Barcelona, Oct 18: Lamine Yamal stood out for Barcelona in a bad-tempered and spectacular 5-2 win at Real Betis that maintained the visitors’ perfect start to La Liga before a Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG also won, coming from behind with substitute Ousmane Dembele missing a penalty before later scoring in a 3-1 victory at Strasbourg in the French league.
While Bayern Munich hit six goals against visiting Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
The Yamal Show
Yamal scored arguably the day’s finest goal across all the European leagues, but was later booked after clashing with a rival player, who was sent off.
The 19-year-old Ballon d’Or contender scored the opening goal when he eluded Facundo Bernal by rolling his foot over the ball just outside the penalty area, from where he sent it sailing inside the far post in the 10th minute. He justifiably looked very pleased with himself.
Valentin Gomez headed Betis’ reply, Rodri restored Barcelona’s lead, and Giovani Lo Celso had an equalizer before the break ruled out through VAR. Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini was booked for his protests.
After the break, Yamal set up Gabriel Jesus for Barca’s third goal, only for Abde Ezzalzouli to reply for Betis two minutes later, when Yamal and Bernal clashed off the ball.
It appeared Bernal pushed Yamal, who barged back into Bernal and the two tussled. Bernal moved his head toward Yamal, touching his forehead. Yamal immediately dropped to the ground and rolled on the field, clutching his forehead. Bernal was shown a red card, Yamal a yellow.
Eric Garcia got Barcelona’s fourth goal shortly afterward, before Dani Olmo completed the scoring late.
Barcelona has won every game, 11 so far, this season, including nine in La Liga. It next faces two-time defending champion PSG away in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Alex Baena scored in the 89th for Atletico Madrid to beat Espanyol 1-0 away and stretch his team’s winning run to six games across all competitions. The result increased the pressure on Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez after a fifth defeat from nine games for the club owned by American Alan Pace.
Valencia and Athletic Bilbao drew the late game 0-0.
PSG recover to beat Strasbourg
PSG rallied against Strasbourg after United States midfielder Gio Reyna had broken the deadlock in the 17th with a low shot.
PSG coach Luis Enrique evidently had the upcoming clash with Barcelona in mind as he had Dembele, Desire Doue, Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi on the bench.
They were all on the field by the time Dembele fired the spot kick wide in the 72nd. But Ukraine defender Illya Zabarnyi finally equalized five minutes later, Dembele popped up with what seemed the winner in the 85th, and Doue made sure in stoppage time.
Lille missed the chance to go top in a 1-1 draw at home against Brest, and Lens enjoyed a 3-1 win at Troyes.
Bayern bounce back in Germany
Harry Kane took his tally to 102 goals in 100 Bundesliga games as Bayern rebounded from an uncharacteristic 2-game winless run with a 6-1 rout of visiting Leipzig.
Luis Diaz scored a hat trick for the Bavarian powerhouse, which next faces Arsenal in the Champions League in Munich on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund was winning before the international break and has not won since after being held 0-0 at Union Berlin for its second straight Bundesliga draw. It comes after Wednesday’s Champions League loss at Bodø/Glimt.
Dortmund had greater concerns about Konstantinos Karetsas, however. The 18-year-old Greece winger went on as a substitute only to be helped off eight minutes later with what looked like a right ankle injury. There was no immediate update from the club.
Promoted Elversberg won 4-3 at home against Augsburg, Hamburger SV held on for a 1-0 win over Stuttgart, Mainz won at promoted Schalke 1-0 and Werder Bremen fought back to draw 2-2 against promoted Paderborn.
Venezia stun Napoli
Napoli slumped to another defeat with Akor Adams’ strike giving Venezia a 1-0 win for its first Serie A points of the season.
Kevin De Bruyne saw his penalty saved by Venezia goalkeeper Filip Stankovic as Massimiliano Allegri’s team suffered its second straight loss – after its Champions League defeat to Villarreal – and a third loss from seven games in the Italian league.
It gave new Venezia coach Davide Nicola a winning start after replacing Giovanni Stroppa on Wednesday.
Inter Milan won 3-1 at Bologna and Roma rebounded from a Champions League loss with a 2-0 home win over Genoa. (AP)