Bayern Munich slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Bochum to remain eight points behind leaders Bayer Leverkusen, increasing the pressure on manager Thomas Tuchel.
The German giants – beaten 1-0 at Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night – had taken the lead in the 15th minute through Jamal Musiala.
After Harry Kane blasted over when clear, the match was halted in the 22nd minute as tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch in another protest by supporters against a controversial plan to sell a stake in Bundesliga media rights.
Once the game resumed, Bochum equalised in the 38th minute through Japan forward Takuma Asano before Keven Schlotterbeck headed in from a corner just before the break.
The players were taken off again early in the second half following another fan protest, before Bayern were reduced to 10 men when defender Dayot Upamecano – having also been sent off in midweek – was shown a red card for raising his arm into the face of Schlotterbeck in the area. Kevin Stoger made no mistake from the resulting penalty to make it 3-1.
Kane reduced the deficit in the 87th minute when he tapped in his 25th Bundesliga goal but the England captain was unable to convert a stoppage-time header from close range as Bayern slumped to a third successive defeat.
Earlier on Sunday, Michael Gregoritsch’s late equaliser saw Freiburg fight back to draw 3-3 against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Europa-Park Stadion.
Play was halted midway through the second half because of more protests from fans – which saw remote-controlled planes flown around the stadium while sweets were thrown onto the pitch behind one of the goals.
LaLiga leaders Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly city neighbours Rayo Vallecano.
Los Blancos, without Jude Bellingham through injury, had taken an early lead through Joselu and looked set to go eight points clear of Girona, who play at Athletic Bilbao on Monday night.
However, a 27th-minute penalty from Raul de Tomas proved enough for Rayo to earn a derby point in their first match under new boss Inigo Perez, with Real having Dani Carvajal sent off late on.
Real Betis dropped out of the top six after being held to a goalless draw at home by Alaves.
Real Sociedad secured a first victory in six matches after coming from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Mallorca thanks to a stoppage-time header from Mikel Merino, the hosts having seen captain Antonio Raillo sent off just before the break.
At the other end of the table, the bottom two sides Granada and Almeria cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw.
AC Milan missed the chance to go second in Serie A as they slumped to a 4-2 defeat at neighbours Monza, finishing with 10 men after Luka Jovic was sent off.
After Monza goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio had to be substituted following a clash of heads with team-mate Andrea Carboni, the hosts took the lead through Matteo Pessina’s penalty and Dany Mota added a second just before half-time.
Jovic was sent off six minutes into the second half, his yellow card upgraded to a red on VAR review, for lashing out at Armando Izzo.
Substitutes Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic then hauled the Rossoneri level – only for Warren Bondo to swiftly put Monza ahead again before on-loan forward Lorenzo Colombo added a fourth against his parent club.
Bologna had earlier kept up their challenge for the Champions League places after Joshua Zirkzee’s late goal gave them a 2-1 win at Lazio.
Roma won 3-0 at Frosinone to maintain their ambitions of a top-six finish.
Relegation-battlers Cagliari drew 1-1 at Udinese and it also finished 1-1 between Empoli and Fiorentina.
In Ligue 1, Brest beat Marseille 1-0 with an 89th-minute goal from Pierre Lees-Melou after forward Steve Mounie had been sent off to move above Nice into second place.
Mohamed Bamba scored a first-half double as Lorient won 3-1 at Strasbourg to move out of the drop zone.
Monaco saw their top-four ambitions dented with a 2-1 home defeat by Toulouse, while a brace from Martin Terrier saw in-form Rennes beat 10-man Clermont 3-1.
Africa Cup of Nations winner Oumar Diakite marked his return to club action with a goal as Reims drew 1-1 with Lens while Montpellier beat Metz 3-0.
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
