Plus: Rennes bounce back in style from three straight defeats by routing struggling Bordeaux in Ligue 1; Eintracht Frankfurt's European hopes dented after 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Augsburg
Sunday 16 January 2022 21:23, UK
Real Madrid were crowned Spanish Super Cup champions after goals from Luka Modric and Karim Benzema earned them a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in Saudi Arabia.
Real took the lead in the 38th minute at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh after Rodrygo sprinted past two defenders before passing to Modric, who rifled a shot into the back of the net.
Benzema extended their lead in the second half with a penalty after the video assistant referee spotted a handball from Yeray Alvarez inside the area.
Real were reduced to 10 men three minutes from time after Eder Militao was sent off for a goalline handball.
Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois brilliantly stopped Raul Garcia's penalty kick with his left foot in the dying seconds.
Sergio Oliveira scored a penalty on his AS Roma debut as Jose Mourinho's side ended a three-match winless run by beating relegation battling Cagliari 1-0 in Serie A on Sunday.
Portuguese midfielder Oliveira, who joined the capital club on loan from Porto on Wednesday, calmly converted a spot-kick in the 32nd minute following a Dalbert handball.
Jordan Veretout and Nicolo Zaniolo threatened a second for the hosts after the break, but the best chance fell to Cagliari when Joao Pedro's close-range shot was pushed onto the bar by Rui Patricio five minutes from time.
It was Roma's first win in almost a month, after picking up one point from three games, and took Mourinho's side up to sixth place on 35 points, six behind Juventus in fifth.
Cagliari's bid to avoid the drop was boosted by back-to-back wins at the start of the year, but they were without 11 players due to injuries, COVID-19 and Africa Cup of Nations duties for their trip to the capital, and defeat left them 18th with 16 points.
Elsewhere, Luis Nani got an assist two minutes into his debut for Venezia, coming off the bench to set up David Okereke's equaliser in a 1-1 draw against midtable Empoli.
Antonin Barak scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 win for Hellas Verona at Sassuolo that took Igor Tudor's side above their hosts into the top half of the table.
Rennes bounced back in style from three straight defeats by routing struggling Bordeaux 6-0 at home to reclaim fourth place in the French league on Sunday.
Striker Gaetan Laborde and winger Martin Terrier each scored to reach 10 league goals apiece this season - as many as Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe.
Terrier put Rennes ahead before captain Benjamin Bourigeaud netted just before the break. Laborde struck on the hour before Adrien Truffert scored in the 69th minute and fellow substitute Serhou Guirassy netted twice in the closing stages.
Philippe Clement's first home game in charge of Monaco saw France striker Wissam Ben Yedder score twice in a 4-0 home win over Clermont. Monaco moved ahead of Lens on goal difference into fifth.
Strasbourg climbed into sixth after rallying to win 3-1 at home to Montpellier, who were seeking a fifth straight win.
Midfielder Florent Mollet gave Montpellier an early lead, but Strasbourg scored three times in the last 15 minutes through Majeed Waris, Adrien Thomasson and veteran striker Kevin Gameiro.
Later on Sunday, third-placed Marseille were hosting defending champions Lille, needing victory to move level on points with second-placed Nice. Mid-table Lyon won 1-0 at lowly Troyes.
Meanwhile, Metz moved away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 win at Reims, and strugglers Lorient drew 0-0 at home to Angers.
Missing key players isolating with coronavirus, Eintracht Frankfurt's ambitions to fight for European qualification were dented on Sunday as they were held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-threatened Augsburg.
With Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and winger Filip Kostic both unavailable after positive tests, an otherwise drab game was enlivened by two moments of individual skill for the goals.
Playmaker Daichi Kamada gave Frankfurt the lead in the 22nd minute when he ran onto a through ball and leaped over goalkeeper Rafal Gikiewicz before stretching to tap the ball into the net under pressure from a defender. Michael Gregoritsch leveled for Augsburg 16 minutes later with a fine finish from a tight angle.
Frankfurt were looking for a morale-boosting win after giving up a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 to Borussia Dortmund last week, but had to settle for a point which keeps the team in eighth. Just five points separate Bayer Leverkusen in third from Mainz in 10th.
Frankfurt's winless start to the new year is a blow to a team that started the season poorly but recovered with wins in six of their last seven Bundesliga games of 2021 to get back into the fight for European qualification.
Augsburg produced one of the shocks of the season to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in November but have won only once in seven games since then and sit just above the relegation play-off spot, prompting concerns their 11-year stay in the top tier could be in jeopardy.
Elsewhere, Arminia Bielefeld climbed past Stuttgart to 16th with a 2-2 draw against last-place Greuther Furth. Gonzalo Castro rescued a point for Bielefeld with a goal in the 83rd minute as Furth neared what would have been only their second win since returning to the top tier.
