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.

Dani Carvajal’s 78th-minute header rescued a point for LaLiga leaders Real Madrid during a frustrating 1-1 draw at Sevilla.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men had two early goals disallowed before David Alaba put through his own net to raise the possibility of a second defeat of the season.

Sevilla were denied a first victory under the tenure of Diego Alonso though when Carvajal headed home Toni Kroos’ late free-kick to ensure Madrid will go into next weekend’s ‘El Clasico’ at rivals Barcelona as divisional leaders.

Ancelotti rotated his options for the trip to Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, with Alaba, Kroos and Rodrygo recalled to the starting line-up after the 4-0 victory over Osasuna a fortnight ago.

Sevilla had changed management during the international break and new head coach Alonso almost watched his team go behind after only four minutes.

Federico Valverde was first to a loose ball outside the area and then latched on to Jude Bellingham’s lay off before his cross-shot deflected into the net via ex-team-mate Sergio Ramos.

It was subsequently ruled out though after Bellingham had been in an offside position when he collected Valverde’s header.

The LaLiga leaders were celebrating again in the eighth minute but referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea had controversially already blown his whistle to stop play by the time Bellingham rolled into the empty net.

Madrid broke at lightning pace after Antonio Rudiger nipped in to beat Lucas Ocampos, who went down after being caught in the back, and Rodrygo raced through on goal, rounded Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland and flicked into the path of Bellingham, who slotted into the corner.

Referee de Burgos Bengoetxea had already signalled a halt to proceedings to seemingly check on Ocampos before play resumed with a drop ball for Madrid, despite the visitors expressing their bemusement at the early stoppage of play.

Sevilla settled after a difficult start and should have broken the deadlock in the 23rd minute.

Ocampos embarked on a fine run and played into Ivan Rakitic, who showed great composure to cut inside Kroos, but his left-footed effort was cleared off the line by Madrid captain Carvajal.

The danger was not over there, with the ball being cleared to Ocampos but his 25-yard curler was pushed away by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

 

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Alonso’s men were buoyed by that opportunity and created another opening minutes later when Ocampos flicked into the path of Djibril Sow, who curled wide from a promising position.

Madrid remained a constant threat and their old captain Ramos denied Alaba in the 34th-minute with a wonderful block following Kroos’ wicked set-piece delivery.

A breathless half ended goalless but the visitors were unhappy as they walked off at the break after Vinicius Jr had gone down under contact from Navas minutes before the first 45 were up.

The same duo were involved in a flashpoint at the beginning of the second period when Navas flicked the ball through Vinicius Jr’s legs and Ferland Mendy reacted by barging into the Sevilla captain, but referee de Burgos Bengoetxea kept his cards in his pocket.

Nyland had to be alert soon after to deny Rodrygo’s low effort before Ramos impressively blocked a volley by Kroos.

The influence of ex-Madrid captain Ramos continued to grow and he played his part in Sevilla making the breakthrough with 16 minutes left.

Ramos passed out wide to Navas, who whipped in a wicked delivery from the left that team-mate Youssef En-Nesyri missed, but Alaba could only deflect the ball beyond his own goalkeeper Kepa.

Sevilla’s celebrations were cut short four minutes later when Madrid captain Carvajal headed home at the near-post after he beat En-Nesyri in the air to a Kroos free-kick.

It set up a grandstand finish in Andalusia and Ramos was at the centre of the action with Kepa saving his header before Ocampos drilled wide following an excellent run by Navas.

Ocampos and Ramos were involved as tempers started to rise late on when Vinicius Jr and Nyland clashed over the hosts’ attempts to time waste.

There was still time for stoppage-time drama with Ramos heading over from two yards from Suso’s cross before a last-gasp Kroos free-kick was hit straight down the throat of Nyland, which ensured it finished 1-1 in Seville.

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