11 February 2023

PSG lose again but Bayern Munich fare better in warm-up for European showdown

11 February 2023

Paris St Germain’s indifferent form continued with a 3-1 defeat by Monaco in Ligue 1.

PSG, who will take on Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League clash on Tuesday, have now lost four of their last 10 games in all competitions.

They were without injured duo Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, and went behind in just the fourth minute to Aleksandr Golovin.

Wissam Ben Yedder then netted twice either side of a goal from Warren Zaire-Emery to make it back-to-back losses for PSG following their French Cup loss to Marseille in midweek.

Marseille took advantage, closing the gap to five points at the top with a 2-0 victory over Clermont. Alexis Sanchez scored both goals, the first coming from the penalty spot.

There was better news for Bayern, who were comfortable 3-0 winners over struggling Bochum in the Bundesliga.

Thomas Muller gave the league leaders the advantage in the 41st minute, Kingsley Coman added a second in the 64th minute and Serge Gnabry netted the third from the penalty spot.

Second-placed Union Berlin remain a point behind after coming from a goal down to see off RB Leipzig 2-1.

Benjamin Henrichs gave Leipzig the lead in the 24th minute but Janik Haberer equalised just after the hour and Berlin clinched the points thanks to a penalty from Robin Knoche.

Borussia Dortmund made it six wins in a row as a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen kept them three points behind Bayern and two adrift of Berlin.

Both goals came in the final half an hour, with Jamie Bynoe-Gittens opening the scoring and Julian Brandt grabbing the second.

It was a clean sweep for the top four, with Freiburg coming from behind to defeat Stuttgart 2-1 thanks to a penalty double from Vincenzo Grifo.

Lee Jae-sung struck twice in Mainz’s 3-1 victory over Augsburg while Bayer Leverkusen won by the same score against Hoffenheim.

In LaLiga, Valencia fans demonstrated against owner Peter Lim prior to a 2-1 defeat by Athletic Bilbao that kept them in the relegation zone.

Samu Castillejo put Valencia ahead in the 17th minute but Nico Williams levelled matters and Oihan Sancet scored the winner 18 minutes from time.

Real Betis climbed into fifth place after defeating Almeria 3-2. Almeria twice came from behind, with Luis Suarez cancelling out Rodri’s opener before Samuel Costa did the same to Sergio Canales’ effort, but Andres Guardado grabbed the winner 20 minutes from time.

Youssef En-Nesyri and Bryan Gil scored in the first half as Sevilla defeated Mallorca 2-0.

A 2-0 victory against Lazio in Rome saw Atalanta climb to third in the Serie A table. Davide Zappacosta opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and Rasmus Hojland added a second 25 minutes from time.

Jose Mourinho’s Roma were held to a 1-1 draw at Lecce, with Paulo Dybala’s 17th-minute penalty cancelling out Roger Ibanez’s early own goal.

Empoli fought back from two down to snatch a 2-2 draw with Spezia in a match that saw both sides reduced to 10 men.

Fabiano Parisi was dismissed for Empoli after only 21 minutes, and they swiftly found themselves two down, with Daniele Verde scoring twice.

But Salvatore Esposito saw red four minutes into the second half and Nicolo Cambiaghi pulled one back before Emanuel Vignato grabbed the equaliser deep into stoppage time.

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