Barça run riot, Milan jeered, Bologna change coach

LaLiga squeezed its sixth round into midweek and Wednesday evening was one-way traffic: Barcelona thrashed Racing Santander 7-2, already 4-1 up at the break with a Raphinha hat-trick (Corriere dello Sport, DAZN); Atletico Madrid swept Osasuna aside 4-0 and Sevilla won 1-0 at Deportivo. On Tuesday Real Madrid had won 3-2 at Elche after leading 2-0 at half-time, Rayo Vallecano had beaten Espanyol 2-1 and Valencia had won 1-0 at Alaves. Levante-Athletic was not played: the match was called off because of rain, OneFootball reports. In the cups, Milan lost at home to Benfica on the opening matchday of the Europa League and were jeered by San Siro (La Gazzetta dello Sport, ANSA), while in the Carabao Cup Brighton came from behind to beat Manchester United (Corriere dello Sport).

The Italian morning was about two benches. Bologna sacked Tedesco after the defeat in Naples and picked his successor (NapoliCalcioNews.it): calciobologna.it is already reporting Palladino's first training session at Casteldebole. At Milan the theme is the response: Amorim did not hide the problems after the Europa League night - "Little creativity, mistakes at the back. But we will find the right solutions" - and La Gazzetta dello Sport opens the centre-forward case, with Gonçalo Ramos still without a goal. Looking to the weekend, ANSA reports an ankle knock for Hermoso ahead of Roma-Inter, with Gasperini considering Balerdi, and the refereeing appointments: Massa for the big match at the Olimpico, Doveri for Fiorentina-Napoli. Among the morning's rumours, SOS Fanta says Zaniolo has recovered and is back in training with Udinese, NapoliCalcioNews still has Anguissa in doubt for Florence and Calciomercato.com reports John Stones out for three or four weeks with a muscle problem.

Today's schedule is Spanish and European. LaLiga closes its sixth round with Real Betis-Getafe at 7pm and Malaga-Villarreal at 9.30pm (Italian time). In the evening the Europa League brings out Spalletti's Juventus against NEC Nijmegen - "We accept the pressure", he said on the eve of the game to ANSA - and Real Sociedad against Bournemouth (Eurosport).

From tomorrow the leagues take over, and the calendar is full. Serie A restarts on Friday at 8.45pm with Monza-Sassuolo, Saturday at 6pm brings Roma-Inter, Sunday has Fiorentina-Napoli at 12.30pm, Juventus-Atalanta at 6pm and Milan-Lecce at 8.45pm. The Premier League opens on Friday at 9pm with Brentford-Chelsea and offers Brighton-Arsenal on Saturday at 4pm; in the Bundesliga, Bayern host Union Berlin on Friday at 8.30pm and Stuttgart face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday at 6.30pm; in Ligue 1 the round closes on Sunday at 8.45pm with Marseille-PSG.

The table says Saturday at the Olimpico is about far more than three points: Roma and Inter are level on 12 after four games, four wins out of four each, with Roma ahead on goal difference (12 scored and 1 conceded against 13-6). Behind them, Como and Lazio on 10, Cagliari on 9, Milan on 8. Bologna, the team changing coach, are 16th on one point, above only Parma, Monza, Genoa and a Venezia side still on zero. In Spain, Barcelona have a perfect record with 18 points and 28 goals scored, Real Madrid are on 15, Atletico and Sevilla on 13, and Betis, in action today, can still shake up the top of the table. Raphinha leads LaLiga's scoring chart with 9 goals, ahead of Mbappé and Lamine Yamal on 7. In the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester City have taken 12 points out of 12.