La Liga
Barcelona held to 2-2 draw at Betis after late Diao strike
LaLiga leaders Barcelona had to settle for a 2-2 draw at mid-table Real Betis after substitute Assane Diao scored a stoppage-time equaliser on Saturday to give Manuel Pellegrini cause to celebrate in his 500th LaLiga game as a manager.
Barca have 38 points from 17 matches but second-placed Real Madrid, who have 33 with two games in hand, can narrow the gap to two points if they win at Girona later on Saturday.
“We weren’t able to finish things off in the second half, to put the result beyond doubt. But we now look forward to the next game, there’s no time,” said Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, who got their second after Robert Lewandowski had put them 1-0 up.
The visitors created a number of chances early on and Lamine Yamal, making just his second start after a four-week absence with an ankle injury, was mostly in the thick of the action
The 17-year-old caused numerous problems for Betis in the first half with his silky footwork and inventive passing.
Barca opened the scoring in the 39th minute through a flowing move orchestrated by Yamal and neatly finished by Lewandowski for his 16th league goal of the season.
Betis showed more intent after the break as Sergi Altimira and Abde Ezzalzouli sent headers just wide before the hosts’ pressure was rewarded with a penalty in the 68th minute.
Frenkie De Jong clattered into Barca loanee Vitor Roque and the spot kick was given after a VAR review, with visiting coach Hansi Flick being sent off for his vociferous protests.
Giovani Lo Celso stepped up to convert and level the match, but Barcelona regained the lead in the 82nd minute as Yamal’s brilliance once again shone through, with his well-disguised through ball finding its way to Torres who scored.
However, there was one final twist in a thrilling contest, and Pellegrini’s substitutions paid dividends as two of them combined for the equaliser, with Aitor Ruibal’s dangerous cross flicked into the net by Diao with a cheeky backheel.
“Well, I think we deserved at least a draw,” Diao said. “We defended and attacked as a team. We went for the three points. We couldn’t get that, but we deserved a draw.”
Betis, who remain 11th, will be glad to have snapped a two-game losing streak but they have not won a LaLiga match since October.
“In terms of performance, we needed it,” Pellegrini said. “I think the team has to regain confidence with today’s performance, and hopefully build up to three points.”
-Reuters
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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