Neymar scored another late winner, Barcelona lost, Romelu Lukaku scored in the Milan derby while Monaco’s dreadful start to the season continued. Here are the Winners and Losers from European football. Bet on football here.
Winners
Neymar
Neymar scored another late winner for French champions Paris Saint-Germain who narrowly edged past Olympique Lyon to move three points clear at the top of Ligue 1.
The Brazilian once again produced a match-winning moment to finally break Lyon’s resistance. The 27-year-old was booed by his own fans before scoring a 92nd-minute winner against Strasbourg last weekend. He missed PSG’s first five games as he tried to force a move to his former side Barcelona.
Real Madrid
A Karim Benzema header secured a narrow and much-needed 1-0 win over Sevilla to relieve pressure on under-fire boss Zinedine Zidane. Los Blancos had suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss in the Champions League and Sevilla’s game might as well be the final straw for Zidane. This was also Madrid’s first win at Sevilla in five years and it could be the win that kick-starts their season.
Granada
Newly promoted Granada stunned an out of sorts Barcelona with a 2-0 victory at the Estadio Los Cármenes to compound the Catalans problems. Granada spent the last two seasons outside Spain’s top flight and had lost 11 of their last 12 meetings with the reigning La Liga champions.
Romelu Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku made a dream start in the Milan derby where he scored Inter Milan’s second goal as they beat arch-rivals AC Milan 2-0 to maintain their 100% record in Serie A. the former Manchester United forward Lukaku headed home his third goal in four Serie A matches from a Nicolo Barella’s cross the 78th minute to seal the win for Antonio Conte’s men.
Aaron Ramsey
Former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey scored on his Serie A debut as champions Juventus came from behind to defeat Hellas Verona 2-1. The 28-year-old made his first appearance as an 86th-minute substitute in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Wales international joined Juventus for free over the summer after his contract with Arsenal expired.
Losers
Ernesto Valverde and Barcelona
Barcelona suffered another embarrassing defeat over the weekend as they lost to La Liga newcomers Granada 2-0. The result meant Barcelona had made the worst league start for 25 years and now sit eighth, three points behind Granada. Not only was the result shameful but the performance was unforgivable. Valverde’s men have now failed to win any of their past eight away games and this run of results have put him under the microscope. The pressure is inevitably piling on the hard-pressed coach. Injuries and poor preparations have definitely caused most of Barca’s problems but Valverde must start delivering results.
Thomas Delaney
Borussia Dortmund were on their way to a 2-1 over Eintracht Frankfurt victory until Thomas Delaney, who was starting his fourth game of the season, scored an own goal in the 88th minute. With a win, Dortmund could’ve gone second in the Bundesliga. After starting most games for Dortmund last season, Delaney had to watch his club’s first four games of the season from the bench. Lucien Favre might have to revert to his preferred midfield duo of Axel Witsel and Julian Weigl.
Monaco
Monaco will have to wait longer for their first Ligue 1 win of the season after yet another draw, this time away to Stade de Reims on Saturday. Monaco had taken only two points from their opening five matches in total, making it their worst start since the 2001/2002 season. Poor defence and the misfiring attack has left the Ligue 1 champions form three years ago second from bottom.