Union Berlin’s punishing schedule finally took its toll on Sunday with a 5-0 defeat after a disastrous second half at Bayer Leverkusen to leave Bayern Munich top of the Bundesliga.
Moussa Diaby scored twice and Adam Hlozek and Mitchel Bakker aalso found the net after former Union midfielder Robert Andrich had opened the scoring.
It was Union’s heaviest defeat of the season having previouslyconceded only nine goals in 12 games.
Union’s third defeat left Bayern two points clear with two rounds remaining before the league’s extended winter break to accommodate the World Cup in Qatar.
Both teams cancelled each other out in a lacklustre first half with few highlights. Then Andrich broke the deadlock right after the break with a low shot after a corner.
The next goal was a gift from goalkeeper Lennart Grill – who is on loan from Leverkusen – when he failed to control a backpass and the ball fell to Diaby, who finished off a post.
The French forward grabbed his second two minutes later, rounding off a counterattack started by Bakker as Union had pushed for a response.
Nadim Amiri crossed for Hlozek to score his first Bundesliga goal with his heel in the 68th, then Hlozek set up Bakker for the fifth in the 76th.
The win was only Leverkusen’s third of the season in the league and lifted them out of the relegation zone.
Danilo Pereira (right) sees his header on its way into the net for PSG’s winner. Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters
Paris Saint-Germain needed a late goal from defender Danilo Pereira to scrape a 2-1 win at Lorient and restore a five-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.
Pereira headed home Neymar’s corner in the 81st minute as unbeaten PSG maintained their comfortable gap over second-place Lens.
Lionel Messi was rested because of some inflammation in his achilles tendon. The Argentina star, who will look to win the World Cup for the first time this winter, is expected to resume training next week.
Messi was replaced in attack by 20-year-old Hugo Ekitiké, who set up Neymar’s opening goal after nine minutes. Neymar’s 11th league goal moved him level with teammate Kylian Mbappé at the top of the scoring charts.
Fourth-place Lorient equalized in the 53rd through Terem Moffi’s ninth goal of the campaign. Enzo Le Fée sent the Nigeria striker running clear and Moffi fired past goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Moffi hit the crossbar shortly after as Lorient got on top, but then failed to pick up Pereira from Neymar’s corner.
In La Liga, Atlético Madrid’s fans expressed their disapproval after a 1-1 home draw against 10-man Espanyol, a result that extended their winless streak to four matches in all competitions.
João Félix came off the bench to salvage the draw with a 78th-minute equalizer after the visitors had opened the scoring through Sergi Darder in the 62nd. Espanyol played a man down from the 28th after defender Leandro Cabrera was shown a straight red card for a foul on Álvaro Morata.
Atlético pressed until the end but could not find a winner, prompting jeers after the final whistle.
“The reaction from the fans is understandable, no one is happy,” Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. “Until we start doing well on the field again, things won’t get better.”
Lionel Messi’s first season in Ligue 1 would have been considered a success for most players. He scored 11 goals and provided 15 assists in 34 games for PSG, contributing directly to a goal every 110 minutes he was on the pitch. However, given his previous numbers – he had not dropped below one goal or assist per game since the 2006-07 season – it looked like the Argentinian was past his world-beating zenith. It turns out people have been too quick to write him off.
Messi’s form last season was affected by injuries, Covid and settling into new surroundings. His campaign was defined by his worst displays, rather than his best. His missed penalty and erratic display against Real Madrid in the last-16 stage of the Champions League stood out. He also struggled to adapt to Ligue 1, a pragmatic, physical league that is filled with teams who are well practised in deploying compact low-blocks.
As the season wore on, his influence grew as he moulded his style to fit his surroundings. Nevertheless, having won last year’s Ballon d’Or, Messi was still omitted from this year’s 30-man long list after making the top five every year since 2006. That was despite having a better goals and assists per 90 minutes ratio than Harry Kane, Cristiano Ronaldo, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Sébastien Haller, Luis Díaz and Rafael Leão, all of whom play in similar positions yet made the list. Criticism of the decision to award Messi a somewhat generous seventh prize in 2021 may have had an impact.
