Juventus fight back to draw with Rennes as Leverkusen go top.

By Karolos Grohmann; Reuters.

Image: @juventusfcen.

Juventus dropped their first points of the Europa League campaign after coming from behind to draw 2-2 with visitors ​Rennes on Thursday.

Zeki Celik gave Juventus a fifth-minute lead, but ‌the French side kept their composure and were level 10 minutes later when Jordan international Musa Al-Taamari finished from close range for his first goal in ​the competition.

Rennes then stunned the hosts with a Boulaye Dia ​penalty two minutes before the break as the Italians struggled ⁠to create chances until Nick Woltemade equalised from the spot in ​the 67th minute.

The German forward twice went close to scoring again ​as Luciano Spalletti’s team upped the pressure, and Juve thought they had won it in the 88th minute when Jhon Lucumi found the net from close range, ​but his effort was ruled out for offside.

The draw at least ​spared Juventus a second successive defeat following Sunday’s 3-0 home loss to Lazio in Serie ‌A.

Jonas ⁠Hofmann made the most of his surprise start for Bayer Leverkusen, scoring twice in three minutes to give the Bundesliga side a 2-0 victory at OFI Crete to go top of the table with their ​third straight win.

OFI, ​who stunned ⁠Hoffenheim 2-0 in their opening league-phase match, were twice caught napping by Hofmann, who was added to the ​side following an injury to Martin Terrier.

Leverkusen have ​nine points ⁠and lead Ferencvaros on goal difference after the Hungarian side beat Torreense 4-1.

Sunderland, who were also chasing a third win, took a second-minute lead ⁠against ​Lech Poznan through Timur Tutierov but Leo ​Bengtsson grabbed a 70th-minute equaliser to earn the Polish side a 1-1 draw. Sunderland have ​seven points, level with fourth-placed Juventus.

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