FC Barcelona won the match-up of the weekend, if not the season to date, with a thrilling 3-1 victory against arch-rival Real Madrid. Goals from Alexis Sanchez, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas helped the reigning champions erase Real Madrid's three-point hold on first place in La Liga (though Real Madrid still has a game in hand).
The Barcelona victory, along with marking Real Madrid's first loss at home, also snapped a 15-match winning streak in all competitions.
In England, Manchester United rebounded from their Champions League elimination to post a 4-1 victory against Wolves, while Liverpool rode a Luis Suarez goal to their latest victory.
In Germany, Bayern Munich extended their lead atop the Bundesliga standings to three points after a 2-1 victory against VfB Stuttgart. Mario Gomez scored both goals as Bayern withstood a late rally by Stuttgart.
Here is a rundown of the weekend's action in Europe's top leagues:
ENGLAND
Robin Van Persie's red-hot form continued as he notched a stunning game-winner in Arsenal's 1-0 victory against Everton. On the other side of the table, Bolton fell deeper into the relgation hole after a 2-1 loss to Brad Guzan and Aston Villa.
Stoke City 2, Tottenham 1
Sunderland 2, Blackburn 1
Arsenal 1, Everton 0
Liverpool 1, Queens Park Rangers 0
Manchester United 4, Wolverhampton 1
Bolton 1, Aston Villa 2
Norwich City 4, Newcastle 2
West Brom 1, Wigan 2
Swansea City 2, Fulham 0
Chelsea vs. Manchester City (Today)
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SPAIN
Levante strengthened their hold on a Top Four place by knocking off fifth-place Sevilla, while Valencia lost ground on Levante courtesy of a 2-1 loss to Real Betis. Villarreal's nightmare season continued with a scoreless draw at home against Real Sociedad, which left the 'Yellow Submarine' tied on points with relegation-zone club Real Sporting, which posted a vital road win.
Real Madrid 1, Barcelona 3
Rayo Vallecano 1, Real Sporting 3
Levante 1, Sevilla 0
Real Betis 2, Valencia 1
Villarreal 0, Real Sociedad 0
Getafe 0, Granada 0
Malaga 1, Osasuna 1
Real Zaragoza 0, Mallorca 1
Athletic Bilbao 1, Racing Santander 1
Espanyol 4, Atletico Madrid 2
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ITALY
Udinese moved into sole possession of first place in Serie A with its 2-1 victory against Chievo, pulling ahead of AC Milan, which tied, and Juventus, which faces Roma today. Napoli fell further behind the Top Four pack after dropping points in a 1-1 draw at Novara.
Novara 1, Napoli 1
Atalanta 1, Catania 1
Bologna 2, AC Milan 2
Udinese 2, Chievo 1
Cagliari 0, Parma 0
Lecce 2, Lazio 3
Siena 0, Genoa 2
Inter Milan 2, Fiorentina 0
Palermo 0, Cesena 1
Roma vs. Juventus (Monday)
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GERMANY
Borussia Dortmund dropped precious points at home against Kaiserslautern, allowing Schalke to catch the champions courtesy of their win at Hertha Berlin. The upset of the weekend came from relegation-zone inhabitants Augsburg, which handed Moenchengladbach a home victory.
Borussia Dortmund 1, Kaserslautern 1
VfB Stuttgart 1, Bayern Munich 2
Hertha Berlin 1, Schalke 2
Werder Bremen 4, Wolfsburg 1
FC Cologne 4, SC Freiburg 0
FSC Mainz 05 0, Hamburg 0
FC Nurnberg 0, 1899 Hoffenheim 2
FC Augsburg 1, Moenchengladbach 0
Hannover 96 0, Bayer Leverkusen 0
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FRANCE
Paris St. Germain moved back into a tie for first place with Montpellier after the leaders dropped a 1-0 road decision at Vaalencienne. Defending champion Lille posted a 2-0 home win against Dijon to pull within two points of first place.
Auxerre 2, Nice 1
Lille 2, Dijon 0
Lorient 0, Lyon 1
Sochaux 0, Paris St. Germain 1
Stade Rennes 1, Stade Brestois 29 1
Saint Etienne 2, Caen 0
Toulouse 2, Evian 1
AS Nancy Lorraine 2, Ajaccio 2
Valenciennes 1, Montpellier 0
Marseille 0, Bordeaux 0
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What did you think of this weekend's action? Surprised by Barca's win in Madrid? Think anyone will catch Bayern in Germany? Do you see Udinese holding onto first place in Serie A?
Share your thoughts below.
no. only ramos should have.
Messi could have been sent off, as could a few RM players. I think the ref had actually quite a decent game. Handled most everything pretty well. It has to be a difficult game to referee…
If you think Messi should have been sent off for that then Madrid finishes that game with 8 people.
Ramos, Marcelo and Pepe should have all seen red.
Messi should have been off…
Edit:
Genius*
What’s amazing is how little credit Guardiola gets in comparison to Mourihno.
Over the course of the game he switched formation 3 times, twice during the run of play. He used Sanchez as the far winger because he knew Madrid would narrow the field to control Messi, and Pep by using Iniesta as the other winger essentially allowed Barcelona to play Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas all within 30-40 yards of each other with Sanchez out wide keeping the flank safe.
It was genious.
Barca looked pretty non-Barca in the first half.
Large amount of errant passes, odd looking formation and appeared to be outplayed in about every facet of the match in the first half.
However, they still amazed as the next 45 minutes they showed why their club is the class of this generation. I’m in no way a Barca-faithful or even casual fan of theirs.
That said, it’s really hard not to appreciate what we’re watching and recognize it’s something special. Something we’ll look back in 30 years and likely be the barometer of greatness in future clubs in a given era.