Barcelona remain third in LaLiga after being held to a 0-0 draw by Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

A frustrating evening for Barca included midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Pedri coming off with injuries in the first half.

Xavi’s men are eight points behind leaders Real Madrid, who had drawn 2-2 at Valencia on Saturday.

And they are a point behind second-placed Girona, whose 1-0 loss at Mallorca earlier on Sunday, via a first-half Jose Manuel Copete goal, had offered Barca the chance to climb the table.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid beat Real Betis 2-1 at home with a Rui Silva own goal and Alvaro Morata effort putting the hosts in charge before William Carvalho’s reply, and Alexander Sorloth netted a hat-trick as Villarreal thrashed second-bottom Granada 5-1 at El Madrigal.

In Serie A, second-placed Juventus suffered a third defeat in five games as they lost 2-1 at Napoli.

Giacomo Raspadori scored a late winner on the follow-up when Victor Osimhen’s penalty was saved by Wojciech Szczesny, after Federico Chiesa had cancelled out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener.

It leaves Juve 12 points adrift of Inter Milan, who host Genoa on Monday.

Fourth-placed Bologna strengthened their Champions League bid by coming from behind to triumph 2-1 at Atalanta, with Scotland’s Lewis Ferguson netting the winner.

Cagliari moved up a place to 18th with a 1-0 win at Empoli. They are level on points with 17th-placed Hellas Verona, who beat Sassuolo 1-0 at home.

Sunday’s other top-flight game in Italy saw Frosinone and Lecce draw 1-1.

Bayer Leverkusen went 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Cologne.

After the hosts had Jan Thielmann sent off early on, Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo scored in each half for Xabi Alonso’s men as they took full advantage of second-placed Bayern Munich being held at Freiburg on Friday.

Maximilian Beier’s first-half brace secured a 2-1 win for Hoffenheim at home against Werder Bremen, the hosts holding out for three points after having Marius Bulter sent off in the 73rd minute and conceding a stoppage-time Skelly Alvero goal.

In Ligue 1, Brest are nine points behind Paris St Germain in second after Pierre Lees-Melou’s first-half effort secured a 1-0 home win over Le Havre, extending their unbeaten run to 13 games.

Toulouse came from behind to win 2-1 at home against fifth-placed Nice, and Lens are up to sixth following a 3-0 win at Lyon.

Lorient moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Rennes, Montpellier dropped in having drawn 2-2 at home with Strasbourg and second-bottom Metz won 2-0 at Nantes.

Real Madrid’s title push faltered in the absence of injured top scorer Jude Bellingham as they surrendered a lead to draw 1-1 at struggling Rayo Vallecano.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men looked set to cruise to victory against their lowly city neighbours following a third-minute finish from Joselu.

But the LaLiga leaders missed the chance to move eight points clear after Raul de Tomas’ 27th-minute penalty earned Rayo a deserved derby point in their first match under new boss Inigo Perez.

Real’s advantage at the top could be cut to three points on Monday evening when nearest challengers Girona travel to fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao.

An underwhelming outing for the 14-time European champions was compounded in added time by the dismissal of substitute Dani Carvajal for two quickfire yellow cards.

Following a 1-0 Champions League win at RB Leipzig, Real were once again without 20-goal England star Bellingham due to an ankle issue as they made the short trip to out-of-form opposition who changed head coach in midweek.

Rayo appointed 36-year-old Perez on Wednesday after sacking Francisco Rodriguez the previous day on the back of just one win in 14 league games dating back to October.

The hosts endured a nightmare start to the new era as Real edged ahead inside three minutes thanks to a rapid counter-attack.

After visiting goalkeeper Andriy Lunin survived a nervy moment, Brahim Diaz released Federico Valverde down the right and his low cross was dispatched into the bottom right corner by a first-time finish from the unmarked Joselu.

Former Stoke and Newcastle forward Joselu, who was forced to wait for an incorrect offside call to be overturned for his opener to be awarded, had the ball in the net again in the 19th minute.

However, on this occasion, his close-range header was ruled out as the assistant referee was correct in adjudging the ball had gone out of play prior to Valverde crossing from the right.

Real at that stage appeared in complete control but Rayo took advantage of a VAR-awarded spot-kick to level.

