Paris Saint-Germain began their Ligue 1 title defence with a 2-2 draw away at Rennes, with two goals from debutant Ferran Torres rescuing a point for Luis Enrique’s side.
The fixture venue had been reversed at short notice due to damage to the champions’ pitch following the hot weather this summer, and Rennes quickly took advantage of the switch, racing into a two-goal lead before half-time at Roazhon Park, courtesy of Sebastian Szymanski and Esteban Lepaul.
Torres, Spain’s World Cup hero this summer who signed for the French heavyweights from Barcelona this month, was then brought on at the break in a bid to try and get something from the tie.
And his introduction eventually paid dividends, with the forward netting twice in 11 minutes to salvage a share of the spoils and spare some opening day blushes.
Despite a far from convincing campaign opener, the Parisians will be looking for a sixth-straight league title, and what would be a remarkable 13th domestic crown in 15 seasons.
Meanwhile, last year’s Ligue 1 third-placed side Lille started their season brightly with a 2-0 win over Angers, with veteran striker Olivier Giroud opening the scoring.
In the only other game in the French top flight on Sunday, former Tottenham and England player Eric Dier netted the only goal of the game for Monaco in a 1-0 victory over Le Havre.
LaLiga
Aside from Barcelona’s thumping opening day victory, there was plenty of drama elsewhere in LaLiga, namely in the game between Atletico Madrid and Villarreal.
The match finished 2-2 after Diego Simeone’s men salvaged a point despite having defender Robin Le Normand sent off.
Giuliano Simeone grabbed his team a draw after penalties from Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze put Villarreal in front following Marc Pubill’s 59th-minute opener for the hosts.
Simeone brought on striker Julian Alvarez on as a second-half substitute to a chorus of boos from home supporters after the Argentine made clear his desire to leave the club this summer.
After the game, Alvarez could be seen walking down the tunnel alone at the end, while his teammates were thanking the Atletico supporters.
In the other game, Getafe beat Racing Santander 1-0 thanks to a goal from former Bournemouth player Enes Unal.
Serie A
In the Italian top-flight, there were wins for both Juventus and AC Milan as two of the league’s heavyweights got their respective domestic campaigns off to promising starts.
Gleison Bremer found the net after 22 minutes for Juve as they narrowly overcame newly promoted Frosinone, while goals from 19-year-old Alphadjo Cisse and Adrien Rabiot in three second-half minutes gave Milan a 2-0 lead in their clash with Torino.
Scotland international Che Adams halved the deficit in stoppage time but it was too little, too late as the Rossoneri took home all three points.
Elsewhere in the division, Lecce beat Venezia 2-0, while Atalanta edged it 2-1 over Sassuolo.
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