Barcelona to Take Sole Lead on Visit to Valencia
Defending champions Barcelona, who have won the title in the past two seasons, seek to go top on Saturday by capitalizing on Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Real Betis when they travel to face Valencia in the fourth round of La Liga. Since the 2015-2016 season, Barcelona has generally dominated their encounters with Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium. In the last 10 league meetings between the two sides at Valencia’s home ground, Barcelona secured five victories, while Valencia won just twice, with the remaining three matches ending in 1-1 draws. The Blaugrana appear well-positioned to claim their fourth consecutive win after impressive victories against Elche (5-0), Athletic Bilbao (2-0), and Rayo Vallecano (5-2).
Real Madrid suffered a 1-0 defeat to host Real Betis at La Cartuja Stadium, squandering numerous chances, including a prominent penalty miss by their French striker Kylian Mbappé in the 94th minute. The home side’s victory was thanks to a goal from Irish substitute Troy Parrott in the 81st minute. The loss left the royal club with nine points in second place, trailing top-side Barcelona on goal difference. The team that has won the league 36 times endured their first La Liga defeat, following a late 2-1 win against Espanyol in the opening round and convincing home victories over Real Sociedad (4-1) and Malaga (4-0).
Barcelona’s German coach, Hansi Flick, hopes that young star Lamine Yamal will be ready for the Valencia clash after suffering a bruise.
Italy
Under Spanish coach Cesc Fàbregas, Como continued their promising start to the Italian Serie A season by overturning a one-goal deficit to defeat hosts Genoa 4-1 in the opening match of the third round, temporarily topping the table with seven points.
Montenegrin striker Milutin Osmajić opened the scoring for Genoa in the 19th minute, but Como turned the game around with goals from Croatian Martin Baturina (19th minute), Senegalese forward Assane Diao (30th and 78th minutes), and their Argentine star Nico Paz (40th minute).
Attention now turns to a heavyweight traditional clash between Juventus and AC Milan at Turin’s Allianz Stadium.
Paris Saint-Germain’s disastrous start to the French Ligue 1 season continued as they fell 2-1 to visiting Monaco in the third round.
Despite taking the lead through their Brazilian captain Marquinhos in the 31st minute, the European champions over the past two seasons failed to secure even a point, as the Parisian club overturned the scoreline through Portuguese player Flávio Nazinho (58th minute) and Belgian forward Stanislav Idumbo (72nd minute). Monaco returned to the capital with a third consecutive victory this season, completing a perfect start and sitting atop the table.