Replays showed Oscar Trejo’s powerful effort was deflected over by the right fist of Eduardo Camavinga and former Real forward De Tomas confidently converted high down the centre of the goal to open his account for the season.

Real struggled to regain their rhythm, albeit the lively Valverde struck the outside of the left post with a long-range volley after Luka Modric’s corner was partially cleared.

Defensive dithering from Aurelien Tchouameni almost let in Alvaro Garcia immediately after the restart as Real’s unconvincing afternoon continued.

The away side enjoyed plenty of possession but lacked penetration as time ticked away.

Toni Kroos brought a superb save out of Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski with a direct free-kick from distance, while fellow Real substitute Rodrygo had penalty appeals waved away after going to ground easily.

Spain full-back Carvajal, who came on in the 75th minute, then departed prematurely after petulantly lashing out at Kike Perez.

And the lacklustre visitors could have few complaints about dropping points for only the sixth time this season as Rayo marked the start of Perez’s reign with a surprise result.

What the papers say

Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, 21, has found himself on the radar of Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Daily Mail reports. The England Under-21 international has played 17 games for the Toffees in the Premier League this season.

The Evening Standard says West Ham could make a move for 26-year-old Ajax and  Netherlands forward Steven Bergwijn. The former Tottenham player has scored eight goals in all competitions this year for Ajax.

One player who could be making the opposite journey from England to the Netherlands is Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri, who has been linked with a loan move to PSV Eindhoven – and LA Galaxy – according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, cited by Teamtalk.

Social media round-up

Real Madrid ‘to turn to Erling Haaland if they fail in Mbappe transfer but will only have to pay HALF his release fee’https://t.co/1JoTm4tiE4https://t.co/1JoTm4tiE4

— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) January 8, 2024

Players to watch

Hugo Ekitike: Wolves are reportedly interested in signing the 21-year-old Paris St Germain forward, according to French outlet L’Equipe.

Jonathan David: The 23-year-old Canada forward, currently at Lille in France, has attracted interest from Manchester United and Aston Villa, Football Transfers reports.

What the papers say

Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, 21, has found himself under the scope of Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Daily Mail reports. The England Under-21 international has played 17 games for the Toffees in the Premier League this season.

The Evening Standard says West Ham could make a move for 26-year-old Ajax and  Netherlands forward Steven Bergwijn. The former Tottenham player has scored eight goals in all competitions this year for Ajax.

One player who could be making the opposite journey from England to the Netherlands is Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri, who has been linked with a loan move to PSV Eindhoven – and LA Galaxy – according to journalist  Fabrizio Romano, cited by Teamtalk.

Social media round-up

Real Madrid ‘to turn to Erling Haaland if they fail in Mbappe transfer but will only have to pay HALF his release fee’https://t.co/1JoTm4tiE4https://t.co/1JoTm4tiE4

— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) January 8, 2024

Players to watch

Hugo Ekitike: Wolves are reportedly interested in signing the 21-year-old Paris St Germain forward, according to French outlet L’Equipe.

Jonathan David: The 23-year-old Canada forward, currently at Lille in France, has attracted interest from Manchester United and Aston Villa, Football Transfers reports.

Jude Bellingham struck his 17th goal of the season as Real Madrid returned to the top of LaLiga with a thumping 4-1 win over Villarreal at the Bernabeu.

Bellingham paved the way for the hosts to leapfrog previous leaders Girona – who face Alaves on Sunday – when he struck midway through the first half before Rodrygo doubled Real’s lead.

Jose Luis Morales reduced the deficit for the visitors but Real made sure of victory with further goals from Brahim Diaz and Luka Modric.

Real Sociedad stay in sixth place, just above rivals Real Betis after the two clubs ground out a goalless draw in San Sebastian, while the match between bottom club Almeria and Mallorca also finished goalless.

Chris Ramos scored a late equaliser as Cadiz sealed their fourth consecutive LaLiga draw against Las Palmas, for whom Pejino grabbed an early opener.

Inter Milan stretched their lead at the top of Serie A to four points after a 2-0 win over Lazio in Rome.

Lautaro Martinez pounced on a calamitous back-pass by home defender Adam Marusic to put his side in front and Marcus Thuram’s second-half effort sealed the points before Lazio had Manuel Lazzari sent off late on.

