IMAGES from the football matches played across Europe on Sunday.
Lewandowski scores two as Barcelona thrash Real Sociedad
Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Barcelona cruised to a 4-1 victory at Real Sociedad on Sunday, their first win of the new LaLiga season.
Spanish teenage sensation Ansu Fati, who has been struggling to recover after a series of knee surgeries to repair a November 2020 injury to his left knee, came off the bench in the second half and took charge of the proceedings with two assists and a goal.
The Polish striker scored his first goal in competition for Barcelona when he opened the scoring in the first minute, rifling in a shot after a great pass from Alejandro Balde inside the penalty area.
But Alexander Isak equalised five minutes later after latching onto a pass from David Silva.
Barca struggled to break the deadlock until coach Xavi Hernandez sent on Raphinha and Fati in the 64th minute, with both proving crucial to Barca's success.
First, Fati assisted Ousmane Dembele with a brilliant heel pass after a fine piece of individual play from Raphinha.
Then Fati finished off a beautiful team effort to assist Lewandowski for Barca's third.
Barca new signing returned the favour 10 minutes later, enabling 19-year-old Fati to score Barca's fourth to wrap up the points in a game that Barca delivered what was expected from them after a host of strong signings this summer.
"We took a risk with the substitutions as we needed to be aggressive and I'm glad that it worked," coach Xavi Hernandez told Movistar Plus.
"With Raphinha and Fati we played almost with five players up front, but we talked in the locker room during halftime about how we needed to attack more within the spaces.
"Last week (a goalless home draw against lowly Rayo Vallecano) was a major disappointment, but this victory strengthens us because it's about insisting and having the will to overcome challenges".
It was also a chance for redemption for Fati, who inherited Barcelona’s number 10 jersey from Lionel Messi when the Argentine left for Paris St Germain.
Fati has been plagued by injuries since bursting onto the scene for Barcelona at the age of 16 when he became the second-youngest player in LaLiga history, after coming through the youth system at the Catalan club.
He quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in the world, becoming the youngest player to score in the Champions League as well as the youngest to score for Spain.
Goalkeeper Rulli stands out as Villarreal beat Atletico in Madrid
Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli made a series of brilliant saves to keep out Atletico Madrid and help his side to a 2-0 away win on Sunday thanks to goals from Yeremy Pino and Gerard Moreno.
Rulli made outstanding saves to prevent three clear goal-scoring opportunities for Atletico, and at least three more key blocks during the game, in which both sides created several chances.
After making a strong start to the new LaLiga campaign last Monday with a 3-0 win at Getafe, Atletico were a constant threat in the box with Alvaro Morata and Joao Felix looking ready to pounce.
Morata almost scored a beauty in the first play of the match when he sent a thunderous strike in from inside the area that Rulli stopped with an incredible effort.
Last year's Champions League semi-finalists have started the new season where they left off, scoring nine goals combined in their first two LaLiga matches and their UEFA Conference League debut. They forced many mistakes from Atletico's three-man defence on Sunday that also led to good chances.
Oblak made two incredible stops in the first half to keep out long-range strikes from Giovani lo Celso and Etienne Capoue.
Villarreal had a Gerard Moreno strike cancelled in the 33rd minute as the striker touched the ball with his right hand when trying to control a rebound in the six-yard-box, after his first effort bounced back off the bar.
In the scorching heat of Madrid both teams slowed down their frantic pace in the second-half, with Villarreal dominating the possession but Atletico creating more opportunities in counter-attacks led by substitute Antoine Griezmann.
Rulli made the stop of the match in the 70th minute when he denied what looked like a certain goal from substitute Matheus Cunha with a one-handed reflex move from close range.
In the very next play, a catastrophic error by Atletico's defender Nahuel Molina when attempting to make a clearance gifted a golden opportunity to Pino who, inside the area, had time to control the ball and roll it into the net past Oblak.
Six minutes later, Rulli made another stunning stop to prevent an equalizer from a Yannick Carrasco close-range header.
Molina's debut in front of his new club's fans was one to forget as he was sent off with a straight red card for a heavy foul on Alex Baena.
With Atletico down to 10 men, Villarreal scored their second in stoppage time through Moreno in a swift counter-attacking move.
PSG hand out a thrashing after scoring in eight seconds at Lille
Kylian Mbappe scored the fastest Ligue 1 goal for 30 years to set champions Paris St Germain on their way to a runaway 7-1 victory at Lille on Sunday as they kept up their 100% start to the new Ligue 1 season.
Mbappe took only eight seconds to lob the ball into the Lille net after being teed up by Lionel Messi, equalling the record set in 1992 by Michel Rio for Caen against Cannes.