Supporting Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, Messi became more of a deep-lying playmaker at PSG and he still led the league for assists per 90 minutes as well as progressive passes, through balls and passes into the area. However, despite scoring some crucial goals that carried PSG through a tricky Champions League group, he was far less decisive than he had been in Spain. French sports daily L’Équipe awarded him four or below in their match ratings on 10 occasions in Ligue 1 last season as Mauricio Pochettino’s stale PSG side eased to the title almost by default as a group of evenly matched chasing teams took too many points from each other for one challenger to emerge.
He performed better than some reports suggest, but he was passive, seemingly on autopilot, and the 2021-22 season goes down as a career low point. That decline, however, has been reversed since the summer. Messi has already scored more goals this season than he managed last term. He has contributed directly to 25 goals, a figure only Erling Haaland and Neymar can match in Europe’s top five leagues.
More importantly, his swagger has returned. Last season, the classic burst of pace and change of direction that Messi employs to beat defenders and break lines seemed to have disappeared. However, even at 35, his intensity and willingness to take on defenders has gloriously resurfaced this season.
Messi’s iconic deadweight passes that so often split defences and found teammates in crowded penalty boxes initially failed to travel with him to Ligue 1. This season has been different, though, with many of his 13 assists being perfectly timed through balls. As Maccabi Haifa found out in the Champions League last week during a 7-2 thrashing, his ability to manufacture an inch of space around the penalty area thanks to a shimmy or an exchange of passes before firing a bending snapshot into the net is also returning to devastating effect.
Perhaps most importantly, Messi’s emotions have resurfaced. Although famously low-key and shy off the pitch, the sullen demeanour and blank expression that persisted last season have been replaced by exchanges of broad smiles with celebrating teammates and a fire in his eyes, as shown by the way he celebrated after scoring a long-range thunderbolt in PSG’s 4-3 win over Troyes this weekend. Messi seems to be enjoying himself again. Reports suggest he has now settled in Paris and is enjoying life in France, with the possibility of a third, or even fourth, year at PSG already being discussed.
Messi clearly sees this is a pivotal season. He says the World Cup in Qatar next month will be his last and he has timed his peak perfectly. He has struggled with tiredness during previous tournaments at the end of long club campaigns but the early World Cup may suit him perfectly. Messi knows that a triumph for Argentina in Qatar would cement his place as perhaps the greatest player of all time. This may also be his last season playing alongside Mbappé and Neymar for PSG, giving him his best chance of winning another Champions League title, seven years after his last.
Despite exaggerated reports of his demise, Messi has proven his best may not be behind him just yet. With the chance of winning his first World Cup and PSG’s first Champions League on the horizon, this could be the season of his life.
Quick Guide
Ligue 1 results
Show
Auxerre 1-0 Ajaccio
Brest 0-0 Reims
Monaco 2-0 Angers
Nantes 1-1 Clermont
Rennes 3-0 Montpellier
Lorient 1-2 Nice
Lyon 1-0 Lille
PSG 4-3 Troyes
Strasbourg 2-2 Marseille
Lens 3-0 Toulouse
Talking points
Kasper Schmeichel was outstanding for Nice as they beat Lorient. Photograph: Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images
Ligue 1’s surprise side of the season so far, Lorient, are now winless in three games after a 2-1 home defeat to struggling Nice. Having kept pace with PSG for much of the campaign, they have dropped to a still-remarkable fourth after 13 games. Dynamic rookie coach Régis Le Bris need not worry, however, as his team are still playing well. They tore Nice apart for the first hour, but failed to score a crucial second goal thanks to a string of sharp stops from Nice goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. A moment of brilliance from Youcef Atal and a deflected effort from Gaëtan Laborde gave Nice a flattering win. Lorient were also unfortunate in their 2-2 draw at Troyes last week. They are here to stay.
