Internazionale’s Serie A title defence began unconvincingly with a 2-2 draw at Genoa as a last-gasp goal from Junior Messias secured a point for the hosts. Inter, missing the key players Stefan de Vrij and Piotr Zielinski, could not find the margins to start their campaign with a win, despite a double from Marcus Thuram.
Alessandro Vogliacco gave Genoa a shock lead after 20 minutes by tapping in a rebound off the bar. Ten minutes later, Thuram showcased his aerial prowess by heading in a lofted cross from Niccolo Barella to level the scores.
Thuram almost earned Inter a penalty when Genoa captain Milan Badelj appeared to trip him in the box, but the decision was overturned after a video assistant referee review.
Inter intensified their attack after the break, but Federico Dimarco’s effort was ruled out for offside. Inter’s pressure paid off six minutes from the end, as Thuram ran on to a through ball and clipped a neat finish over keeper Pierluigi Gollini.
In the dying moments of stoppage time, however, Yann Bisseck’s header into his own hands led to Messias’s penalty being saved by Yann Sommer before the Brazilian turned in the rebound.
Simone Inzhagi said: “A team like ours, leading in the 84th minute, shouldn’t concede any more goals, especially in that way. Football owes you nothing. Today we had to give a bit more.
“Credit to Genoa, but it’s a draw that doesn’t leave us much satisfaction given what we created. Winning [the title] is difficult, winning it again even more so. The boys know it, they are mature enough and that’s why I’m disappointed.”
Álvaro Morata and Noah Okafor scored in the final minutes for Milan to claim a 2-2 draw at home against Torino.
The visitors took the lead on the half-hour mark when Raoul Bellanova’s header hit the post and Malick Thiaw’s attempted clearance ended in an own goal. Torino doubled their lead in the 68th minute with Duván Zapata heading in Valentino Lazaro’s cross from close range.
A minute before stoppage time Morata gave the home fans hope by deflecting Tijjani Reijnders’ long-range shot into the net. Milan then launched a frantic final push and Okafor smashed in a volley deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for the home side.
Cristiano Biraghi cancelled out Dennis Man’s first-half goal to earn Fiorentina a 1-1 draw at Parma while Empoli and Monza finished goalless.
Barcelona came from behind to being their La Liga campaign with a 2-1 win at Valencia. Hugo Duro had given the hosts the lead a minute before half-time but Robert Lewandowski hit back in first-half stoppage time. Lewandowski scored again from the penalty spot three minutes after the break.
An own goal from Juan Soriano 11 minutes from time earned Osasuna a 1-1 draw at home to Leganés, who had lead since a 22nd-minute goal from Juan Cruz.
Mason Greenwood scored twice to give Roberto De Zerbi the perfect start to his reign at Marseille with a 5-1 win at Brest in Ligue 1. Luis Henrique also bagged a brace with Elye Wahi completing the scoring from the penalty spot.
Takumi Minamino scored the only goal to give Monaco victory over Saint-Étienne at home while Lille won 2-0 at Reims in a game delayed for 30 minutes after a collision between Abdoul Koné and Angel Gomes. Koné was sent off and strikes in stoppage time at the end of each half from Bafodé Diakité and Jonathan David earned Lille the points.
Bayer Leverkusen beat Stuttgart 4-3 on penalties to win the German Supercup having played for nearly an hour with 10 men.
Leverkusen lost only once in all competitions last season on their way to a domestic double and needed just 11 minutes to take the lead with Edmond Tapsoba heading towards goal at the far post and Victor Boniface bundling the ball over the line.
Stuttgart struck back four minutes later thanks to Enzo Millot’s shot in the first German season curtain-raiser not to feature Bayern Munich for 13 years. Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen were reduced to 10 men when Martin Terrier was shown a straight red card after a studs-up challenge in the 37th minute and Stuttgart quickly took control.The visitors hit the woodwork three times and went in front in the 63rd minute when substitute Deniz Undav connected with a Frans Krätzig cutback seconds after coming on.
But Leverkusen’s never-say-die attitude – that earned them the nickname ‘Neverlusen’ last season – was evident again as Patrik Schick latched on to an Alejandro Grimaldo through ball to level two minutes from time.
They kept their cool from the spot and scored all four penalties as Stuttgart’s Silas missed the decisive one for his team.
