Messi nets first goal in Barca win

Luiz Suarez opened the scoring for Barcelona on Sunday

Lionel Messi scored his first goal of the season as nine-man Barcelona beat Sevilla 4-0 on Sunday to climb into second place in La Liga behind Real Madrid.

The hosts rode their luck in the early stages of the game as Julen Lopetegui’s Sevilla made an ambitious start but failed to take their chances while Barcelona were ruthlessly efficient and scored three times in the space of eight first-half minutes.

Luis Suarez gave the champions the lead with an outstanding bicycle kick in the 27th minute and Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal then got a crucial touch on a tame shot from Arthur Melo to double Barcelona’s lead in the 32nd minute.

Ousmane Dembele, who was named in the starting line-up ahead of Antoine Griezmann, made it 3-0 in the 35th minute with a superb solo dribble and finish.

Barcelona captain Messi scored from a free kick in the 78th momite to finally get off the mark in a season which has been blighted by injuries but there was a sour end to the game for Ernesto Valverde’s side, who are two points behind Real.

Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo had made his debut by replacing the injured Jean-Clair Todibo but was sent off 14 minutes later for a last-ditch challenge on Javier Hernandez, while Dembele was dismissed for protesting the decision.

Atletico Madrid have struggled to find the net

Atletico Madrid lost ground to La Liga leaders Real Madrid as they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Real Valladolid – their third goalless draw in four games – after the hosts squandered a penalty in the first half.

Valladolid striker Sandro Ramirez sent the ball flying over the crossbar from the spot towards the end of a tight first half and came close to breaking the deadlock in the second when his shot shaved the post.

Atletico were the better side after the interval and striker Alvaro Morata was denied at point-blank range by Valladolid’s goalkeeper Jordi Matip, while substitute Angel Correa hit the post with 10 minutes remaining.

Iago Aspas broke his seven-game scoring drought to start the season and gave Celta Vigo a much-needed 1-0 win over Athletic Bibao. Aspas headed in in the 74th-minute winner.

Espanyol fell into second-to-last place after losing 2-0 at promoted Mallorca with Ante Budimir and Salva Sevillthe scorers in each half. Getafe were also 2-1 winners against Real Sociedad.

Bundesliga – Gladbach go top

Breel Embolo celebrates after scoring Monchengladbach’s fifth goal

Borussia Monchengladbach moved top of the Bundesliga with their fourth straight win as they routed Augsburg 5-1 on Sunday.

Gladbach surged into a three goal lead in 13 minutes. Marcus Thuram surged forward and cut the ball back for Denis Zakaria (2) before Patrick Herrmann (8) scored in similar fashion – when Alassane Plea pulled the ball back – and the two combined again to make it 3-0 five minutes later.

A mistake from Augsburg goalkeeper Tomas Koubek gifted Plea the fourth goal in the 39th minute as he tripped over his own feet as he attempted to control Felix Uduokhai’s back pass and couldn’t stop a grateful Plea from scoring.

Augsburg one back in the 81st minute through Florian Niederlechner, who scored the rebound after Sommer saved Fredrik Jensen’s effort.

But Herrmann set up Breel Embolo for Gladbach’s fifth two minutes later. They are now one point ahead of second-place Wolfsburg and two points clear of Bayern Munich.

Wout Weghorst’s 69th-minute strike was enough for Wolfsburg to defeat promoted Union Berlin 1-0 at home. Wolfsburg remains the only unbeaten team in the league, while Union dropped to the relegation zone.

Eintracht Frankfurt were also held to a 2-2 draw at home by Werder Bremen. Andre Silva thought he had scored Frankfurt’s winning goal in the 88th minute, but the visitors had time to equalise with Milot Rashica’s converted penalty.

Serie A – Napoli held to goalless draw

Napoli were held to a 0-0 draw by Torino in Serie A

Napoli lost ground on the Serie A leaders as they were held to a goalless draw at Torino. In a game of few clear chances, Napoli substitute Fernando Llorente probably wasted the best, late in the game.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are fourth in the table with 13 points from seven games while Torino are ninth.

Juventus beat Inter Milan 2-1 to leapfrog their opponents to the top of Serie A by a point. Gonzalo Higuain scored an 80th minute winner at the San Siro.

Gonzalo Higuain scored the winner for Juventus

Atalanta marked their first match in their newly renovated stadium with a dominant 3-1 victory over Lecce.

Duvan Zapata and Alejandro “Papu” Gomez gave Atalanta a comfortable half-time lead, which was extended by Robin Gosens, shortly after the interval.

It would have been more but for the heroics of Lecce goalkeeper Gabriel. Lecce defender Fabio Lucioni netted a consolation late on for his first Serie A goal.

Bologna and Lazio played out an eventful 2-2 draw that saw two red cards and a missed penalty. All the goals were scored in the first half with Italy forward Ciro Immobile equalising twice for Lazio.

Immobile had already been substituted when Lazio was awarded a late penalty after Francesco Acerbi was tripped by Rodrigo Palacio, but Joaquin Correa fired his spot kick onto the crossbar.

Lazio midfielder Lucas Leiva was sent off in the 59th minute and Bologna counterpart Gary Medel followed him 10 minutes later.

Roma also drew, 1-1 at home to Cagliari, while Fiorentina beat Udinese 1-0.

Ligue 1 – Puel wins first St Etienne game

Second-half substitute Robert Beric struck late to give St Etienne a 1-0 home win against bitter rivals Lyon in Claude Puel’s first game in charge.

Beric found the back of the net in the final minute to lift St Etienne up to 13th in the standings, two points and one spot ahead of Lyon, whose winless streak in the league stretched to seven games.

Lyon finished the game with 10 men after defender Leo Dubois limped off the pitch 10 minutes from time with coach Sylvinho having already made his three substitutions.

Lille also drew 2-2 with Nantes earlier in the day while a 49th minute Boulaye Dia handed Reims a 1-0 win against Rennes.

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