City rivals AC Milan strengthened their grip on third place as they coasted to a 3-0 win over Monza at San Siro.

A third-minute strike from Tijjani Reijnders paved the way for a comfortable victory, with Jan-Carlo Simic adding a second just before half time and Noah Okafor completing the scoring in the second half.

Bologna kept in touch in fourth place with a 2-0 win over Roma courtesy of Nikola Moro and a Rasmus Kristensen own goal, while a late Lucas Beltran effort saw Fiorentina edge struggling Verona 1-0, and Udinese and Sassuolo shared the points in a 2-2 draw.

Harry Kane scored twice as Bayern Munich erased the memory of last weekend’s shocking 5-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt with a 3-0 win over fourth-placed Stuttgart.

Kane hit the opener after just two minutes and doubled his tally early in the second half before Kim Min-Jae completed the scoring for the revived hosts.

But Bayer Leverkusen maintained their four-point lead by succeeding where Bayern failed and thumping Frankfurt 3-0 at the BayArena, with goals from Victor Boniface, Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz.

Freiburg claimed a 2-0 win over struggling Koln who had Julian Chabot sent off for two bookable offences midway through the second half.

Paris St Germain were denied an eighth successive Ligue 1 win as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Lille at the Stade Pierre-Mouroy.

Kylian Mbappe’s 66th-minute effort looked set to send his side to another victory but Jonathan David fired home in the fourth minute of injury time to salvage a point and protect fourth place.

In-form Brest were 2-0 winners at Nantes, while Marseille laboured to a 2-1 win at home to bottom club Clermont.

Strasbourg won 2-1 at Lorient, Montpellier edged a 1-0 win at Metz, while Toulouse and Rennes battled out a stalemate.

Joao Felix undid his parent club as a first-half finish from the Portugal international earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.

Felix lifted the ball over goalkeeper Jan Oblak in deft fashion in the 28th minute as Xavi’s men replaced Atletico in third in the LaLiga table, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona

Sevilla were held 1-1 at home by Villarreal, Hector Bellerin was shown a red card in the 27th minute of Real Betis’ goalless draw at Almeria, and Mallorca and Alaves also drew a blank.

Kylian Mbappe inspired 10-man Paris St Germain to a 2-0 victory over Le Havre to send them four points clear of Nice at the top of Ligue 1.

PSG found themselves down to 10 men after just 10 minutes when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sent off for a high challenge on Josue Casimir.

The visitors went in front in the 23rd minute through Mbappe and while the hosts did their best to find an equaliser, Vitinha scored against the run of play in the 89th minute to seal three points.

Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier saved two penalties as Lille claimed a 2-0 win at home to Metz. The 22-year-old denied Simon Elisor before two goals in first-half stoppage time from Yusuf Yazici and Jonathan David put Lille in control.

More heroics from Chevalier 10 minutes into the second half to keep out Lamine Camara’s penalty helped preserve victory for the home side.

Third-placed Monaco are two points behind Nice following a 2-0 win over 10-man Montpellier, who saw Boubakar Kouyate sent off in the second half, while Brest beat Clermont 3-0 and Toulouse played out a 1-1 draw with Lorient.

Both sides were reduced to 10 as Marseille beat Rennes 2-0 at home, Christopher Wooh being dismissed for the visitors just past the hour mark and Iliman Ndiaye going soon after.

Marseille’s goals came via an early Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty and Azzedine Ounahi effort between the red cards.

Inter Milan moved back above Juventus to the top of Serie A with a 3-0 win at defending champions Napoli, with Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella and Marcus Thuram on the scoresheet.

Rasmus Kristensen scored the winner for Roma as they came from behind to beat Sassuolo 2-1.

Matheus Henrique fired in a first-half opener for Sassuolo, but it all came undone after the break when Daniel Boloca was dismissed and Paulo Dybala scored from the spot, before Kristensen fired home a second.

A Lucas Beltran spot-kick and further goals from Riccardo Sottil and Giacomo Bonaventura earned Fiorentina a 3-0 victory over Salernitana, while Udinese and Verona drew 3-3.

