Bayern head coach Julian Nagelsmann has hit back at those questioning whether his side is creative enough, while making it clear he is not concerned by the current standings.

The defending champions came from behind to draw 1-1 with Union Berlin on Saturday, their second draw in a row after winning each of their opening three matches.

Bayern came out of the blocks flying at the start of the season, scoring 15 goals in five matches, but have lost their knack in the final third in their last two Bundesliga matches.

Nagelsmann rebuffed suggestions Bayern were not doing enough with the ball, however, pointing to the club's positive goal difference and creativity in last week's draw with Borussia Monchengladbach.

"That's a bold thing to say. We had four clear chances today. Against Gladbach we had 31 shots - I think that's creative enough," he said, "[We have] plus 14 goal difference. We just lacked efficiency and made wrong decisions.

"It was a fair result. We didn't create as many chances as against Gladbach, so we can't speak about two missed points. We were sloppy and not at the level of the past weeks. Union defended with passion, were disciplined, compact and deserved the point."

After being questioned on Bayern's third-place standing in the early Bundesliga standings, Nagelsmann made it clear it is not something he is thinking about at this stage.

"I always want to win and our aim is to win the title. We're still on matchday five, so I don't give a s*** about being third," he declared.

Bayern's sights will now be set on the midweek Champions League clash with Inter, in which Nagelsmann is keen for his squad to return to the style they showed in the opening weeks of the season.

"We should go back to the energy levels of the past weeks against Inter," he added.

"Inter play at home in the Champions League, so I don't think they will play as defensively as Union did today, although I said there are parallels between the two teams."

Jack Miller claimed a long-awaited pole position and Aleix Espargaro was left "angry and disappointed" after he could only qualify in ninth at the San Marino Grand Prix.

Ducati rider Miller will start at the front of the grid for the first time in four years after he clocked a quickest lap of one minute and 31.889 seconds on a rainy Saturday in Misano.

Francesco Bagnaia was second-fastest - but will start in fifth after being handed a three-place grid penalty - and Enea Bastianini third, with MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo only eighth.

Espargaro, who trails Quartararo by 32 points, will begin Sunday's race in ninth place and says he was not prepared to take any risks in tricky conditions after a crash at Silverstone last month left him with a fractured heel.

Aprilia Racing's Espargaro knows he will have to take a more aggressive approach on race day.

He said: "My guys said, 'Fabio is [just] in front of you'. But I don't care. This is a very special GP. I want to finish on the podium because it's the home race of Aprilia."

The Spaniard added: "When I left pit lane I felt a mix of angry and disappointed. Because to ride in these conditions is very tricky, very dangerous,

"I touched a white line in the first lap and almost flew [off]. So I tried to focus and make no mistakes, go as fast as possible but without risk. And maybe I had to risk a little bit more because ninth place is not good.

"I didn't want to make a stupid mistake like I did in Silverstone, because there are still a lot of points, a lot of races, a lot of days in front of us. It's just qualifying.

"But obviously if it rains tomorrow, I will have to risk a bit more because you get the points, not today.

"I know that if I want to fight for the championship, I need to finish on the podium. So this is what I'm aiming for."

Andrea Dovizioso will start his final MotoGP race before retiring back in 18th.

PROVISIONAL GRID

1. Jack Miller (Ducati) 1:31.889
2. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing)  + 0.115
3. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.149
4. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.219
5..Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) + 0.115
6. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.270
7. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.327
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) + 0.347
9. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.678
10. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.876

Remco Evenepoel's lead at the Vuelta a Espana was cut on Saturday as reigning champion Primoz Roglic launched a late attack.

Roglic, who is hunting an unprecedented fourth consecutive Vuelta title, had been two minutes and 41 seconds behind Evenepoel heading into stage 14.

Yet with an attack up the final climb of Sierre de La Pandera, at the culmination of a 160-kilometre route, the Slovenian reduced the Belgian's advantage by almost a minute.

