European football: Carvajal in tears after injury during Real Madrid win

An early Federico Valverde strike helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 home win against Villarreal in La Liga as the defending champions provisionally moved level on points with leaders Barcelona but at the possible cost of the right-back Dani Carvajal.

Real took the lead in the 14th minute with a stunning long-range shot by Valverde following a Luka Modric corner. Brazilian forward Vinícius Júnior doubled the advantage with an unstoppable strike into the top corner from outside the box in the 73rd minute.

Carvajal was hurt in second-half stoppage time at Santiago Bernabéu, going down in pain after kicking the leg of an opponent. The Spain international was crying when he was carried off the field on a stretcher.

“It seems a serious knee injury, it will be looked at in the coming hours,” Real’s manager Carlo Ancelotti said.

“The players are sad, worried, because something happened that happens a lot, because of the calendar, and it happened to a very, very important player for us.”

Barcelona visit 11th-placed Alaves on Sunday.

A hat-trick from Marcus Thuram gave Inter a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino at home in their Serie A clash, following an early red card for visiting defender Guillermo Maripán.

Inter are second in the league with 14 points, two behind Napoli. Torino are sixth.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute when Inter capitalised on Maripán’s dismissal, with Thuram heading in from close range five minutes after the defender was sent off for a late challenge on the French forward.

Thuram doubled Inter’s lead in the 35th minute with another header from close range. However, Torino pulled one back a minute later, with Duván Zapata taking advantage of a defensive error to finish from inside the box.

Thuram completed his hat-trick on the hour mark, being in the right place to tap in a rebound after Torino’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had saved a header.

The drama continued as Torino’s forward Nikola Vlasic converted a penalty four minutes from time after Hakan Calhanoglu had tripped Adam Masina in the area. However, the visitors were unable to mount a final push to find an equaliser.

Thuram, who is the joint top scorer in the league this season with seven goals, said Inter cannot afford to keep on leaking in goals.

“It’s also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper. We are 11 (players) on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone’s job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games,” he said.

“There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all.”

Bayer Leverkusen scored twice in the opening eight minutes but the champions squandered their lead to settle for a 2-2 draw against visitors Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga.

Victor Boniface slotted in after four minutes to put the hosts in front with his fourth league goal of the campaign. Before promoted Kiel had any time to recover, Leverkusen struck again, this time with Jonas Hofmann’s low drive, to carve out a two-goal cushion following a mistake by the Kiel goalkeeper Timon Weiner.

Kiel, however, struck on the stroke of half-time with Max Geschwill’s header at the far post and drew level thanks to Fiete Arp’s 69th minute penalty. Leverkusen are fifth in the standings on 11 points.

Borussia Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 loss at Union Berlin, only days after their 7-1 demolition of Celtic for their biggest European win.

Union’s Kevin Vogt ended a 10-year Bundesliga goal drought after converting a 26th-minute penalty. Vogt’s previous goal was scored on 18 October 2014, making it a record 275 Bundesliga matches between goals for an outfield player.

Dortmund showed none of the aggression they showed in the win over the Scots in the Champions League on Tuesday and before half-time they conceded another with Yorbe Vertessen’s low strike from the edge of the box.

Julian Ryerson pulled a goal back for the visitors just past the hour but they could not find an equaliser despite late pressure. Dortmund dropped to seventh place in the standings on 10 points.