Bologna looked poised for victory at Lecce but had to settle for a point after Roberto Piccoli’s penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time cancelled out Charalampos Lykogiannis’ 68th-minute opener.

In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund were on course to leapfrog fourth-placed Leipzig with a vital victory at leaders Bayer Leverkusen after Julian Ryerson fired the visitors ahead after five minutes, but Victor Boniface salvaged a point when he levelled late in the second half.

Elsewhere, Augsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 and Freiburg won 1-0 at Mainz.

Jude Bellingham scored on his return to action as Real Madrid beat lowly Cadiz 3-0 to move to the top of LaLiga.

Bellingham had missed the last two games for Los Blancos after suffering a shoulder injury in the 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano which also saw him ruled out on England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.

But the 20-year-old looked back to his best as he scored for the 11th time in 12 league appearances this season after being set up by Rodrygo, whose earlier brace had set the away side on their way to an impressive win.

Real went close to taking the lead in the third minute when Dani Carvajal’s attempted cross took a big deflection and almost caught out goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma, who was moving to his right in anticipation.

And the visitors did not have to wait long to break the deadlock in brilliant fashion, Rodrygo curling a right-footed shot into the top corner from just inside the area in the 14th minute.

Bellingham then failed to make enough contact on a dangerous cross from Luka Modric and the England midfielder also headed over after Chris Ramos sliced an attempted clearance back towards his own goal.

Cadiz were also creating chances and Roger Marti almost equalised with a left-footed shot which looked destined for the top corner until Andriy Lunin threw himself to his left and tipped the ball wide.

More goals always looked on the cards in an entertaining contest and, after Modric had struck the base of a post after 64 minutes, Real eventually doubled their lead on the counter-attack, Bellingham feeding Rodrygo to curl another superb finish beyond the despairing dive of Ledesma.

Rodrygo soon repaid the favour, finding Bellingham in acres of space on the left side of the area and he drilled a left-footed shot unerringly into the far corner.

With the points secure and games looming against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday and Granada in the league three days later, it was no surprise to see Carlo Ancelotti substitute his star duo four minutes after Bellingham’s goal.

To their credit, Cadiz continued to press forward in pursuit of a goal that their performance deserved and Brian Ocampo’s injury-time effort was well saved by Lunin, but the defeat leaves them 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone.

Real moved a point above Girona at the top of the table ahead of the latter’s game at home to Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

Jude Bellingham’s goalscoring hot streak continued with a brace as LaLiga leaders Real Madrid thrashed Osasuna 4-0 at the Bernabeu.

The England midfielder opened the scoring with a ninth-minute finish and added another effort nine minutes into the second half to take him to 10 goals in as many games for Real since joining them from Borussia Dortmund over the summer.

Further finishes followed from Vincius Junior and Joselu, who then saw a penalty saved by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.

Girona leapfrogged Barcelona – who play at Granada on Sunday – into second, two points behind Real, with a 1-0 win at 10-man Cadiz.

After the hosts had Darwin Machis sent off in the 10th minute, Aleix Garcia netted a 59th-minute winner.

Valencia drew 1-1 at Mallorca thanks to Diego Lopez’s headed equaliser in first-half stoppage time after Daniel Rodriguez’s opener, while Sevilla fought back from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw at home against Rayo Vallecano, with Youssef En-Nesyri scoring a stoppage-time leveller.

Oscar Valentin and Alvaro Garcia put Rayo in control inside 26 minutes before Djibril Sow halved the deficit and En-Nesyri’s last-gasp equaliser.

AC Milan moved to the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win at Genoa that saw Christian Pulisic score late on before both sides had their goalkeepers sent off in stoppage time.

After Pulisic broke the deadlock by firing home in the 87th minute, the Rossoneri were then reduced to 10 men in the eighth minute of time added on when Mike Maignan was shown a red card.

Pulisic’s fellow substitute Olivier Giroud took over from Maignan in goal, and saw the Milan crossbar get rattled moments later – before the drama continued with Genoa keeper Josep Martinez being shown a second yellow card.

With Giroud then making a save in the final few moments, Milan saw out the victory to take top spot, going two points clear of Inter Milan, who were held 2-2 at home by Bologna earlier in the day.

