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Barca win nine-goal thriller | Atleti win | Dortmund slump continues

Raphinha scored in stoppage time to complete a rousing comeback as Barcelona beat Benfica in Lisbon despite having been 4-2 down with less than a quarter of an hour remaining.

Benfica's Vangelis Pavlidis scored the third-fastest hat trick at the start of a Champions League game, with two of his goals coming after errors by Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Barcelona stay second with 18 points from seven games. 

Another Spanish club staged a comeback as Julian Alvarez scored a 90th-minute winner to lift Atletico Madrid past Bayer Leverkusen 2-1. 

Atletico lost Pablo Barrios to a 23rd-minute red card and went into half time 1-0 down to a Piero Hincapie header for Leverkusen. 

Alvarez scored in the 52nd and had the momentum when Hincapie was sent off for a second yellow card, before Alvarez struck again to take the win and lift Atletico to third. 

Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 loss at Bologna increased the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin in Dortmund's fourth consecutive loss at the start of the new year in all competitions.

Serhou Guirassy gave Dortmund the lead with a chipped penalty and ran to celebrate with Sahin. 

It looked like the Champions League could provide a much-needed boost for a team floundering in the Bundesliga, but two goals in two minutes from Thijs Dallinga and Samuel Iling-Junior changed the game for previously winless Bologna. 

Atalanta beat Austria's Sturm Graz 5-0, strengthening the Italian club's push to qualify directly for the round of 16. 

PSV Eindhoven hung on for a 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade despite losing defender Flamingo to a red card just after halftime while leading 3-0. 

Stuttgart eased to a 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava, who have lost all seven of their games. 

Club Brugge and Juventus drew 0-0. Europa League In the only Europa League game of the night, Galatasaray missed a chance to go third in the table, giving up a 3-1 lead to draw 3-3 with last-place Dynamo Kyiv. 

Ancelotti rubbishes Real quit reports - I want to stay for four more years!

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has played down some reports he will leave the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season.

Madrid currently lead La Liga, two points clear of city rivals Atletico Madrid, as they look to win back-to-back league titles.

However, in the Champions League they are in danger of not progressing to the knockout phase - after six matches in the new-look competition, the holders are languishing down in 20th place.

The Italian, 65, is currently contracted to Los Blancos until the summer of 2026.

"I want to be very clear: the date when I'll be leaving this club will never be decided by me," Ancelotti said in his pre-match press conference ahead of his side's Champions League clash with RB Salzburg on Wednesday.

"Never. Never in my life [has he decided to leave]. I am perfectly aware that this day will come. When will this day be? I don't know. That's not for me to decide.

"It can be tomorrow [Wednesday] after the game, it can be after the next game, it can be in a year's time, it can be in five years. I don't know.

"The fact that Florentino [Perez, Madrid President] has been elected for another four years and he knows me very well, makes it a goal for me to be here another four years like Florentino, so we can make a joint farewell to each other with all the love in the world."

Ten Hag among candidates for Dortmund job

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is one of the candidates being considered by Borussia Dortmund if they sack head coach Nuri Sahin, according to Sky in Germany.

Dortmund are yet to make an official inquiry, but it is understood that they have explored the possibility of hiring the 54-year-old. Ten Hag has been a frequent guest at Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park since being sacked by Manchester United in October. 

Sky in Germany report that Ten Hag has a good relationship with Dortmund's chief advisor Matthias Sammer. 

Ten Hag is thought to be open to the possibility of taking over at Dortmund, but would likely seek assurances that he can build something long term at the club.

Dortmund have lost their last three games since the winter break and pressure is building on Sahin, with the club 10th in the table and six points adrift of the Champions League qualification places.

Former Benfica boss Roger Schmidt, Germany assistant Sandro Wagner, Stuttgart boss Sebastian Hoeness and former Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac are some of the other names that have been considered by Dortmund.

Dele joins Fabregas at Como

Former Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Dele Alli is has joined Italian Serie A club Como.

Dele has signed an 18-month contract, with an option to extend the deal by 12 months.

The 28-year-old, who made 181 appearances for the London club and earned 37 caps for his country, joined Everton in 2022 and was then loaned out to Besiktas in Turkey.

He has been without a club since June when he left Everton, but has been training with Como for the last few weeks.

Como are managed by former Arsenal, Chelsea and Spain international midfield star Cesc Fabregas, and were promoted to Italy's top flight for the first time in almost half a century last season.

Upon completing the signing of Dele, Fabregas said: "The club believes in Dele’s potential and is committed to helping him rediscover his best form. 

"His experience and leadership qualities will undoubtedly benefit the squad.”

Fabregas and another Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry, are also minority investors in the club. 

Barcelona full-back Balde subject to racist abuse

Barcelona full back Alejandro Balde said he was targeted by racist abuse from Getafe fans during a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The full back said after the match: "I received a number of racist insults. And I should say that. This is something that should not still be happening. It was in the first half, and at the end of the half I told the referee and the protocol was activated." 

The Spanish international also posted on Instagram. Manager Hansi Flick also made reference to the abuse in his post-game press conference. 

"There is no place for this," he said. "It is inconceivable that these things are still happening today. These people should stay at home and not come to games, and we must fight against them. 

"It is unacceptable. And the people around them should do something too. It's not fair."

Barcelona added in a statement: "The club stands by the player and coach and has also voiced its public support for the player." 

Goretzka scores twice in Bayern win over Wolfsburg

Leon Goretzka scored twice for Bayern Munich as they beat Wolfsburg 3-2 to open a seven-point lead in the Bundesliga.

 Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen could restore the four-point gap with a win at home against Borussia Monchengladbach in the late game. 

