Sébastien Haller made his competitive return after testicular cancer in Borussia Dortmund’s thrilling 4-3 Bundesliga victory over Augsburg.
Haller’s introduction as a 62nd-minute substitute for Youssoufa Moukoko, with the game finely poised at 2-2, was met with rapturous reception at Signal Iduna Park. The former West Ham player underwent chemotherapy after a malignant tumour was discovered in July, just days after he joined the German club from Ajax in a reported £27m deal.
The Ivory Coast striker, who made more than 50 appearances for the Hammers between 2019 and 2021, earlier this month resumed training with Edin Terzic’s squad at their camp in Marbella.
Jude Bellingham, who has reportedly attracted the interest of a number of Premier League clubs despite being under contract until 2025, opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark with a sweet strike from the edge of the box and set up the winner for Giovanni Reyna 12 minutes from time. Reyna came on in the 70th minute and scored in his first game since the World Cup, where he was limited to a pair of substitute appearances. Another Englishman, under-19 international Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, scored Dortmund’s third.
Barcelona and Real Madrid both picked up three points to remain in possession of the top two places in Spain. La Liga leaders Barça edged out Getafe 1-0 at the Camp Nou, with Pedri grabbing the decisive goal in the 35th minute. It was far from a regulation win for the hosts, with Marc-André ter Stegen called on to make some important saves, but it was enough to keep Xavi’s side unbeaten at home.
Second-placed Real Madrid looked to be on course for a similarly narrow success at Athletic Bilbao, with Karim Benzema on target in the 24th minute, but Toni Kroos popped up in the closing seconds to add the sheen to a 2-0 scoreline.
Villarreal converted one penalty and missed another in stoppage time in a 1-0 home win over Girona. Gerard Moreno had his spot kick saved four minutes into added time, but Dani Parejo converted his attempt in the final play of the game in the 111th minute.
Ángel Di María showed off the full range of his talents for Juventus in Serie A but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Bianconeri from being held to a 3-3 draw at home by Atalanta in their first match since being penalised 15 points for false accounting. The World Cup winner with Argentina scored a penalty and set up a goal with a backheel flick but Ademola Lookman hit his third consecutive double for Atalanta and Joakim Mæhle looked to have won it. Juventus needed an equaliser from Danilo midway through the second half to earn the draw.
Harry Winks made his full Sampdoria debut in their 1-0 defeat to Udinese in Serie A. The Englishman has been plagued by injury since leaving Tottenham on loan in August.