Inter looked well in control after early goals from Francesco Acerbi and Lautaro Martínez, but Bologna hit back with a Riccardo Orsolini penalty in the 19th minute, and Joshua Zirkzee then equalised seven minutes into the second half.

Juventus moved above champions Napoli into third with a 2-0 win at home against derby rivals Torino, Federico Gatti and Arkadiusz Milik getting on the scoresheet. Napoli play Fiorentina at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Sunday evening.

Monaco lead Ligue 1 by a point after winning 3-1 at Reims – Ismail Jakobs, Folarin Balogun and Wissam Ben Yedder netting for the visitors before Teddy Teuma replied with a penalty.

The result took Monaco back above Nice, who had earlier moved to the top following a 1-0 win at Metz, with Hichem Boudaoui scoring the only goal in the 14th minute.

Stuttgart are the current table-toppers in the Bundesliga following their 3-1 come-from-behind win over Wolfsburg.

Replying to Yannick Gerhardt’s opener, Serhou Guirassy registered a second-half hat-trick, the first goal a penalty, to take him to 13 goals for the season in just seven games.

A point behind them are Borussia Dortmund, who beat Union Berlin 4-2 at Signal Iduna Park.

The hosts were behind at the break after Niclas Fullkrug’s opener was cancelled out by Robin Gosens and Leonardo Bonucci scored a penalty, before a second-half turnaround saw Nico Schlotterbeck, Julian Brandt and Julian Ryerson net for Dortmund.

RB Leipzig had a penalty saved in each half as they were held 0-0 at home by Bochum, Manuel Riemann denying Xavi Simons and then Emil Forsberg.

Hoffenheim moved into the top four with a 3-2 win at Werder Bremen sealed by Marius Bulter in the second minute of stoppage time – a minute after Jens Stage had equalised for the hosts.

Maximilian Beier’s early goal put Hoffenheim ahead in the eighth minute, but Romano Schmid equalised nine minutes later only for Grischa Promel to regain the first-half lead for the visitors.

Darmstadt won 2-1 at Augsburg thanks to goals from Tim Skarke and a Tobias Kempe penalty before Ermedin Demirovic netted a late consolation for the hosts.

Juventus were held to a frustrating goalless Serie A draw by Atalanta with only one point still separating both sides in the table.

Nicolo Fagioli and Moise Kean tested Juan Musso in the first half, but Atalanta had plenty of opportunities after the break to earn a winner as Wojciech Szczesny got his fingertips to Luis Muriel’s free-kick before Teun Koopmeiners had two good shots in the closing stages.

Bologna sit three points below Atalanta in the table after they beat Empoli 3-0, with Riccardo Orsolini starring after earning his first Serie A hat-trick, helping his side to their second win this season.

Roma also earned their second win of the season as goals from Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini secured a 2-0 win against Frosinone, while Alan Matturro’s own goal salvaged a point for Udinese, who drew 2-2 with Genoa.

Albert Gudmundsson’s brace gave Genoa the advantage before Matturro turned the ball into his own net in stoppage time and Sandi Lovric was dismissed just minutes later.

Angel Correa’s brace helped Atletico Madrid come from behind to earn a 3-2 win against LaLiga rivals Cadiz.

Atletico faced an uphill task after Lucas Pires and Roger Marti put the visitors in front.

However, Correa helped Diego Simeone’s side to three points either side of Nahuel Molina’s goal and they move into fourth.

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They sit four points clear of Real Betis, who beat Valencia 3-0 thanks to goals from Assane Diao, Marc Roca and Abde Ezzalzouli, while Jose Arnaiz Diaz and Ante Budimir’s goals were enough for Osasuna to beat Alaves 2-0.

At the bottom of the table, Granada came from behind to draw 3-3 with fellow strugglers Almeria.

Colombian forward Luis Suarez wreaked havoc, scoring a hat-trick within the final six minutes of the first half before Granada came back into the game with Myrto Uzuni scoring in the 86th minute to rescue a point.

Lyon’s winless run continued in Ligue 1 after they were beaten 2-0 by high-flying Reims.

Goals from Marshall Munetsi and Yunis Abdelhamid handed Lyon their fifth league loss of the season and they sit rock bottom of the table.