The France World Cup star completed a hat-trick while there were two for Neymar, one for Messi and another for flying fullback Achraf Hakimi in a devastating display of their prowess and dominance in the French league.
PSG have scored 17 goals in winning their first three games of the season and are two points above Racing Lens and Olympique de Marseille, both winners on Saturday.
Sunday also saw home success for Clermont and Stade Rennes and wins away for Auxerre and Stade Brest as they both marked their first victories of the new campaign.
The weekend also saw a total of 11 red cards for the first time in 30 years, including four as newly promoted Auxerre won 2-1 at Montpellier.
Auxerre’s 35-year-old goalkeeper Benoit Costil, previously at Girondins Bordeaux, conceded a goal for his 29th consecutive match in Ligue 1 as Mamadou Sakho put Montpellier ahead.
But Sakho then gave away the penalty that Mathias Autret converted for a 75th minute winner, five minutes after Nuno da Costa equalised for Auxerre. Both sides ended down to nine men.
Angers had Halid Sabanovic sent off after 34 minutes, after which Brest took advantage to win 3-1 with a double from Jeremy Le Douaron.
Saif-Eddine Khaoui scored past Kasper Schmeichel in the sixth minute as Clermont beat Nice 1-0 at home to move up to fifth in the standings. Nice had Mario Lemina sent off for a bad tackle and then Jean-Clair Todibo for dissent in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Rennes also won their first game of the season as they had the upper hand over Ajaccio with goals from Martin Terrier and Arthur Theate on either side of Mounaim El Idrissy’s score for the Corsican club.
Toulouse fought back to draw 2-2 at home against Lorient after falling behind as early as the second minute.
Bennacer goal earns AC Milan 1-1 draw at Atalanta
Italian champions AC Milan were held to a 1-1 Serie A draw at Atalanta on Sunday as Ismael Bennacer cancelled out an early goal by the hosts in Bergamo.
After an even start to the match, Atalanta midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi broke the deadlock in the 29th minute with a powerful left-foot finish from the edge of the box.
Milan midfielder Bennacer scored the equaliser from a corner by Alexis Saelemaekers in the 68th minute, shooting through the Atalanta defenders and into the net off the post.
Milan dominated possession and had more attempts on goal but failed to make them count.
"I think we could have done better, we could have tried to win this match. It was difficult to find room, Atalanta were compact," Bennacer told DAZN.
The hosts were pleased with their performance.
"We played against the Italian champions and we need to be satisfied. We start again from here and we have proven that we can play at this level against the strongest also this year," Atalanta midfielder Mario Pasalic told DAZN.
Milan host Bologna on Saturday and Atalanta travel to Verona on Sunday.
Winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored twice as hosts Napoli breezed past Serie A rookies Monza 4-0 earlier on Sunday to secure their second win of the season.
Mane strikes twice as imperious Bayern crush Bochum 7-0
Champions Bayern Munich demolished hosts VfL Bochum 7-0 on Sunday, with new signing Sadio Mane scoring twice, to maintain their perfect start to the season.
The Bavarians are two points clear at the top with nine points from three league games, and have now scored a league-record 15 goals in their three games even though top striker Robert Lewandowski left this season to join Barcelona.
On Sunday they went on a first-half rampage, scoring four times in 38 minutes to kill off the game.
"We wanted to make sure in the opening 30 minutes the opponent knew it would be a tough match," Bayern Coach Julian Nagelsmann told a news conference.
"We are not setting ourselves any limit and are trying to deliver performances such as these as well."
"The energy currently in the team was not always there in such a way last season. That's something very comfortable to know. In the second half we still tried to win the game and solidify our plays."
"It's early in the season. We have played dominant matches so far, but there are always things to improve. Every player played really well. It won't be easy picking a team for next weekend," said Nagelsmann.
The visitors took a fourth-minute lead through Leroy Sane with their first attack of the game, and new signing Matthijs de Ligt got onto the scoresheet with his first ever effort on goal for Bayern, heading in a corner at the far post in the 25th.
Kingsley Coman's shot from close range after Bochum failed to clear just past the half-hour mark made it 3-0 and all but put the game beyond doubt, before Mane completed the first-half frenzy with his second goal of the season - a low shot from a tight angle in the 42nd.
Bayern eased off the gas after the break, but the Senegal international added another with a penalty on the hour.
Cristian Gamboa, under pressure from Sane, scored an own goal, piling further misery on the hosts who then saw substitute Serge Gnabry make it look so easy when he thundered in a low shot off the post to make it 7-0.
Title rivals Borussia Dortmund conceded three goals in the last few minutes against Werder Bremen on Saturday as they suffered a shock 3-2 loss that left them on six points.
Borussia Moenchengladbach are in second place on seven, along with Union Berlin and Mainz 05.