Eveneopel stays the favourite with seven stages remaining, but Roglic offered a timely reminder of his power heading into the final week.

It was not all doom and gloom for Evenepoel, who recovered to finish eighth and at least limit his losses.

"It wasn't my best day for sure, I didn't have the best legs, I couldn't accelerate when Roglic went," Evenepoel said.

"I'm still 1:49 ahead in GC, so nothing to really to panic about. I'll try to recover as much as possible and survive tomorrow."

Roglic came third, finishing behind two South Americans in the form of Miguel Angel Lopez and Richard Carapaz, who claimed his second stage win of this year's race.

The INEOS Grenadiers rider held on after being part of a 10-man breakaway, with his climbing prowess coming to the fore.

Carapaz the king of this mountain

Carapaz is the sixth rider to achieve a stage victory ending on La Pandera in La Vuelta, though the first from the Americas. The Ecuadorian is the second rider to have won two stages at this year's race, after Sam Bennett.

With five Grand Tour stage wins to his name, the 29-year-old is top of the charts among South American riders in that regard, too.

STAGE RESULT

1. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 4:09:27
2. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +0:08
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) same time
4. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +0:27
5. Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Greandiers) +0:36

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 52:21:33
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:49
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2:43

Points Classification

1. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) 267
2. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 96
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 96

King of the Mountains

1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 40
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Greandiers) 26
3. Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 21

Liverpool and Everton pledged to support police efforts to find those responsible for racist and crude graffiti daubed close to Goodison Park and Anfield.

The Merseyside rivals, who battled out a 0-0 derby draw on Saturday in the Premier League, issued a joint statement in which they condemned the vandalism.

The Liverpool Echo newspaper reported murals and artworks featuring Liverpool stars past and present were sprayed with blue paint, including those celebrating Mohamed Salah, Ian St John and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Alexander-Arnold mural was put in place to mark the work done by the Fans Supporting Foodbanks charity.

The clubs said in their statement: "Both Everton and Liverpool football clubs jointly condemn the defacing of buildings and murals ahead of the Merseyside derby.

"Racist and offensive graffiti has been daubed across multiple sites in north Liverpool this morning around Anfield and Goodison.

"Both clubs will work together with Merseyside Police and will support the investigation in finding those responsible. Hate has no place in football.

"Together, Everton and Liverpool football clubs and their supporters will continue in representing our city in the fight against all forms of discrimination."

Joaquin matched a LaLiga record on Saturday, as he made an appearance in Spain's top flight for a 20th season.

The 41-year-old, who has spent 13 years of his long career at Real Betis and is the club captain, came on in the 71st minute of his side's 2-1 loss to Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu.

It marked Joaquin's first appearance of the season and, in the process, he matched a LaLiga record set by Miquel Soler, whose senior career in Spain also lasted 20 seasons.

Joaquin's feat is all the more remarkable as he spent two seasons playing outside Spain, enjoying time in Italy with Fiorentina from 2013 to 2015.

He could not influence the Madrid game significantly as Betis lost for the first time this campaign, having 14 touches and attempting 13 passes but failing to create a chance or have a shot.

Massimiliano Allegri was angry with the way Juventus squandered a lead and defended his decision to keep Dusan Vlahovic on the bench in a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina.

Arkadiusz Milik marked his first Juve start by scoring his second goal in as many games at Stadio Artemio Franchi, but that proved to be a false dawn.

Christian Kouame equalised with a goal on the break after Weston McKennie passed when he should have tried his luck at the other end.

Mattia Perin saved Luka Jovic's penalty late in the first half after Leandro Paredes was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area on his Bianconeri debut.

Allegri withdrew Angel Di Maria at half-time as a precaution and opted to send on Moise Kean rather than in-form ex-Fiorentina striker Vlahovic as Juve made it five Serie A matches without defeat this season.

