Real Madrid showed no rust as Los Blancos dusted off their pristine white kits to sweep aside Eibar 3-1 in both clubs’ return from a three-month hiatus on Sunday at Alfredo di Stéfano Stadium. If anything, the necessary COVID-19 interruption helped reinvigorate the Merengues, who looked sharp from the opening kick.
Diego Costa scored an equalizer to give Atlético Madrid a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao as both teams returned to play for the first time in three months on Sunday. More importantly, Costa paid a special tribute to a player on the Atleti women’s team, Virginia Torrecilla.
Atlético went behind in the 37th minute to a well-taken shot from Iker Muniain but didn’t trail long. Two minutes later, Costa kept his composure in the box to fire past Unai Símon to even things up at 1-1.
MALLORCA — LaLiga's organising body has said it is filing for criminal action against the man who ran on to the pitch during Real Mallorca's behind-closed-doors match against Barcelona on Saturday to try to get a photo with Lionel Messi.
The fan, wearing an Argentina shirt with Messi's name and number 10 on the back, breached strict security measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus by going onto the pitch early in the second half.
Lionel Messi set up two goals and scored one himself as Barcelona returned to the pitch and returned to the win column on Saturday. Three months after LaLiga halted play due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Blaugrana had few problems beating relegation-threatened Mallorca 4-0.
Messi was in the middle of three of the four goals and debuted his adorable new quarantine haircut.
LONDON — Three months after the last ball was kicked, the Premier League emerges from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic next week for what will be a 92-match slog to the finish.
While the virus is still affecting everyday life in Britain, the return of the Premier League, albeit behind closed doors, will offer a welcome distraction for soccer-starved fans.
BERLIN — Borussia Dortmund substitute Erling Haaland headed a stoppage-time winner to give them a 1-0 victory at Fortuna Duesseldorf on Saturday and keep their slim Bundesliga title hopes alive.
Norwegian Haaland scored with the last action of the game to lift second-placed Dortmund to 66 points, with leaders Bayern Munich on 70 before they host Borussia Moenchengladbach later. After the goal, BVB coach Lucien Favre pulled up with an apparenty injury while celebrating.
Espanyol defender Bernardo Espinosa and forward Wu Lei scored either side of the break to hand the relegation-threatened side a 2-0 LaLiga home win over Alaves, who had goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco sent off early in Saturday's contest.
Victory in their first match on the league's resumption after the COVID-19 stoppage took basement team Espanyol to 23 points from 28 games, three points off the safety zone.
Top-flight football returned to Turkey from a three-month hiatus with a bang on Friday. Fenerbahce went down a man and a goal before rallying to beat Kayserispor 2-1, with Luiz Gustavo scoring a late winner on a beautiful curler in the 88th minute.
The Turkish Super Lig had been suspended since March 17 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The league returned with two matches on Friday, including first-place Trabzonspor defeating Goztepe 3-1.
Third-placed RB Leipzig scored two quickfire goals through Dani Olmo immediately after Hoffenheim had a penalty award overturned by VAR in a remarkable opening 12 minutes on the way to a 2-0 victory on the road in the Bundesliga on Friday.
The win gave Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann a happy first return to the club where he began his coaching career as a 28-year-old. His side now have 62 points from 31 games, one behind Borussia Dortmund and eight off Bayern Munich who both play on Saturday.
Society could learn a valuable lesson from soccer in the ongoing struggle against racial discrimination, according to former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The killing of unarmed black man George Floyd by a white policeman in Minneapolis last month has prompted a wave of protests across the world and focussed attention on the Black Lives Matter movement.
Soccer players have shown their support for the movement and Wenger believes the fact that so many black players have made the grade shows the sport does not suffer from racism.