European Football Roundup: Ronaldo scores despite accusations, Barcelona, Real and Bayern drop crucial points
Sevilla are now leading the Spanish table while a genuine title race is emerging in Germany.
European Football continued in its own merry way with a lot of thrills and certainly some very shocking spills. Some of the teams brushed aside their opponents while some fell prey to their counterparts as we head to the International break.
The season is up and running while some of them are surprisingly in unknown shores while others are somehow managing to stay with the pack at the top of the table. We here at Khelnow will look at the top four leagues around Europe, starting with Spain, Italy, France and finishing it off with Germany.
Spain (La Liga)
La Liga this week was full of surprises, Real Madrid continued their underwhelming form as a late goal from Manuel Garcia saw Alaves snatch all three points from the Los Blancos. Bitter rivals and reigning champions Barcelona also went with the trend and dropped points against Valencia, an early goal scored by Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay was cancelled out by a stunning long-range strike from Lionel Messi but Valverde's men again failed to take advantage of Real Madrid's defeat and could manage one a draw.
Surprisingly Sevilla who are currently the league leaders saw the better of 10 men Celta Vigo on the day and even a late strike from Soufiane Boufal was not enough for Celta to overturn the deficit.
Mikel Oyarzabal's brace from the spot and Luca Sangalli's goal was enough for Real Sociedad to register a convincing 3-1 win over Athletic Club Bilbao. Atletico Madrid edged out Real Betis courtesy of Angel Correa's second-half goal.
Italy (Serie A)
Things in Serie A were less surprising as both the Milan clubs prevailed on the week. Inter Milan defeated SPAL 2-1 courtesy of Mauro Icardi's brace. Whereas, a first-half brace from Gonzalo Higuain and a strike from Giacomo Bonaventura guided the Rossoneri a convincing 3-1 win over Chievo. Napoli also maintained the decorum with a 2-0 win over Sassuolo with youngster Adam Ounas scoring his first Serie A goal within 3 minutes.
Genoa's Polish sensation Krzysztof Piatek maintained his terrific goalscoring record as he scored a looping header in Genoa's 3-1 loss to Parma. The 23-year old marksmen have now scored 9 goals in 7 matches scoring at least once in every match.
Juventus kept their perfect record intact with a 2-0 win over Udinese as Cristiano Ronaldo and Rodrigo Bentancur made their way to the scoresheet. Lazio came back to winning ways after narrowly edging out Fiorentina. Whereas Roma was convincing with their 2-0 win over Empoli.
Germany (Bundesliga)
The Bundesliga had a pretty topsy-turvy ride for many sides whereas some are in stranger shores. Record champions FC Bayern Munchen seems to have fallen off the radar and nothing seems to be going their way after an underwhelming draw against Ajax in the Champions League, Kovac's men succumbed to the pressure and lost 0-3 against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Dortmund, on the other hand, had a dramatic win over Augsburg. The match had such a nail-biting finish to it, as the tide shifted too many times to both sides. Eventually, it was hattrick hero Paco Alcacer who claimed all three points for Dortmund as they currently sit top of the table 3 points clear of 2nd placed RB Leipzig.
Speaking of Leipzig, Ralf Ragnick's men went riot over Nuremberg at home. Both Timo Werner and Marcel Sabitzer scored braces to register a 6-0 win. Schalke are finally getting into the grove as they registered a solid 2-0 win over Fortuna Dusseldorf courtesy of goals from teenager Weston McKennie and Guido Burgstaller, with seven matches over in the Bundesliga Dortmund are on top of the table followed by Leipzig and Gladbach whereas Bayern are surprisingly languishing in 6th position.
ALSO READ:
Premier League GW 8 Talking Points: Mourinho lives to fight another day, Mahrez misses penalty
Rio Ferdinand hits back at Mourinho comments
Pep Guardiola is the best manager in the world- Klopp
France (Ligue One)
It was raining red cards in French top flight as Guingamp and Montpellier played a 1-1 stalemate but each team had a player sent off. Marcus Thuram opened proceeding by receiving marching orders as early as in the 7th minute. On the other hand, Florent Mollet of Montpellier brought the teams to equal terms with a 39th-minute red card.
League leaders Paris St. Germain maintained their dominance by crushing Olympique Lyon at home 5-0 as french sensation Kylian Mappe scored 4 goals in a match filled with drama where both sides received a red card each. Lucas Tousart was the one sent off for Lyon whereas young defender Presnel Kimpembe was the one penalised for PSG. AS Monaco continued their poor run of form as they lost 1-2 to Stade Rennes, defender Andrea Raggi was sent off which made life more difficult for Jardim's men.
[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]Just behind PSG in the league table, LOSC Lille rode on Jonathan Bamba's brace and came up with a convincing 3-1 win over St. Ettienne. Both Marseille and Bordeaux followed the same path and registered solid wins over their counterparts. Kostas Mitroglou and Florian Thauvin were on target for Marseille in a 2-0 win over Caen. Whereas a brace from Francois Kamano and a goal from Yann Karamoh demolished an underwhelming Nantes side 3-0.
PSG are racing away with the title again whereas it looks like a battle for all other positions with Lille, Marseille, St. Ettienne, Montpellier and Lyon all fighting for the spots. Monaco are just a place ahead of relegation zone that also only because of better goal difference.
- Premier League Boxing Day: Unusual stats & what fans look forward to most on 26th December
- ISL 2024-25: Borja Herrera & Tiri headline Matchweek 13 Team of the Week
- Indian Football Team Player Watch: Jithin, Ali & Sangwan impress; Liston need to improve
- Punjab FC vs Mohun Bagan Super Giant lineups, team news, prediction and preview
- Kylian Mbappe: No one at Real Madrid will ever regret my signing
- Top eight players with most Boxing Day assists in Premier League
- ISL 2024-25: Borja Herrera & Tiri headline Matchweek 13 Team of the Week
- Indian Football Team Player Watch: Jithin, Ali & Sangwan impress; Liston need to improve
- Top eight Premier League players with most matches played on Boxing Day
- Top nine most memorable games in Premier League Boxing Day history