Juve head coach Allegri was not impressed with the manner in which his side were caught out for Kouame's strike.

He said: "Getting angry is an understatement, you should not concede that goal. At that moment we had to kill the game."

Allegri added: "In the second half we dropped [back], but the thing to improve absolutely is that when you have the ball when leading.

"From that ball [from McKennie] then came the corner [for Juve] and the 1-1, which changes everything."

Vlahovic had scored four goals in as many games but Allegri felt he needed a rest ahead of a Champions League opener at Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

He said: "He had played several games and Milik could give us an extra hand. We wanted him to rest, then there were some forced changes."

Real Madrid maintained their 100 per cent record in LaLiga as they marked their return to the Santiago Bernabeu with a 2-1 win over Real Betis.

Madrid's opening three league games had come on the road, but the reigning champions transferred that form to home turf on Saturday.

Victory did not come easy, with Madrid unusually profligate in front of goal, while Thibaut Courtois' error allowed Betis to cancel out Vinicius Junior's opener through Canales.

Rodrygo made the decisive breakthrough midway through the second half, however, condemning Betis to a first defeat of their LaLiga campaign.

Madrid needed just nine minutes to score their first home league goal against Betis since March 2017 when David Alaba picked out the run of Vinicius who, having beat the offside trap, lofted a fine finish over Rui Silva.

The celebratory mood was stifled eight minutes later, however. Borja Iglesias brilliantly held off his marker and laid it off for Canales, whose low finish found a way under Thibaut Courtois.

Madrid's response was immediate, with Rodrygo finding Vinicius, but from close range the winger blazed his attempt over, while Silva pulled off a fine save to deny Aurelien Tchouameni.

Los Blancos' dominance continued into the second half – Karim Benzema spared by the offside flag for a dismal miss a yard out – and Silva tipping a stinging Luka Modric strike onto the post.

Yet Madrid's winner came in the 65th minute. Ancelotti turned to Federico Valverde for inspiration from the bench and, with his second touch, the Uruguay international provided just that, cutting back to Rodrygo, who benefitted from weak goalkeeping from Silva.

Rodrygo was agonisingly close to a second when his cute volley clipped the crossbar, though Madrid's failure to add a third did not ultimately prove costly.

Kai Havertz came off the bench to seal a much-needed victory for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as the Blues came from behind to beat London rivals West Ham 2-1.

Thomas Tuchel's team were booed off after failing to manage a single shot on target in a dismal first half, and fell behind shortly after the hour when Antonio converted following a goalmouth scramble.

But Ben Chilwell poked past Lukasz Fabianski to level the scores with 15 minutes remaining, and Havertz was on hand to turn the full-back's cross home to put the Blues ahead late on.

There was still time for Maxwel Cornet to see a fine strike disallowed for West Ham, but Chelsea ultimately held on to bounce back from Tuesday's loss to Southampton after an enthralling match.

Harry Kane equalled Thierry Henry's record for the most goals scored in Premier League London derbies as Tottenham beat Fulham 2-1.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg opened the scoring in the first half and former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno kept the score respectable with several fine saves.

Kane was able to double Spurs' advantage after tapping home from close range, with the goal also taking him third in the competition's all-time scoring chart.

Fulham were not done though, Aleksander Mitrovic scoring for the fourth consecutive game, though it proved to merely be a consolation.

Spurs had the ball in the net after just 10 minutes, Son firing a cross into the area that went all the way through and past Leno, but the offside flag was raised due offside team-mates in the middle.

The South Korean came close again shortly after the half hour mark, latching onto Kane's chipped pass over the Fulham defence to control with his chest but striking the crossbar with his attempt.

The breakthrough came five minutes before the break, Spurs winning possession with the press and Hojbjerg playing a neat one-two with Richarlison before driving a low effort into the far corner.

In the second half, Leno had to be alert to deny Ryan Sessegnon from netting against his former side and was again required to prevent Son's deflected effort.