Promoted Toulouse have become one of Ligue 1’s most exciting and progressive teams this season, led by the delightful passing of midfielder Branco van den Boomen, a number of quick and skilful forwards, and a smattering of young talent. However, Philippe Montanier’s team were beaten 3-0 by Lens on Friday night. Loïs Openda came off the bench and scored a hat-trick for Lens, who were dominant throughout. Franck Haise’s team are up to second in the table and a Champions League spot seems to be theirs for the taking.
The Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic scored a late goal to secure a 1-0 win at local rivals Torino in Serie A after both teams struggled to create clear-cut chances.
The pressure was on for Juve and their manager Massimiliano Allegri after a 2-0 Champions League loss at Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday, but their lacklustre performance in the first half gave the injury-hit visitors little cause for optimism.
The first 45 minutes of the Turin derby was a tame affair with little to cheer for either side. Torino had half-chances around the box but they were snuffed out by the Juve defence.
Vlahovic had the first chance of the match after 34 minutes but his fellow Serb Vanja Milinkovic-Savic made an impressive save and then kept out Manuel Locatelli’s effort.
Vlahovic then lost his marker in the 74th minute and tapped the ball in from close range after an assist from Danilo, securing a much-needed win for Allegri’s team who are now seventh with 16 points from 10 games. Torino are 11th with 11 points.
In France, Lorient missed out on the chance to move provisionally top of Ligue 1 as they were held to a goalless stalemate at home by nine-man Reims on Saturday.
Lorient lacked their usual creativity and failed to take advantage after Dion Lopy was given Reims’ eighth red card this season early in the second half. Emmanuel Agbadou was also sent off in stoppage time.
The result leaves Lorient in second place on 26 points from 11 games, behind Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference ahead of the French champions’ clash with third-placed Marseille on Sunday. Reims are 14th on nine points.
Lorient started brightly but suffered a setback when the forward Terem Moffi was forced off injured in the 24th minute.
The Reims midfielder Lopy got a second yellow card and was sent off a minute after half-time, but the visitors continued to dominate and they also coped with Agbadou’s dismissal to earn a point.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Spanish head coach Xabi Alonso reacts during his side’s 5-1 defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt. Photograph: Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images
Eintracht Frankfurt climbed to fourth in the Bundesliga after thrashing 10-man Bayer Leverkusen 5-1 at home, including two penalties by the Japan midfielder Daichi Kamada.
The Europa League champions Frankfurt have 17 points after 10 games and trail third-placed Hoffenheim on goal difference. Leverkusen slipped into the relegation zone in 16th with eight points.
After a series of missed chances, Leverkusen were awarded a penalty before the break when Jesper Lindstrøm was brought down in the box by Edmond Tapsoba. The forward Randal Kolo Muani took the penalty, which was saved by Lukas Hradecky, but the VAR ruled the Leverkusen keeper was off his line, forcing a retake. Kamada took the second attempt and made it 1-0.
Leverkusen, playing under new coach Xabi Alonso, drew level in the 56th minute through a header from Piero Hincapié after a free-kick, but their joy was short-lived as Kolo Muani made up for his penalty miss with a diving header two minutes later.
Lindstrom made it 3-1 in the 65th minute with a sublime lob over Hradecky from a tight angle before Kamada scored a 72nd-minute penalty as Hincapie was sent off for picking up a second yellow for a tackle on Kolo Muani.
Lucas Alario wrapped up the win with a tap-in in the 86th minute, scoring his first league goal for Frankfurt against his former side.
RB Leipzig scored three first-half goals before staving off a spirited Hertha Berlin comeback after the break to win an entertaining game 3-2. Goals from Emil Forsberg, Abdou Diallo and Willie Orbán had put Leipzig in a commanding position before Dodi Lukebakio and Stevan Jovetic pulled two back to set up a nervy finale.
