European roundup: Bale scores on debut, Derby d'Italia ends in a draw

Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring during against Villarreal CF vs Real at El Madrigal

Gareth Bale scored on his Real Madrid debut in a 2-2 draw away to Villarreal. The world’s most expensive player was handed a start at El Madrigal by Carlo Ancelotti.

But it was Villarreal who took the lead within 21 minutes, as Cani slotted home, with Real Madrid’s defence looking hapless for much of the first half. Madrid finally responded with Bale’s goal on 39 minutes, when Daniel Carvajal broke down the right before putting in a low cross, and the Welshman nipped in ahead of Villarreal defender Mario and slid to poke home with his right foot.

In the second half, the visitors took the lead, against the run of play, on 64 minutes when Ronaldo laid the ball into the path of Benzema, whose initial shot was pushed back to Ronaldo, and whose deflected shot found back of the net.

The hosts responded and equalised 20 minutes from time with the help of former Spurs attacker Giovani Dos Santos, whose shot on the rebound found its way past Lopez.

At Camp Nou, Barcelona defeated a spirited Sevilla 3-2 in dramatic fashion. Just when it looked like Sevilla had done enough for them to earn a draw, Alexis Sanchez’s goal sealed the victory for the Blaugrana.

Earlier in the match, goals from Dani Alves and Messi put Barcelona 2-0 in front but, in the final 15 minutes, the visitors put on a stellar performance as they got on level terms with goals each from Rakitic and Coke in the last 10 minutes.

In Serie A, Inter Milan and Juventus shared the spoils in the first Derby d’Italia of the new season as Arturo Vidal salvaged a point for Antonio Conte’s men.

Inter took the lead through Icardi when a loss in concentration from Giorgio Chiellini allowed Ricky Alvarez to steal the ball on the right. He fed Icardi and the summer signing from Sampdoria scored with a delightful chip over Buffon, to send the San Siro crowd into a frenzy.

But the champions responded immediately through an unmarked Arturo Vidal, whose left-footed finish equalised the score.

Meanwhile in Germany, Borussia Dortmund maintained their perfect start to the season with a 6-2 demolition of Hamburg at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski grabbed a brace each, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus also on target for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Hamburg fought well and at one stage made it 2-2, before surrendering under relentless Dortmund pressure. Klopp’s men have now won their first five matches of the season.

Dortmund are now two points ahead of Bayern Munich, who with second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Frank Ribery, secured a 2-0 win over Hannover at the Allianz Arena.

Once Mandzukic broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, the victory was never in any doubt, and Ribery duly made sure when he added a second after the hour mark.

Bayer Leverkusen defeated Wolfsburg 3-1. For Leverkusen, who face Manchester United in the opening round of fixtures in Champions League, Stefan Kiessling, who scored two, and Sidney Sam were on target.

Ivica Olic scored a consolation goal for the Wolves, who lost Luiz Gustavo to a red card.

Kevin-Prince Boateng scored his first goal in a Schalke shirt, and first in Bundesliga since 2007, to earn the Royal Blues all three points with a 1-0 win at Mainz.