With 15 minutes remaining, Kane tapped into the empty net to score his 43rd Premier League goal in a London derby.

The action was not done though, Mitrovic maintaining his scoring run before Richarlison saw a late goal ruled out for offside.

Jurgen Klopp declared Liverpool did all they could to win Saturday's Merseyside derby, with only the brilliance of Jordan Pickford denying them victory at Goodison Park.

The Reds manager witnessed a gripping 0-0 draw in which England goalkeeper Pickford's eight saves meant Liverpool had to accept a point for their efforts.

They almost matched the drama of Wednesday, when a stoppage-time winner from Fabio Carvalho secured victory over Newcastle United. This time, well past the regulation 90 minutes, Pickford touched Mohamed Salah's shot against the base of the right post.

Klopp said: "It was a real derby, super intense and with a lot of really spectacular moments."

Everton thought they had snatched a second-half lead when Liverpool academy graduate Conor Coady tapped in from close range, but he was just offside.

"I didn't see it back but I think if they watch it long enough it probably was offside," Klopp said.

He saluted a "sensational save" from Alisson, who denied Neal Maupay in the second half, but Pickford was the obvious star of the show.

"We hit the post three times, and a few unbelievable saves by Pickford. Wow. What can you do," Klopp said on BT Sport.

"You have to dig in really deep, that's what we did. In the end it's nil-nil, which sounds strange, but that's it."

Liverpool had 23 shots to Everton's 14, as the Reds failed to score in a Premier League game for the first time in 2022. This was their 25th game in the competition since the turn of the year, and the Reds had last drawn a blank when losing 1-0 at Leicester in December.

"It's been a super intense week for us," Klopp said. "On Wednesday night we had a really tough game and had to go to the wire, and a few days later you play here.

"I don't know how many derbies I've played now, quite a few, but it's always difficult and it was difficuilt today."

Carvalho came off at half-time with a muscle injury above the knee, described by Klopp as "one of the most painful things you can get".

That was a downside, as was the result from Liverpool's perspective, considering they hit the woodwork three times, through Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.

Liverpool have failed to win any of their first three away league games in a single campaign for the first time since 2010-11, when they drew four in a row under Roy Hodgson's leadership, but Klopp recognised the derby had been quite some match.

"This game was not bad, at all, it was just a tough one," he said. "I don't forget that they had a big chance. The goal was offside so I don't count that, but it was close, but when Ali made a save [from Maupay] that was proper. Apart from that we had bigger chances but it's okay now."

Bayern Munich failed to bounce back to winning ways in the Bundesliga as Union Berlin doggedly held them to a 1-1 draw at Alte Forsterei on Saturday.

The champions slipped up for the first time this top-flight season previously against Borussia Monchengladbach, and were looking to get back on track away from home.

But Julian Nagelsmann's side were forced to settle for a point that means both they and Urs Fischer's opponents stay locked behind Borussia Dortmund at the summit, in a match that struggled to live up to its explosive start.

Any idea of a quiet afternoon in the capital looked to have been swiftly dashed in a blockbuster opening quarter of an hour, which saw the hosts fire home first before the visitors hit back barely three minutes later.

Sheraldo Becker chopped a fine volley across the face of goal off a looping free kick for Union, before Bayern promptly responded through Joshua Kimmich's rifled finish.

Leroy Sane subsequently went close twice over the final stages of the first half, forcing a save and steering another effort wide.

That looked to set the table for a dramatic encounter after the break, only for the home side to double down on a defensive approach that saw them hold just over a fifth of the possession throughout, lying deep to frustrate their rivals.

Bayern continued to launch wave after wave of offensive action to no avail, with both Sane and Sadio Mane coming close to finding a winner – but ultimately, they were held stubbornly at bay for a cagey share of the points.

Max Verstappen snatched an "unbelievable" pole position for his home Dutch Grand Prix as the Formula One championship leader put on another crowd-pleasing show.

