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Barcelona had to settle for a share of the spoils at Club Brugge after a thrilling 3-3 draw but were fortunate the English referee Anthony Taylor ruled out Romeo Vermant’s stoppage-time effort for a foul on the Barça goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
In a thriller at Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium, the home side opened the scoring through Nicolò Tresoldi in the sixth minute. But Barcelona hit back with Ferran Torres scoring from close range two minutes later only for Brugge to regainthe lead in the 17th minute through Carlos Forbs after another quick counter.
Szczesny made a stunning save early in the second half to deny Joaquin Seys’ ferocious shot from close range. The Barça defender Eric García almost scored in the 59th minute with a strike from long range that rebounded off the crossbar but it was the teenager Lamine Yamal who scored a brilliant individual goal straight after to level the match again.
However, it took Club Brugge only two minutes to get back the lead, with Forbs scoring from another counterattack, beating Barcelona’s high defensive line again for the umpteenth time before chipping a tidy finish round Szczesny into the net. Barcelona found their equaliser in the 77th minute when Lamine Yamal lifted a cross into the box and Seys headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear.
There was more drama as Brugge thought they had scored the winner in added time through Vermant, thanks to what looked to have been a massive blunder by Szczesny. But the video assistant referee video review ruled out the goal as the forward fouled the keeper in his effort to recover the ball, helping Barça rescue a point.
Inter maintained their perfect record in the Champions League after Carlos Augusto’s 67th-minute effort saw off Kairat Almaty 2-1 at San Siro. Lautaro Martínez put Inter ahead on the stroke of half-time but Ofri Arad produced a surprise leveller for the Kazakhstani club Kairat.
It looked set to end Inter’s 100 % record in the competition, but Augusto’s goal means the Serie A side are third in the table and level on 12 points with Arsenal and Bayern Munich.
A vintage hat-trick by Victor Osimhen helped Galatasaray record a superb 3-0 victory on the road at struggling Ajax.
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Elsewhere, Pafos claimed a much-needed and historic first win in the Champions League with a 1-0 triumph over Villarreal, the Dutch defender Derrick Luckassen scoring the only goal just after half-time.
Bayer Leverkusen won at Benfica by the same margin after Patrik Schick scored in the 65th minute and Lazar Samardzic’s stoppage-time goal helped Atalanta to a 1-0 away win over Marseille.
