Real Madrid were held to an entertaining 2-2 draw at Elche on Sunday in a pulsating second half where the visitors came from behind twice with Jude Bellingham’s late goal rescuing a point.
The result extended Real’s winless run to three matches in all competitions, but they reclaimed top spot in La Liga, one point ahead of Barcelona.
After a lacklustre first half, Elche struck first in the 53rd minute from an impressive team move. Germán Valera’s exquisite backheel assist found Aleix Febas inside the box, and the midfielder took one touch before delicately slotting the ball past the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Real levelled in the 81st minute through Dean Huijsen. The centre-back reacted quickest to a loose ball following a corner, slotting home from close range to bring the visitors back into the contest.
Elche, however, were undeterred and regained the lead three minutes later. Álvaro Rodríguez controlled a well-timed pass on the edge of the box with his first touch before drilling a precise shot into the bottom left corner, leaving Courtois no chance.
Madrid fought valiantly to avoid defeat, and in the 87th minute Bellingham converted a crucial equaliser. Kylian Mbappé showed determination to keep a ball in play, delivering a clever cutback into the box that Bellingham calmly struck into the back of the net to secure a point.
Atlético Madrid clinched a scrappy 1-0 victory at Getafe courtesy of an 82nd-minute own goal by Domingos Duarte to extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 12 matches. Diego Simeone’s side dominated possession throughout the encounter at Getafe’s Coliseum stadium but struggled to break down their deep-lying five-man defence.
With time running out, the substitute Giacomo Raspadori, a lively presence after his introduction, sent in a low cross from the left that Getafe centre-back Duarte, under pressure as he attempted to clear the ball, inadvertently backheeled into his own net.
The narrow victory extended Atlético’s winning streak in La Liga to five matches. Barcelona won 4-0 win on Saturday against Athletic Bilbao in their first game at the redeveloped Camp Nou.
Christian Pulisic’s goal gave Milan a 1-0 win over city rivals Inter at the San Siro with Mike Maignan saving Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty to deny the hosts an equaliser.
After soaking up Inter’s early pressure after the interval, Milan broke from their own half and the counterattack led to the winning goal. Youssouf Fofana played Alexis Saelemaekers through on goal and after his low shot was palmed away by Yann Sommer, Pulisic pounced on the rebound to score from close range.
Milan had found their attacking groove. The Inter defender Manuel Akanji made a decisive headed clearance with Rafael Leão ready to connect with a Saelemaekers cross and Sommer saved a Fofana shot. The penalty came just when Inter appeared to be running out of ideas, but Maignan’s mind-games did the trick. The Milan keeper stood more to the right than in the centre, tempting Calhanoglu to hit the ball to the other side.
Roma finished the weekend top of Serie A with a 3-1 win at Cremonese, where the Irish striker Evan Ferguson came off the bench and ended his almost 13-month goal drought at club level.
In an action-packed first half, which included the ruling out of a Roma goal for offside and a Cremonese penalty overturned, the visitors took the lead through Matías Soulé in the 17th minute.
Ferguson was introduced on the hour mark, and four minutes later netted his first goal for Roma. Wesley França wrapped up the win after another five minutes, with Francesco Folino heading in a stoppage-time consolation for the hosts.
Evan Ferguson scores for Roma in their win against Cremonese. Photograph: Marco M Mantovani/Getty Images
On the stroke of half-time the referee awarded Cremonese a penalty for a handball by Gianluca Mancini but a check by the video assistant referee led to the decision being overturned.
Ferguson had missed the previous three Roma games with an ankle injury that also kept him out of international duty with Ireland, but while Gian Piero Gasperini did not risk him from the start, he was given his chance from the bench. Cremonese failed to clear the ball from their area and when Neil El Aynaoui laid a pass off to Ferguson, the Irishman kept his cool and took a touch to control before bending his shot round Mile Svilar into the corner of the net.
Ferguson’s previous club goal came in October 2024 for Brighton against Wolves in the Premier League, and the entire Roma team raced to celebrate with the 21-year-old.
Assan Ouedraogo (fifth left) scores RB Leipzig’s opening goal against Werder Bremen. Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images
In the Bundesliga, the 19-year-old Assan Ouédraogo unleashed an unstoppable shot as RB Leipzig eased past Werder Bremen 2-0 to move back into second. The midfielder completed a memorable week after also scoring on his Germany debut in Monday’s 6-0 victory over Slovakia to secure their spot in the World Cup and make him the youngest Germany player to score in a first international match.
The hosts were in control in the first half but their efforts either missed the target or were blocked by Mio Backhaus. The Werder keeper was helpless, however, when Ouédraogo whipped a powerful left-footed shot into the top far corner in the 63rd minute for his third league goal of the season.
The substitute Xaver Schlager then turned in the box to drill in Leipzig’s second goal in the 80th, sealing their victory and earning their fourth win in five league games. Leipzig, who bounced back from their loss to Hoffenheim on the previous matchday, moved up to 25 points in second place, with Bayern Munich in top spot on 31 after their 6-2 demolition of Freiburg on Saturday. Bayer Leverkusen, on 23 points, drop to third.
