European football: Olmo double takes Barca top; Díaz fires up Bayern’s late rally

5 hours ago 2

Barcelona recovered from an early setback to secure a 3-1 victory over Alavés, with first-half goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo and a late second for the latter sealing the win at the Camp Nou.

The win lifts the defending La Liga champions to the top of the table on 34 points, two ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand at Girona on Sunday.

Alavés stunned the hosts in the first minute when Pablo Ibáñez struck from close range but Barça hit back seven minutes later, with Raphinha assisting Lamine Yamal to hit a powerful one-touch finish into the top corner. Raphinha was instrumental again in the 26th with another assist, this time for Olmo who expertly curled the ball home first-time from inside the box as the Blaugrana went ahead.

Olmo put the result beyond doubt in added time, finishing off a smooth one-two with Lamine Yamal, whose through ball left him free inside the box to slot home with composure.

The Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich, needed stoppage-time goals from Luis Díaz and Nicolas Jackson to beat strugglers St Pauli 3-1, coming from behind for the second straight week and hitting the woodwork three times. Bayern’s comeback win means they set a Bundesliga league record of 44 consecutive rounds at the top of the table.

Díaz headed in for a 2-1 lead early in stoppage time and Jackson slotted in their third goal as the hosts bounced back from their first defeat of the season across all competitions, Wednesday’s 3-1 loss at Arsenal in the Champions League.

Bayern found themselves 1-0 down in the sixth minute when St Pauli, who have now lost their last nine league games, pressed high and won possession, Andréas Hountondji finishing the move with a powerful shot. With more than 80% of possession in the first half, Bayern desperately tried to come back as they had done last week when they recovered from two goals down to crush Freiburg 6-2.

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They hit the post with Lennart Karl’s curled shot in the 23rd and again through Tom Bischof’s deflected effort 12 minutes later. Raphaël Guerreiro, however, made no mistake when he drilled in from a Díaz assist a minute before half-time to level.

Bayern were again in control after the break but St Pauli stayed compact and disciplined. Harry Kane hit the post with a volley late in the game before Díaz put them in front early in stoppage time and Jackson added his goal at the very end to lift them to 34 points.