RIVAL WATCH: Olympiacos leave it late to win thriller

RIVAL WATCH: Olympiacos leave it late to win thriller

FC Barcelona's next Champions League group stage opponents win ahead of Wednesday's clash while Málaga lose once again in La Liga ahead of Saturday's league match

The Greek side Olympiacos are FC Barcelona’s next rivals in the Champions League and they warmed up for Wednesday’s match with a 4-3 win over Panionios. Olympiakos started the game behind their rivals and they leapfrogged them to move into fifth place in the Greek Superleague on 11 points, four behind PAOK.

The team from Piraeus were 3-1 up at the break but the home side managed to come back into the game and make it 3-3 with five minutes to go. However, that is when Kostas Fortounis appeared to score his side’s winner in the 87th minute.

In other Champions League group stage news, Juventus suffered a rare home defeat with Lazio visiting Turin and coming home with the points. Douglas Costa put Juve ahead but Ciro Immobile responded with a double. Paulo Dybala had the chance to rescue a point for his side but he saw his late penalty saved.

Struggling Málaga

Málaga’s woes continue as they lost to CD Leganés at La Rosaleda stadium in La Liga. Goals from Pires and Szymanowski in the second half gave the visitors the win and condemned the Andalusian side to their seventh defeat in eight league games this campaign leaving them bottom of the table. The only point they have came in a frantic 3-3 draw against Athletic Bilbao in which they recovered from being 1-0 and then 3-1 down with ten men.

In other La Liga news, Valencia moved up to second on Sunday night and they are on 18 points, four behind Barça and one ahead of Real Madrid. Their impressive start to the season continued in an incredible nine-goal thriller against Betis which they won 6-3.

Finally, Real Madrid are in third place but still five points behind Barça. Zinedine Zidane’s side needed an 85th minute Cristiano Ronaldo winner to edge past Getafe away after Benzema and Molina had scored a goal apiece (2-1).

Força Barça
Força Barça

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