Reims’ win sees them close in on Brest, who missed the chance to go top of the table after drawing 0-0 with Nice.

Lille beat Havre 2-0 to go sixth in the table, while Toulouse returned to winning ways with a 3-0 win against Metz and Akor Adams’ brace helped Montpellier beat Lorient 3-0.

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Rennes ended their run of five consecutive league draws after beating Nantes 3-1 to move into sixth.

In the Bundesliga, Darmstadt earned their first win of the season after beating Werder Bremen 4-2.

Die Lilien scored twice in each half and held off a potential late comeback from Bremen with two quick goals in the second half.

Vincenzo Grifo and Philipp Lienhart’s goals were enough for Freiburg to beat Augsburg 2-0 in the other game on Sunday.

Real Madrid returned to winning ways at home to Las Palmas but Girona are the new surprise leaders of LaLiga after they made it six league victories in a row.

Girona had moved up to second at the weekend with a thrilling 5-3 success over Mallorca, but they trailed after 49 minutes at Villarreal.

Daniel Parejo put the hosts ahead from 12 yards but Artem Dovbyk produced an equaliser only seven minutes later.

Five minutes after the leveller and Girona had completed the turnaround when ex-Manchester City defender Eric Garcia headed home a cross by Alex Garcia.

It proved enough to earn the Catalonia outfit, who are part-owned by City Football Group, a 2-1 victory to overtake Barcelona at the LaLiga summit.

Real Madrid were made to work hard for their 2-0 victory over Las Palmas but Brahim Diaz’ first goal for the club in the third-minute of first-half stoppage time broke the deadlock at the Bernabeu.

It was 2-0 soon after half-time when Joselu continued his fine form with a 54th-minute header from Rodrygo’s centre.

Athletic Bilbao are fourth but they had to settle for a point following an entertaining 2-2 draw at home to Getafe.

Yuri Berchiche opened the scoring for Bilbao in the fifth-minute but Oihan Sancet was sent off at the end of the first half and Gaston Alvarez levelled for Getafe in the 51st-minute after an assist by Manchester United loanee Mason Greenwood.

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Inaki Williams put 10-man Athletic back in front before Juanmi Latasa had the final say on proceedings with an 83rd-minute leveller at San Mames.

Real Sociedad are fifth thanks to a 32nd-minute effort by Carlos Fernandez in a 1-0 win at Valencia, who finished the match with a numerical disadvantage after Selim Amallah was sent off.

Meanwhile, Cadiz and Rayo Vallecano played out a goalless draw with Abdul Mumin given his marching orders for Vallecano late on.

Inter Milan’s perfect start to the new Serie A season ended after Sassuolo came from behind to clinch a 2-1 win at the San Siro.

Denzel Dumfries put Simone Inzaghi’s men in front before half-time and they looked on course for a sixth straight victory, but Nedim Bajrami silenced the home crowd with a 54th-minute equaliser.

It got worst nine minutes later when Domenico Berardi rifled home from the edge of the area to put Sassuolo ahead.

Inter’s city rivals AC Milan were indebted to English duo Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek after they claimed a 3-1 win at Cagliari.

Zito Luvumbo put Cagliari ahead before the half an hour mark, but Noah Okafor scored for Milan in the 40th minute and Tomori fired home from a corner on the stroke of half-time.

Loftus-Cheek extended Milan’s lead on the hour mark when he arrowed home an effort from 25-yards after good play by Christian Pulisic out wide to help Stefano Piolo’s team move level with leaders Inter on 15 points from six games.

Napoli returned to winning ways with Victor Osimhen able to put his social-media storm to one side to score in a 4-1 win over Udinese.

Osimhen had threatened legal action against Napoli over a post on the club’s TikTok which appeared to mock the forward but he let his football do the talking with a smart 39th-minute finish in Naples.

Piotr Zielinski, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Giovanni Simeone were also on target while Lazar Samardzic grabbed a late consolation for Udinese.

Matias Vecino and Mattia Zaccagni struck in the second half to earn Lazio a 2-0 triumph over Torino while Atalanta are up to fourth following a hard-fought 1-0 win at Verona.

LaLiga leaders Barcelona twice had to battle from behind as Fermin Lopez’s first goal for the club earned a hard-fought draw at Real Mallorca.

