Rodri made his Barcelona debut in the team’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish League on Thursday, while Chelsea and Fulham advanced to the third round of the English League Cup.
In the other League Cup game, Fulham defeated third-tier Wimbledon 3-0 with goals by Emile Smith Rowe, Rodrigo Muniz and Gonzalo García. It was coach Álvaro Arbeloa’s first win in charge of the London club.
Danny Welbeck’s goal and an own-goal by Hakeem Odoffin gave Chelsea a 2-0 win over third-division Luton in the second round of the English League Cup. Rodri, signed from Manchester City after captaining Spain to the World Cup title, came off the bench in the 62nd minute to a warm welcome from the Camp Nou crowd. Raphinha and Fermín López scored a goal in each half to give Barcelona its second straight win to start the defense of its Spanish league title. Athletic goalkeeper Unai Simón — Spain’s starter at the World Cup — made a series of outstanding saves to keep Barcelona from scoring more goals. Trabzonspor finished the game with nine men after having Ruslan Malinovskyi sent off in the 13th minute and Sidny Lopes Cabral in the 57th. Salah, who scored his first goals with his new club over the weekend, was substituted in the second half. In the Conference League playoffs, Rangers fell to Czech Republic side Jablonec in a penalty shootout.