Kane gets guard of honour before 6-1 win over Magdeburg
Serie A: Inter sink Venezia, Milan lose at home to Bologna
Bayern Munich sailed to a 6-1 win over second-tier Magdeburg in the DFB-Pokal after their head coach, Vincent Kompany, was discharged from hospital earlier on Wednesday.
Kompany’s assistant, Aaron Danks, was in the dugout for Bayern for the last-32 tie, while Harry Kane was rested. The Ballon d’Or winner received a guard of honour from his teammates before kick-off in front of 75,000 fans at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern had no difficulty without their star striker, with Michael Olise opening the scoring and adding a second-half penalty. Ismael Saibari, Alphonso Davies, Nathaniel Brown and teenager David Santos Daiber also got on the scoresheet, with Mateusz Zukowski striking for the visitors.
The German Cup holders received good news pre-match, with Kompany able to return home five days after collapsing at training on Friday. The Bayern Munich sporting director, Max Eberl, revealed that the Belgian had been suffering from meningeal irritation.
“We have identified the cause: it is a case of meningeal irritation, which is what triggered the incident last Friday,” Eberl said. “He has now been allowed to go home, where he can continue his rehabilitation … [which] means rest and medication. I am very, very confident that he will be back on the touchline at 100% very soon.”
Olise tapped in from an excellent Saibari assist after 10 minutes but the unfancied visitors levelled five minutes later through Zukowski. Olise then set up Saibari midway through the opening half and added a third from the spot early in the second half before smiling and pointing to Kane, Bayern’s regular penalty taker, on the bench.
The teenage forward Lennart Karl set up goals for Davies and Brown, before Santos Daiber added more gloss to the victory with a stoppage-time goal. “We’re also winning for him of course,” Brown said of Kompany. “It’s really good that he’s back home now. He should get some rest, but hopefully we’ll see him again soon.”
“We’re very pleased that [Vincent] is getting better,” said Danks, who will continue to lead the team while Kompany recovers. “But he needs to rest, spend time with his family and continue to get better. He’s doing better and is on the road to recovery. We’ll simply try to do our best and prepare for the game on Saturday.”
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to win 5-2 against 2. Bundesliga promotion-chasers Nuremberg, with defender Edmond Tapsoba netting twice and Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vázquez also on target.
Deniz Undav’s 90th-minute strike earned Stuttgart a 1-0 win over 10-man Paderborn, while Freiburg also won in stoppage time. The Japan forward Keisuke Goto scored twice in the final 15 minutes to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg.
Second-tier Dynamo Dresden upset Schalke 2-0, and Holstein Kiel eliminated Hoffenheim 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to reach the last 16.
There was a huge upset across the border in Poland, as defending league champions Lech Poznan were beaten 1-0 by fourth-tier Siarka Tarnobrzeg in a Cup tie that kicked off at 12.30pm on Wednesday.
Lech held Sunderland to a 1-1 draw in the Europa League last week and beat Legia Warsaw on Sunday to go top of the Polish top-flight – but they were brought down to earth by Arkadiusz Kasia’s second-half header.
Inter sink Venezia, Milan beaten by Bologna
Internazionale returned to the Serie A summit with a nervy 2-0 win at bottom side Venezia, while Bologna won 4-2 at San Siro to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Milan.
Champions Inter drew level with Lazio on 25 points at the top before a hotly anticipated Milan derby on Saturday. Ruben Amorim’s side lost their unbeaten streak after Alphadjo Cisse’s double was not enough to avoid defeat, as Samuel Mbangula’s hat-trick sealed a 4-2 win for the visitors.
Venezia have picked up just three points all season, but earned them with a shock win over Napoli on new coach Davide Nicola’s debut. Another shock result looked possible on Wednesday until they were undone by two late own goals, with Matías Moreno and Redouane Halhal diverting crosses into their own net.
At San Siro, a lengthy injury list restricted Amorim’s options, and the Milan coach also left Christian Pulisic and Luka Modric on the bench. Mbangula, making his full debut for Bologna, swept home the opener inside eight minutes, but the visitors were soon pegged back when an Arthur Theate error gifted Cissé a simple finish.
The teenager struck again in the 27th minute, volleying home a Fikayo Tomori cross, but the game was turned on its head once again in the space of two second-half minutes. Davide Bartesaghi turned a free-kick into his own net before Mbangula struck again just after the hour mark. The 22-year-old sealed victory four minutes from time, beating Mike Maignan after a breakaway.
Juventus’s shaky start continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Genoa. Kingsley Ehizibue struck early before Tommaso Baldanzi doubled Genoa’s lead in the 28th minute. Luciano Spalletti’s inconsistent side have not won back-to-back league games since the opening two weeks of the season, and face Napoli next.
With head coach Massimiliano Allegri suspended after being sent off during the 3-3 draw with Roma, Napoli enjoyed their biggest win of the season, winning 4-1 at Monza to go sixth in the table, above Juve on goal difference.
Rasmus Højlund’s early opener was cancelled out by Gustavo Varela’s header just before the break, but Napoli pulled away in the second half as Matteo Politano, Rafa Marín and substitute Kevin De Bruyne all scored. Elsewhere, Adrián Bernabé saw his penalty saved as struggling Parma and Udinese played out a 0-0 draw.
Copa del Rey games postponed after rail crash
All 24 Copa del Rey matches scheduled for Wednesday evening have been postponed as a mark of respect following the devastating rail incident in Spain.
A high-speed train crashed into the rear of another train on Wednesday morning and derailed two cars in the province of Toledo, with at least 68 people killed.
La Liga clubs Alavés, Celta Vigo, Levante, Real Betis and Valencia were due to get their domestic cup campaigns under way, but all of Wednesday’s fixtures will now be played at later dates.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are not due to enter until the last 32 in December, but all three issued statements expressing sadness and deepest condolences.
