Atletico wins without Álvarez, Elversberg beats Leverkusen in 1st ever Bundesliga match
Julián Álvarez was not even on the bench as Atletico Madrid strolled to a 3-1 win at Sevilla
MILAN -- Atletico Madrid put its off-the-field problems behind it to win 3-1 at Sevilla on Saturday.
In Germany, Elversberg got its first ever season in the Bundesliga off to a great start with a 3-2 win over 2024 champion Bayer Leverkusen.
Elsewhere, there were further losses for big-spending Tottenham in the Premier League and Fiorentina in Serie A.
Julián Álvarez was not even on the bench as Atletico Madrid strolled to victory in Seville.
Atletico insisted on Thursday that Álvarez will not be sold to Barcelona. But the Argentina star didn’t train with his teammates for most of the week.
He was also left out of Atletico’s squad for the Spanish league opener and was booed by the team’s fans in its match Sunday, when he came on as a substitute.
In the forward’s absence, Álex Baena scored twice and Ademola Lookman the other as Atletico raced into a 3-0 halftime lead.
It was Sevilla’s first loss of the season.
American forward Cole Campbell scored in his first league match for Elversberg, which came close to giving up a three-goal lead.
Elversberg, a town with 13,000 inhabitants in the southwest German state of Saarland, was hosting its first Bundesliga match and got off to a great start with goals from Lukas Petkov and Campbell, with less than nine minutes on the clock.
David Mokwa extended the hosts’ advantage right at the start of the second half but Patrik Schick cut the deficit with a backheeled goal in the 77th and Christian Kofane scored at the start of stoppage time to set up a nervy finale.
Elversberg, which was playing at fourth-tier level until 2022, finished runner-up in Germany’s second division last season to earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time.
Leverkusen won the league and cup double while remaining unbeaten in 2024.
Elsewhere, last year’s runner-up Borussia Dortmund kicked off its season with a 1-0 win over Hamburg. Dortmund forward Samuele Inácio was sent off in the 77th minute for a dangerous tackle, just three minutes after coming off the bench.
Rocco Reitz scored against his boyhood club — and the team he left in the summer — to help Leipzig beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0.
Tottenham’s remarkable $400 million summer spending spree has produced zero points and zero goals so far.
Tottenham was beaten 2-0 at home by Newcastle, a week on from being ripped apart in a 3-0 loss at Brentford.
Liverpool and new coach Andoni Iraola are also still looking for their first win after the team again needed a late equalizer, this time to salvage a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
In contrast, newly-promoted Hull have maximum points after it followed up last weekend’s win over Manchester United with a 1-0 victory at Coventry.
Fiorentina’s centenary was spoiled by another hefty loss as it was humiliated 3-0 at home by Frosinone.
That comes five days after a 4-0 drubbing by Roma.
Juventus’ subs were decisive in a 2-0 win over Parma to join AC Milan with a perfect six points. Nico Gonzalez and Teun Koopmeiners both scored a few minutes after coming off the bench.
Lens captain Florian Thauvin scored his 100th Ligue 1 goal but last year’s runner-up lost 2-1 at Strasbourg.
Thauvin opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 38th minute but Strasbourg turned it around after the break with a brace from youngster Gessime Yassine.
Lyon was held to a 1-1 draw at home by Le Havre.
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