Lionel Messi celebrated his return to domestic competition after the World Cup by scoring a second-half goal as Paris Saint-Germain extended their Ligue 1 lead to six points with a 2-0 home win against Angers.
Messi, who wore a T-shirt honouring Pelé when he warmed up, received a strong welcome from the Parc des Princes crowd. He netted from close range in the 72nd minute to add to Hugo Ekitike’s first-half opener, putting PSG on 47 points from 18 games.
Lens stayed second but dropped two points in a 2-2 draw at struggling Strasbourg with all the goals being scored before the break.
Third-placed Marseille are now two points adrift of Lens on 39 points after a 2-0 win over Troyes.
Ross Barkley scored twice as Nice responded to Lucien Favre’s sacking with a 6-1 thrashing of Montpellier. Arsenal loanee Nicolas Pépé also hit a double.
Thibaut Courtois saved José Gayà’s poorly struck spot-kick to give Real Madrid a 4-3 penalty-shootout win over Valencia in their Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Saudi Arabia.
The two teams finished level at 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time. Karim Benzema gave Real Madrid, the holders, the lead from the spot in the first half after he was fouled inside the area by Eray Comert but Valencia came back into the game and deservedly equalised through a Samuel Lino volley from a Toni Lato cross straight after half-time.
Vinícius Júnior could have won it for Real Madrid in extra time but his close-range shot was saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili. Real Madrid will face the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between Real Betis and Barcelona in the final in Riyadh on Sunday.
In Italy, Milan crashed out of the Coppa Italia after a 1-0 home defeat to Torino. Koffi Djidji was shown a red card in the 70th minute but Ndary Adopo struck in extra time for the 10 men.
