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September 28, 2024

European Football: Barça’s Perfect Start Ends with Humbling by Osasuna – La Liga

Ante Budimir starred for Osasuna, scoring twice to secure a stunning 4-2 victory over Barcelona, marking the Catalan side’s first defeat of the La Liga season on Saturday.

The scoring began in the 18th minute when Bryan Zaragoza, on loan from Bayern Munich, delivered a precise cross that Budimir converted with a close-range header. Just ten minutes later, Zaragoza doubled Osasuna’s lead with a well-timed strike during a quick counterattack.

Barcelona managed to pull one back in the second half, benefiting from a mistake by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera, who mishandled a weak shot from Pau Víctor. However, Budimir restored Osasuna’s two-goal advantage in the 72nd minute, converting a penalty after being fouled in the box.

Substitute Abel Bretones then capped off the impressive performance with a brilliant long-range goal before Lamine Yamal netted a late consolation for Barcelona with a shot from the edge of the box. Despite the defeat, Barça remains atop the standings with 21 points, four clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who are set to face Atlético Madrid in Sunday’s derby.

The Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick, said the defeat was “my responsibility” for resting too many key players. “I tried to protect the players, because they have been playing many minutes. But I didn’t expect us to play like this. We made a lot of mistakes and Osasuna did well.”

Real Sociedad snapped their four-game home losing streak in La Liga, triumphing 3-0 over Valencia at the Anoeta Stadium. Takefusa Kubo put the hosts ahead in the eighth minute. Still, the points were secured only when substitute Orri Óskarsson scored twice in the final ten minutes. The defeat pushed Valencia back into the relegation zone after Getafe secured their first win of the season with a 2-0 triumph over Alavés.

In Serie A, Dusan Vlahovic played a pivotal role in Juventus’ 3-0 win at Genoa, propelling them to the top of the table overnight. This came after Inter briefly held the top spot earlier in the day, thanks to Lautaro Martínez’s two goals in their 3-2 win against Udinese.

Vlahovic converted a penalty shortly after half-time when Juventus was awarded a spot-kick for a handball. He followed up with a second goal in the 55th minute, firing in from a tight angle. Substitute Francisco Conceiçao capped off the match with a low, one-touch finish late in the game.

Following crowd unrest that resulted in over 50 injuries during the hosts’ Coppa Italia derby against Sampdoria, the game in Genoa was played behind closed doors. Juventus leads the table with 12 points from six games, one point ahead of Torino, who host Lazio on Sunday. Juventus has drawn their last three league games 0-0.

The Juventus coach, Thiago Motta, hit back at criticism of Vlahovic after the game. “I think you pay too much attention to a single player,” Motta said. “He has always been very good. I understand the expectations and needs of a striker at this level. But as I said from the beginning, he is a positive leader who helps a lot.

“I am happy because he scored but I was also happy when he didn’t. He must improve and be more connected with the team because he is an important player in many aspects of our game. He is fine and must continue to work as he is doing.”

Lautaro Martínez scored twice to lead Inter to a 3-2 victory over Udinese in Serie A, ending the defending champions’ three-game winless streak across all competitions.

Inter took an early lead just 43 seconds into the match, with Davide Frattesi finding the net from a superb low cross by Matteo Darmian. However, Udinese’s Christian Kabasele equalized with a header. Martínez then restored Inter’s advantage by bundling the ball over the line during first-half stoppage time before scoring again shortly after the break to make it 3-1. Udinese’s Lorenzo Lucca scored a late goal in the 83rd minute, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome.

Later on Saturday, Atalanta salvaged a point against ten-man Bologna with a dramatic equalizer from Lazar Samardzic in the 90th minute. Bologna initially took the lead through Santiago Castro just after half-time, but defender Jhon Lucumi was sent off, leaving them a man down.

In Ligue 1, Monaco maintained their unbeaten start to the season as Lamine Camara’s stoppage-time goal secured a 2-1 win over Montpellier. The visitors shocked the home side with an early goal from Rabby Nzingoula in the 16th minute, but Folarin Balogun equalized in the first half before Camara’s last-gasp winner. Lille climbed to fourth place after Jonathan David’s hat-trick propelled them to a 3-0 victory over Le Havre.

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