Dani Carvajal’s 78th-minute header rescued a point for Real Madrid at Sevilla and ensured they will travel to Barcelona next weekend as LaLiga leaders.
Madrid prepared for the first ‘El Clasico’ of the season with a battling 1-1 draw at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan where Carlo Ancelotti’s side were on course for a second loss of the campaign when David Alaba put through his own net.
Carvajal levelled with a pinpoint header from Toni Kroos’ free-kick before ex-Madrid captain Sergio Ramos squandered an excellent chance in stoppage time to earn new Sevilla head coach Diego Alonso victory in his maiden match in charge.
The 1-1 draw moves Madrid onto 25 points ahead of Girona and Barcelona playing their respective fixtures on Sunday, but both of their nearest challengers are unable to move above the Bernabeu outfit ahead of next weekend’s clash at the Olympic Stadium in Catalonia.
Madrid were left frustrated, though, after they had two early goals disallowed, with in-form Jude Bellingham denied after referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea halted play to check on Sevilla’s Lucas Ocampos, who had a back injury, while the visitors were on a counter-attack.
Atletico Madrid temporarily moved up to second in the table after Antoine Griezmann hit a hat-trick at Celta Vigo.
Home goalkeeper Ivan Villar was sent off after 25 minutes for giving away a penalty but former Crystal Palace stopper Vicente Guaita was unable to thwart Griezmann from 12 yards.
Griezmann would go on to score twice more in the second half to complete his treble and pile the pressure on Celta boss Rafael Benitez.
Real Sociedad edged out visiting Mallorca after Brais Mendez grabbed the only goal of the game in the 64th minute at Reale Arena.
The points were shared at Estadio Coliseum after Marc Roca’s first-minute opener for Real Betis was cancelled out by Borja Mayoral’s header for hosts Getafe.
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In Serie A, Lautaro Martinez struck his 12th goal of the season to send Inter Milan back to the summit with a 3-0 win at Torino.
After a goalless first half, Marcus Thuram broke the deadlock in the 59th minute before Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu, via the penalty spot, added further goals for Simone Inzaghi’s side.
Napoli secured a 3-1 victory on the road at Verona thanks to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s double to ease the pressure on Rudi Garcia.
Meanwhile, first-half efforts by Felipe Anderson and Luis Alberto earned Lazio all three points with a 2-0 triumph away to Sassuolo.
In France, Kylian Mbappe’s early penalty sent Paris St Germain on their way to a 3-0 win over Strasbourg.
A 10th-minute spot-kick from Mbappe got the ball rolling for PSG before Carlos Soler and Fabian Ruiz also netted in a routine success that saw them leapfrog Monaco at the top of Ligue 1.
Evann Guessand’s 79th-minute header secured Nice a 1-0 win and bragging rights over Marseille.
Harry Kane continued his excellent form with another goal in Bayern Munich’s 3-1 victory at Mainz, but Bayer Leverkusen remain Bundesliga leaders following a hard-fought triumph over Wolfsburg.
Kingsley Coman and Kane netted in the opening 16 minutes at MEWA Arena before Anthony Caci reduced the deficit before half-time for Mainz.
Leon Goretzka wrapped up the points before the hour mark to help Thomas Tuchel’s men extend their unbeaten start to eight matches.
Leverkusen top the table after they took their points tally to 22 out of a possible 24 thanks to Alex Grimaldo’s 62nd-minute strike in a 2-1 win at Wolfsburg.
Stuttgart are second after an impressive 3-0 victory at Union Berlin while RB Leipzig are fifth after Lois Openda’s brace inspired a 3-1 triumph over Darmstadt.
Elsewhere, Freiburg beat Bochum 2-1 and Frankfurt clinched a 3-1 win at Hoffenheim.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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