way with a sensational hat-trick. As a result, Lens have moved up to third place and Monaco had to settle for fourth following their 1-0 home defeat against Reims as Folarin Balogun found the net during the 51st minute. Union Berlin’s winless streak was extended to four matches at Wolfsburg as Patrick Wimmer’s equaliser meant they were held to a 1-1 draw. Freiburg find themselves occupying fifth place and level on points with both Union and RB Leipzig after Ritsu Doan netted in stoppage time to earn their 2-1 victory over Hoffenheim where they had Ozan Kabak dismissed five minutes earlier. Meanwhile Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to edge Werder Bremen 3-2 and wrap up a memorable weekend filled with remarkable performances from teams across Europe.