On the eve of the Zandvoort race, Verstappen banished Friday's gearbox failure and put himself in a strong position to push for a repeat of last year's win at the track, edging out Charles Leclerc by 0.021 seconds.

Ferrari's Leclerc joins him on the front row, and the Scuderia's Carlos Sainz took third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez and the Silver Arrow of George Russell on row three.

Verstappen beat Leclerc's time late in the session, and when Red Bull team-mate Perez crashed on his final lap, that brought out the yellow flags, crushing the hopes of improvement for those on a flying lap.

Asked what it felt like to be on pole, just like he was last year, Verstappen said: "Unbelievable! Especially after yesterday, we had a difficult day but worked really well overnight with the whole team to turn it around.

"A qualifying lap around here is insane. We changed a lot. Yesterday was a bit rushed in FP2 to get the car together, but today the car was enjoyable to drive."

Leclerc had been the fastest in practice on Saturday, and he put himself in the mix to take pole before Verstappen saved his best for late on.

Already 98 points behind title front-runner Verstappen, Leclerc is reasonably doubting his chances of bridging that gap in the remaining races.

He felt Ferrari would have the pace to contend for top spot on the podium this week though, and nothing he experienced on Saturday changed that viewpoint.

Leclerc said: "It was very, very close. Max did a great lap in the end, and our car was getting better and better through qualifying.

"In the beginning I was scared because Max was much quicker than us on used tyres. But in Q3 the car came more together and I did the lap which was enough for P2. Tomorrow is the race and we'll give it our all.

"We are much stronger here compared to last weekend, and that's good to see. Our race pace looks quite strong. It's going to be close with the Red Bulls. We just need to do a great start and then we'll see."

Sainz described his own performance as being "on the limit".

"It wasn't an easy qualification but in the end we did a decent job. It is very tough out there," Sainz said. "The track is especially demanding on the tyres. We have a lot of overheating during the lap, even in the long runs, a lot of degradation.

"Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day. There's going to be a lot going on, even if it's a difficult track to overtake, and there's going to be many options with strategies."

The McLaren of Lando Norris and Haas of Mick Schumacher start from the fourth row, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.

After making it through to Q3, Stroll was unable to put in a lap time due to a technical problem.

QUALIFYING TIMES

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 1:10.342
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.021s
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +0.092s
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.306s
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.735s
6. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.805s
7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.832
8. Mick Schumacher (Haas) +1.100s
9. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +2.214
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Arkadiusz Milik scored his second goal in as many games and Mattia Perin saved a Luka Jovic penalty as Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina.

Milik made his first Juve start, with in-form ex-Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic dropping to the bench, and he opening the scoring early on at Stadio Artemio Franchi.

The Bianconeri faded after that promising start and Christian Kouame equalised with his first Serie A goal since September 2020.

Perin brilliantly denied Jovic after Leandro Paredes gave away a penalty on his debut and that ensured Juve remain unbeaten this season.

Juve were in front nine minutes in, when Juan Cuadrado's cross was met by a Filip Kostic volley that was chested in by Milik from close range.

The Viola deservedly equalised on the break just before the half-hour mark, Kouame racing onto Riccardo Sottil's measured pass and sliding a composed finish under Perin after Weston McKennie had inexplicably passed when he should have shot at the other end.

Jovic had a golden opportunity to put Fiorentina in front just before half-time, but his spot-kick was superbly tipped onto the post by Perin after referee Daniele Doveri ruled that Paredes had handled Sottil's cross following a VAR check.

Massimiliano Allegri replaced Angel Di Maria with Mattia De Sciglio at the break and the frustrated Juve head coach was booked for dissent.

Antonin Barak's strike was well blocked by Gleison Bremer in a drab second half, with Vlahovic strangely an unused substitute.

Sofyan Amrabat almost won it late on but the impressive stand-in goalkeeper Perin produced an excellent save to ensure it was honours even.