European football: Lionel Messi injury sours Barcelona victory
Pep Guardiola was happy enough with Barcelona’s 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid but cut a forlorn figure after watching his prized asset, Lionel Messi, stretchered from the pitch in tears.
The 23-year-old broke the deadlock with a typically impudent finish early in the first half and was instrumental throughout, until a cynical challenge by Tomas Ujfalusi just before full-time left Messi rolling on the pitch in agony.
Fortunately, initial fears that he’d broken his ankle were quickly allayed by the Barça manager, and this morning it was confirmed that the world’s best player had merely sustained sprained ankle ligaments – ruling him out for a couple of weeks, rather than a couple of months.
Messi’s injury took the shine off Barcelona’s victory, but it was an important three points for the champions, who climb to sixth in the Primera Liga table.
Barça’s rivals Real Madrid secured their second successive league victory with a 2-1 away win against Real Sociedad. Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo netted their first league goals of the season under the stewardship of José Mourinho.
It’s Valencia who still top the pile, though. Los Che followed up their stunning 4-0 victory over Bursaspor in the Champions League with a 2-1 win away at Hercules. Many anticipated that Valencia would struggle without David Villa and David Silva, but things have begun surprisingly well for Unai Emery’s side.
In Italy, newly-promoted Cesena followed up their shock victory over AC Milan to beat Leece 1-0 at home. That result lifts the club to first place in the Serie A table. Hands up who would have predicted that before the season kicked off?
As for AC Milan, they were held to a 1-1 draw by Catania at the San Siro. The hosts fell behind to a Ciro Capuano goal midway through the first-half, but a tap-in on the stroke of half-time by the evergreen Filippo Inzaghi sealed a valuable point for the Rossoneri. Manager Massimiliano Allegri would have expected more after deploying a three-pronged attack featuring Inzaghi, Ronaldinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but Milan are still gelling under the Italian’s leadership.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan are up to second after recording a 2-1 win over Palermo. Rafael Benitez’s side were 1-0 down at the interval and looked set for their first league defeat of the campaign. That was until the clinical Samuel Eto’o clicked into gear. The former Barcelona star scored two goals in eight minutes to turn the game on its head and secure maximum points for the European champions.
One of the surprise results of the weekend in Italy saw Napoli beat Sampdoria at the Marassi. The brilliant Antonio Cassano thought he’d won the match for Samp with a 78th-minute penalty, but two quick-fire goals in the final six minutes from Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani stunned the hosts and sent Napoli to seventh in the league table.
In Germany, Schalke are still rock bottom of the Bundesliga following their fourth successive league defeat. Borussia Dortmund were the victors on Sunday, beating Felix Magath’s out-of-sorts side 3-1 at Veltins Arena.
However, there was better news for former England manager Steve McClaren. Goals from Diego and Edin Dzeko ensured Wolfsburg an invaluable first three points of the season against Hannover.
Mainz still lead the pack after beating Werder Bremen away – their fourth consecutive league win – while Bayern Munich continue to languish in mid-table after a disappointing 0-0 draw against Cologne.
And in France, Lyon’s dire start to the season continued after they were beaten 2-0 by Bordeaux. There were rumours late on Sunday evening that Claude Puel had left his position as Lyon manager, but these later proved inaccurate.
Still, unless the situation at Lyon changes, it can’t be too long before Puel has his future discussed by the club’s hierarchy. The 49-year-old is currently walking a thin tightrope after leading Lyon to a measly five points from their opening six matches so far this season.
It was the perfect scoreline for Bordeaux, though, who rose six places to 13th in the table. An Alou Diarra header and a 90th-minute goal from midfielder Jussie secured Bordeaux a precious second win of the campaign.
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