Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang makes Barcelona debut in clinical win over Atletico Madrid – European round-up | Football News

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came off the bench to make a winning start to his Barcelona career as his new side produced a clinical performance to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 and move into La Liga’s top four.

Barca, who saw off the champions by scoring four goals from their only four shots on target, dominated every part of the game from the beginning and were unperturbed when Yannick Carrasco opened the scoring on the counter eight minutes into the first half.

Jordi Alba got the equaliser two minutes later with a magnificent volley from a Dani Alves cross and Gavi headed Barca in front (21) after some neat play by Adama Traore, who was making his second debut for the club following his transfer from Wolves last month.

Ronald Araujo extended the hosts’ lead before half-time (42), striking home on the rebound from inside the six-yard box after Gerard Pique’s header hit the bar.

Alves scored their fourth right after the break (49), smashing home a low shot from the edge of the box.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone made four substitutions and former Barca striker Luis Suarez reduced the deficit (58), heading a loose ball into the net from close range.

Aubameyang replaced Traore three minutes later to make his debut before Alves spoiled his man-of-the-match performance when he was given a straight red card for a poor challenge on Carrasco (69).

Despite being a man down, Barca held on to move above Atletico into fourth place in La Liga and extend their unbeaten run in the league to seven matches.

Bundesliga: Dortmund’s title hopes fade further with heavy defeat

Borussia Dortmund were thrashed 5-2 at home by Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga as their hopes of catching leaders Bayern Munich slipped yet further away.

The defeat left second-placed Dortmund on 43 points, nine behind Bayern after the champions beat RB Leipzig 3-2 on Saturday. Leverkusen stayed third but reduced the gap with Dortmund to five points.

The hosts got off to a nightmare start when they fell behind to a Manuel Akanji own goal in the 10th minute, but they soon levelled when Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong also fired into his own net.

Leverkusen restored their lead in the 20th minute through Florian Wirtz following a flowing counterattack and further increased their advantage with a sizzling free-kick from Robert Andrich in the 28th.

The visitors quickly killed off any hopes of a second-half revival from the hosts when Jonathan Tah slammed in a volley eight minutes after the interval.

Moussa Diaby compounded Dortmund’s misery by scoring the visitors’ fifth goal in the 87th minute although the hosts did manage to respond with a strike from Steffen Tigges in the 89th which was eventually awarded after a lengthy VAR review to check a possible offside.

Dortmund were missing their injured top scorer Erling Haaland and slumped to only their second home defeat in the league this season after losing to Bayern in December, having won all of their other home games in the campaign.