“Barcelona’s La Liga juggernaut rolled into Seville on Saturday and left with the scoreboard smoking, as the leaders beat Real Betis 5-2 to make it ⁠nine wins from nine, ⁠stretching their blistering league ​goal tally to 39. Lamine Yamal lit the fuse with a dazzling opener before Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric García and the substitute Dani Olmo joined the party, while Valentín Gómez and Ez Abde replied ⁠for Betis, who played much of the second half with 10 men after Facundo Bernal was sent off for headbutting Lamine Yamal. … Álex Baena struck in the 89th minute to snatch a 1-0 win for Atlético Madridat Espanyol. Baena smashed in from the edge of the box to claim the Rojiblancos victory from a tight game in Cornella. Atlético have won six consecutive games across all competitions and remain five points behind Barcelona. Valencia and Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 at Estadio de Mestalla. … In Germany, Luis Díaz scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich pummelled a listless RB Leipzig 6-1 at home on Saturday to climb to the top of the Bundesliga table. Borussia Dortmund had edged ahead of Freiburg into top spot after their earlier goalless draw at Union Berlin, but Bayern responded in typically ruthless fashion. … In Italy, Inter pulled clear at the top of Serie A by coming from behind to beat Bologna 3-1. The champions were criticised after a 4-3 Champions League defeat against Club Brugge in midweek, but bounced back to move three points clear of second-placed Lazio, who face Juventus in Turin on Sunday. …”
Guardian

Europe is a blast – but more a curse than a blessing if you are not a super-club – Jonathan Wilson
“The sun shone. The temperature was in the high 20s. There was a mood of great conviviality. If you were struggling with the official allocation, it turned out you could just email the president of Torreense and he’d sort you out. Were these “Nuno-tickets” real? It turned out they were. Not only that, but you could sit anywhere you wanted in a stadium too big for the game and, if you happened to have gravitated to the comfortable hospitality seating at the back of the lower tier, the beer was inexplicably free. …”
Guardian

Brentford 1 Liverpool 2: What’s changed with Isak and how did Iraola’s side punish 10 men?
“This was the kind of win Liverpool need. Trips to Brentford have rarely been straightforward in recent seasons, with Liverpool twice suffering defeat since 2023, but a second-half comeback was enough to secure a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Victor Munoz and Alexander Isak, lifting Andoni Iraola’s side to fifth in the process. …”
NYT/ATH

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