Xavi’s side have been the early pace-setters as they look to defend their league title but the visitors had to settle for a 2-2 draw at the Iberostar Stadium.

Vedat Muriqi and Abdon Prats goals had twice had the hosts in front but Raphinha cancelled out the opener before substitute Lopez struck to earn Barca a share of the spoils.

Two early goals set Sevilla on their way to an emphatic 5-1 home win over Almeria.

Youssef En-Nesyri headed home with seven minutes on the clock after Loic Bade had hit the woodwork and just a minute later the lead was doubled courtesy of a fine solo strike from Dodi Lukebakio.

Suso’s curling effort wrapped up the win before the interval with Erik Lamela adding a fourth before a Luis Suarez penalty reduced the arrears, only for Kike Salas to make it five in stoppage time.

In Italy, Juventus moved two points behind early leaders Inter Milan with a 1-0 win over a Lecce side who finished with 10 men.

Arkadiusz Milik’s close-range effort proved to be enough for Juve, who saw out the game to wrap up the win as the visitors had Mohamed Kaba sent off in injury time after picking up a second yellow card for simulation.

Meanwhile, Lille’s inconsistent start to the Ligue 1 season continued as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat to Reims.

Paulo Fonseca’s side have won just two of their six opening league games and early goals from Mohamed Daramy and Keito Nakamura saw them slip up once again despite Benjamin Andre’s second-half consolation.

Elsewhere, a much-changed Bayern Munich side made light work of third-tier Preussen Munster in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting put the Bundesliga giants ahead early on and they were out of sight by the break as Konrad Laimer and Frans Kratzig got in on the act.

The 4-0 win was wrapped up by a late Mathys Tel effort as Thomas Tuchel’s side advance with ease.

Alvaro Morata struck with two headers as Atletico Madrid clinched a rare LaLiga win over arch-rivals Real Madrid, winning 3-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium.

Morata and Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes and after Toni Kroos reduced the deficit before the break, Spain captain Morata headed his second against his former club a minute after the restart.

Atletico, who had won only one of their previous 14 league meetings against their rivals, halted Real’s five-game winning start to the league season.

Villarreal’s former Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno was sent off as his side drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano.

Kike Perez equalised for Vallecano a minute after Alexander Sorloth had fired Villarreal into a first-half lead and Moreno was shown his second yellow card in the 77th minute.

Real Sociedad sealed their second league win of the season in a seven-goal thriller at home against Getafe.

The visitors led 2-1 at half-time through Carles Alena’s header and Borja Mayoral’s penalty after Takefusa Kubo had given Sociedad an early lead.

Mikel Oyarzabal’s second-half double – his first coming from the penalty spot – sandwiched Brais Mendez’s effort to put the home side 4-2 up before Juan Latasa headed a late third for Getafe.

Guido Rodriguez’s second-half equaliser earned Real Betis a 1-1 home draw against Cadiz, who had led at half-time through Chris Ramos.

Las Palmas overcame the second-half dismissal of Mika Marmol to secure their first win of the season, 1-0 at home against second-bottom Granada, thanks to Kirian Rodriguez’s stoppage-time goal.

Italy midfielder Federico Dimarco’s first goal of the season clinched Inter Milan a 1-0 win at bottom club Empoli and kept them top of Serie A.

Dimarco struck early in the second half as Inter extended their 100 per cent league record this season to five matches.

Reigning champions Napoli were held 0-0 at Bologna and are now seven points behind Inter.

Fiorentina kept pace with the top four as goals from Lucas Martinez Quarta and Giacomo Bonaventura secured them a 2-0 victory at winless Udinese.

Atalanta, a point behind Fiorentina, won 2-0 at home against second-bottom Cagliari, with former Everton winger Ademola Lookman and Mario Pasalic both on target.

Duvan Zapata’s late header rescued a 1-1 draw for Torino at Roma, who had led through Romelu Lukaku’s second-half goal.

In the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen are level on points with leaders Bayern Munich after beating newly-promoted Heidenheim 4-1 at BayArena.

Victor Boniface’s early opener for Leverkusen was cancelled out by Eren Dinkci in the second half, but Jonas Hofmann put the home side back in front and after Boniface had converted a penalty, Amine Adli completed the scoring.

Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg sit eighth and ninth respectively after drawing 0-0 at Deutsche Bank Park.

Paris St Germain climbed to within two points of surprise early Ligue 1 leaders Brest by thrashing Marseille 4-0 at Parc des Princes.

Goncalo Ramos notched a second-half double after first-half efforts from Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani.

Strasbourg and Le Havre are among the early pace-setters after winning 1-0 at Metz and 2-1 at home against rock-bottom Clermont respectively.

Teenager Habib Diarra fired Strasbourg’s winner as they notched their third league win of the season, while Nabil Alioui and Mohamed Bayo put Le Havre 2-0 up inside seven minutes before Cheick Konate replied for Clermont.

Lens registered their first win of the season in all competitions, 2-1 at home against Toulouse, thanks to Morgan Guilavogui’s late strike, while Rennes were held 0-0 at Montpellier.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has begun his recovery since undergoing surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The Belgium international sustained the serious injury to his left knee in a training session and has now returned back to the Real Madrid setup to begin his first steps in rehabilitation.

Courtois took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to give supporters an update on his fitness, he said: “Thank you to everyone for the support and the energy!

“Little by little I’m taking the first steps in my recovery.”

Since the injury to Courtois, Real Madrid have signed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan deal as a replacement and the Spain stopper kept a clean sheet on his debut, a 1-0 victory over Celta Vigo on the weekend.

Kepa, 28, has previously spoken of his intention of making the move permanent and could compete with Courtois for the number one jersey when the Belgian returns to the fold.

Raphinha and head coach Xavi both saw red as Barcelona got their LaLiga title defence under way with a goalless draw at Getafe in a tempestuous affair that saw both sides finish with 10 players.

Raphinha came close to breaking the deadlock when his shot was saved by David Soria before rebounding off Stefan Mitrovic and on to a post, but the Barcelona winger was given his marching orders soon after.

Having been booked for dissent moments earlier, the Brazilian was given a straight red after appearing to use his forearm in an off-the-ball clash with Gaston Alvarez, prompting uproar from Getafe’s bench.

The incident on the stroke of half-time left Barcelona a man down with more than half the game to go but the sides were evened up just before the hour when Jaime Mata received a second yellow card.

Robert Lewandowski saw a looping header cleared off the line by Alvarez before, with 20 minutes left, Xavi was given his marching orders for arguing with the officials.

Barcelona dominated possession and had 14 shots to their opponents’ five on a steamy night in the Spanish capital but ultimately drew a blank in a clash that produced eight yellows and the three red cards.

They thought they should have had a penalty in the 12th minute of added-on time, with referee Cesar Soto Grado checking the monitors following potential fouls on Gavi and Ronald Araujo.

But the official saw no transgression by the Getafe defence and the hosts held on to secure a point.

Goals from Ayoze Perez and Willian Jose – in the 90th minute – secured a 2-1 victory for Real Betis at Villarreal, who had equalised through Jorge Cuenca, while Ruben Garcia and Moi Gomez were on target as Osasuna won 2-0 at Celta Vigo.

In Ligue 1, Lens squandered a two-goal lead as last season’s runners-up started their campaign with a 3-2 defeat at Brest.

Florian Sotoca and Deiver Machado put Lens two goals ahead inside 22 minutes but Romain Del Castillo’s spot-kick on the stroke of half-time gave the home side a foothold in the game.

Kenny Lala equalised just before the hour mark and after substitute Adrien Thomasson was sent off just a quarter of an hour after coming on, Del Castillo scored his second penalty to give Brest the points.

Wissam Ben Yedder bagged a brace as Monaco won 4-2 at Clermont, while Ibrahim Salah also scored twice as Rennes dished out a 5-1 beating to promoted Metz.

Le Havre, back in the top flight after a 14-year absence, had substitute Samuel Grandsir to thank for a last-gasp strike that rescued a 2-2 draw at Montpellier, while Toulouse came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Nantes and Strasbourg beat Lyon by the same score.

In Germany, Dani Olmo’s hat-trick saw RB Leipzig spoil Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich debut with a 3-0 win in the DFL-Supercup.