Goretzka fell out of favour at Bayern last season but offered  a reminder of his qualities by scoring twice for the first time since March.

Michael Olise got Bayern Munich's third.

Bayern travel to Feyenoord in the Champions League on Wednesday night. 

Solskjaer takes over as Besiktas manager

Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been confirmed as the new boss of Turkish club Besiktas.

"A contract has been signed with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer regarding the Technical Directorship of our Professional Football Team until the end of the 2025//26 season with a one-year option for the 2026/27 season," the club said in a statement. 

Solskjaer has not held a coaching role since leaving Old Trafford in 2021.

The Norwegian has managed Molde in his home country on two separate occasions and also led Cardiff for a brief spell in 2014.

He takes over at Besiktas with the 21-time league champions currently struggling in sixth place, and will come up against his predecessor as Red Devils boss in Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho is in charge of Fenerbahce, who sit second in the table behind leaders Galatasaray.

Belgium sack Tedesco with Henry among contenders to take over

Thierry Henry is among the early favourites to take over as Belgium manager after the sacking of Domenico Tedesco.

Tedesco has been let go after a disappointing run of results, including a last-16 exit at last year’s European Championship and a poor Nations League showing.

The Italian won just two of his last 10 matches and fell out with Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who said last summer he would not play under Tedesco again.

Now the Royal Belgian Football Association are looking to recruit a replacement, with Arsenal and France great Henry among those tipped to be in contention.

Henry previously worked as Belgium’s assistant coach under Roberto Martinez and his most recent coaching role saw him take the French men’s Olympic team to silver at the 2024 Olympics.

A statement from chief executive Peter Willems read: “Following a detailed evaluation, the RBFA sports committee today decided to end its collaboration with national coach Domenico Tedesco. The search for a successor is now underway.

“Unfortunately, the Red Devils did not perform as we hoped at Euro 2024, just as they did in the next Nations League campaign.

“Domenico made an excellent start as national coach and proved that there are still great things possible, even after the send-off of the previous generation. He has integrated a number of young players into the team, and his successor can build on this.”

Tedesco predicted big things for the team he has left behind, adding: “A beautiful journey is now unfortunately coming to an end.

“This team is still at the beginning of its development and will cause a sensation in the coming years. I wish the players, the great employees of the federation and the fans all the best from the bottom of my heart.”

Kick It Out want answers from FIFA over Fernandez chanting incident

Kick It Out has demanded clarity from FIFA president Gianni Infantino over what action his organisation is taking over alleged discriminatory chanting involving Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez and other Argentina players, PA Sport reports.

Fernandez, who turns 24 on Friday, posted a video of himself and some of his Argentina team-mates singing a derogatory song about French players of African origin in the wake of his side's Copa America victory last July.

FIFA said in the same month that the incident was being "looked into" following a complaint from the French football federation, but neither it nor South American confederation CONMEBOL has published any further information since.

Fernandez apologised face to face to his Chelsea team-mates when he linked up with them on the club's pre-season tour in the United States last summer, and the club took no further action against him after he made a donation to an anti-discrimination charity.

However, Kick It Out's chief executive Samuel Okafor has now asked to know what the sport's authorities are doing about the matter.

"Despite making inquiries to the FA and FIFA, we and many others have not been told if there has been any investigation or outcome into his or any other players' conduct," Okafor wrote in a letter seen by the PA news agency, and which was also sent to CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez.

"Establishing the facts and reaching an outcome should not be an extraordinary or difficult task for organisations who want to take discrimination seriously.

"Several of the players were filmed singing a song on the team coach which was both racist and transphobic about France's players. Midfielder Enzo Fernandez was clearly seen singing, although we recognise he was not alone in those actions as many players can be heard during the video."

Okafor said if there had been no investigation, "it points to a deeply concerning lack of transparency and accountability, especially given how widely this incident was seen."

FIFA declined to comment. CONMEBOL and Kick It Out have also been approached for comment.

Barcelona cruise into Copa del Rey last eight

Barcelona had five different goalscorers as they thumped Real Betis 5-1 to progress to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey.

The visitors from Seville were dumped out of the cup as Barca turned in a comprehensive display, goals in the first half from Gavi and Jules Kounde giving them a 2-0 cushion at the beak.

Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal were all on target in the second half for the home side to ease Hansi Flick’s side through.

LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid made similarly light work of Segunda Division side Elche, with Alexander Sorloth scoring twice in the first half en route to a 4-0 away win.

Rodrigo Riquelme and Julian Alvarez completed the rout after half-time to seal a comfortable victory.

Pontevedra of the fourth tier saw their cup run brought to an end at home to Getafe, who scored their winner in the second minute before finishing the game with nine players, while Leganes scored twice in the final 15 minutes to beat Almeria 3-2.

Paris Saint-Germain survived a huge scare in the Coupe de France as they recovered from a goal down against fifth-tier side Espaly to eventually win 4-2.

The side from the south of France, who currently sit 12th in the 14-team Championnat National 3, were looking to pull off one of the competition’s all-time shocks, and it appeared tantalisingly within reach when they went in front after less than three minutes.

PSG took the lead but were then pegged back to 2-2 with 20 minutes to go, before finally sealing the deal with late goals from Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos.

Lyon received no such reprieve, they were dumped out in the shock result of the last-32, losing on penalties to fifth-tier Bourgoin-Jallieu after a 2-2 draw.

Thaon, also of the fifth tier, came within a shoot-out of stunning Ligue 1 Strasbourg who won 5-3 on spot-kicks on a night of remarkable results in France.

There were wins for Brest, Cannes, Angers, Stade Briochin, Toulouse and Troyes.