The top spot in La Liga was taken back by Girona after they defeated champions Barcelona 4-2 on Sunday. This was the second loss for Xavi Hernández’s team in the league this season.
Artem Dovbyk scored for Girona in the 12th minute with a shot that deflected off the bottom of the post. Robert Lewandowski then tied the game seven minutes later by heading in a corner kick.
Miguel Gutiérrez brought back Girona’s advantage before the end of the first half, and Valery Fernández extended it to 3-1 in the 80th minute. Ilkay Gündogan narrowed the gap for Barça, but Cristhian Stuani sealed Girona’s victory with their fourth goal in extra time.
Girona is currently at the top of the standings with 41 points after playing 16 games. Barcelona is in fourth place with 34 points, tied with Atletico Madrid in third place.
Both Granada and Athletic Bilbao announced that the La Liga match was halted due to the tragic passing of a fan who experienced a heart attack while in the stands.
The game was initially suspended in the 17th minute as paramedics tried to resuscitate the fan and it was eventually abandoned an hour later. The date for the resumption of the match, in which Bilbao were leading 1-0 following a goal by Iñaki Williams in the sixth minute, will be announced soon, La Liga said.
Atlético Madrid beat Almería 2-1 with first-half goals from Álvaro Morata and Ángel Correa, extending the bottom side’s winless league streak to 16 games. The victory moved Atlético to third, level with Barcelona on 34 points.
Antoine Griezmann’s goal was disallowed by VAR due to an offside call, but he played a crucial role in his team’s first goal in the 17th minute. He won possession of the ball high up the field and then passed it to Morata, who skillfully maneuvered around the goalkeeper and scored.
Five minutes after, Correa extended the lead by scoring off a cross from Marcos Llorente on the wing. This goal was once again set up by Griezmann.
Almería cut the margin in half thanks to Léo Baptistão, who found the net shortly after the 60-minute mark. The Brazilian striker capitalized on a rebound after Atlético’s Jan Oblak made a stop.
The only team in La Liga that has not won a game yet this season is Almería. However, they had opportunities in the second half to tie the game, but Oblak was able to stop them and help Diego Simeone’s team bounce back from their loss to Barcelona last weekend.
Bayer Leverkusen, the top team in the Bundesliga, had a 1-1 tie against Stuttgart, who are currently in third place. This is their second consecutive draw, but they still have a four-point lead at the top of the table.
Xabi Alonso’s squad, the only team in the Bundesliga to remain undefeated this season, have now accumulated 36 points. Second-place Bayern Munich, who suffered a 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, are now at 32 points and have one game in hand. Stuttgart maintains their third place position with 31 points. This was Leverkusen’s 22nd consecutive game without a loss across all competitions this season.
Stuttgart took the lead five minutes before the break when Chris Führich tapped in from close range.
Leverkusen tied the game two minutes into the second half when Granit Xhaka passed to Victor Boniface on the left, who then crossed the ball to Florian Wirtz. Wirtz, a German player, volleyed the ball into the net.
Roma and Fiorentina tied 1-1 in their Serie A match on Sunday, despite Roma’s disadvantage of playing with a reduced team due to the red cards received by Nicola Zalewski and Romelu Lukaku in the second half.
Lukaku broke the deadlock in the fifth minute with a well-placed diving header from Dybala’s accurate cross. In the 64th minute, Zalewski received his second yellow card, but Fiorentina managed to level the score just two minutes later when Quarta headed in a cross.
Lukaku made a sliding tackle on Fiorentina’s Christian Kouamé just three minutes before the end of the match and received a direct red card. Roma currently holds the fourth spot in the league standings with 25 points, while the top team, Internazionale, is ahead by 13 points. Fiorentina sits in seventh place with 24 points.
Nice reclaimed their spot in second place in Ligue 1 with a 2-1 victory over Reims, thanks to a goal from Jeremie Boga. Monaco’s win over Stade Rennes temporarily pushed Nice down to third, but they are now back on top with 32 points, two ahead of Monaco and four behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Lille and Clermont played to a goalless tie, with Lille’s goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier being credited for preventing the home team from scoring. Despite facing early pressure from Lille, Clermont managed to create the most opportunities, with Chevalier making a series of impressive saves. In the 50th minute, Jim Allevinah nearly scored for Clermont but hit the post from a challenging angle.
Source: theguardian.com
