Lens lose 9-1 to Como in record European defeat for French football

RC Lens lost 9-1 at home to Como in the Champions League, suffering the heaviest defeat ever recorded by a French football team in European competition. The result extended Lens' run of European losses to three consecutive matches.

Lens had already been beaten 3-0 by Club Brugge and 2-0 by Sporting CP before facing Como. The latest defeat added another setback to that sequence, with the French club conceding nine goals on home ground in a match that produced a historic scoreline.

Elsewhere in the Champions League, Real Madrid secured a 3-2 win over AEK Athens through a decisive intervention from Federico Valverde. His goal in stoppage time settled the contest in Madrid's favour, giving them victory in a match in which the two sides scored five goals.

There were also 3-2 scorelines in the matches involving Liverpool and Manchester City, but the English clubs finished on opposite sides of their results. Liverpool were beaten by Fenerbahçe, while Manchester City defeated Leipzig to claim a victory by the same margin.

In the Europa League, Rennes drew 0-0 with Olympiacos. Neither side scored, leaving Rennes with a draw to add to their results in the competition. Despite being unable to secure a win in that match, the French club retained their unbeaten record.

Lyon, meanwhile, officially confirmed the departure of Paulo Fonseca. Jorge Maciel will replace him on a temporary basis and take charge of the team for the match against Real Sociedad on Thursday. The club's announcement places Maciel in charge for that upcoming fixture.

Away from football, Japan's Mana Ishikawa collected her third swimming title at the Dakar Summer Youth Olympics. The beach volleyball competitions also produced gold medals for Austria and the Netherlands, with Austria winning the men's event and the Netherlands taking the women's title.

At the Rolex Paris Masters, Arthur Fils advanced to the last 16 by defeating Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6. Fils will also compete at the ATP Finals in Turin. Novak Djokovic, who was eliminated in Paris by Rinky Hijikata, will not be competing at the Turin event.

Alexander Zverev also exited the Paris tournament. Lorenzo Musetti defeated him in what was Zverev's first match as world number one.