European round-up: Real Madrid return to winning ways in La Liga

February 24, 2025
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Real Madrid ended a three-match winless run in La Liga after beating Girona 2-0 at the Bernabeu to move back to second in the table.

Los Blancos – who defeated Manchester City 3-1 on Wednesday night to secure their spot in the last 16 of the Champions League – went ahead just before half-time through Luka Modric's superb volley from outside the penalty area.

After Carlo Ancelotti’s side had dominated the second half but without adding to their lead, Vinicius Junior eventually put the result to bed with a low strike in the 83rd minute.

Real now sit level on points at the top of the table with leaders Barcelona, who were 2-0 winners at Las Palmas on Saturday, with Atletico Madrid one point back in third.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao extended their unbeaten league run to 16 straight games with a 7-1 thrashing of bottom club Real Valladolid, who finished with 10 men.

Nico Williams scored twice, while Inaki Williams was also on the scoresheet during the closing stages after Valladolid had midfielder Stanko Juric sent off early in the second half.

Napoli missed the chance to go back to the top of Serie A after losing 2-1 at Como.

Como went in front following an early own goal from Amir Rrahmani, but Giacomo Raspadori had Napoli level in the 17th minute.

However, teenager Assane Diao struck with 13 minutes left to leave Antonio Conte’s men a point behind Inter, who had beaten Genoa on Saturday.

Fiorentina slipped to a third consecutive Serie A defeat after a stoppage-time goal from Antoine Bernede saw them beaten 1-0 at Hellas Verona, where Moise Kean was taken to hospital after appearing to pass out following an earlier blow to his head.

Italy international Kean had been involved in an accidental collision with Pawel Dawidowicz and Diego Coppola midway through the second half, taking a knee in the face, which left him with a cut above his eye.

Although Kean returned to the pitch following treatment, with his head bandaged, the 24-year-old soon fell, initially appearing unresponsive, before being taken off on a stretcher in the 67th minute.

Fiorentina later confirmed Kean had suffered a head trauma and was in hospital for tests.

Hellas Verona struck deep into stoppage time to take all three points when Bernede slotted past David De Gea when the ball broke to him in the Fiorentina penalty area.

Bayern Munich consolidated their lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a 4-0 win over Frankfurt.

With England captain Harry Kane starting on the bench as he manages a calf problem, Bayern eventually broke the deadlock in stoppage time at the end of the first half through Michael Olise following a sweeping move.

Hiroki Ito knocked in a second from a corner just after the hour, with Jamal Musiala’s fine solo run and Serge Gnabry’s late strike wrapping up a comfortable victory as Bayern move back eight points clear of champions Bayer Leverkusen.

RB Leipzig fought back to draw 2-2 against Heidenheim at the Red Bull Arena – where the hosts had fallen 2-0 behind inside the opening 13 minutes.