The Euro roundup: La Liga shake up, Juve cruise

La Liga has a new leader, Dortmund struggled against Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus widen their lead in Serie A.

La Liga

We have a new leader in the La Liga clubhouse, folks. With their 2-0 win over Valencia — and a draw and a loss for Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively — Atletico Madrid have taken over top spot in Spain on goal difference.

Real Madrid settled for a third consecutive draw in league play, finishing with a score of 1-1 at home against Eibar. After giving up an early goal, Gareth Bale provided the equalizer in the 17th minute, assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo. It was Bale’s 50th La Liga goal. Most would have expected Madrid to find the back of the net a few more times, but, even with most of the possession, it was not to be. The absence of Luka Modric, who had knee surgery that will keep him out longer than expected, was clearly a detriment as Madrid’s central midfield failed to connect effectively with the attack.

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane addressed their recent winless streak after the game: “We are not in crisis…All I can see is that we need to work harder and be more intense at the start of games.” The upcoming international break may be just what Madrid need to take stock of their current issues and make the appropriate adjustments in order to get back to their usual winning ways.

Real Madrid settling for a tie opened the door for Barcelona to claim top spot in La Liga with a win away at Celta Vigo, instead they lost in a shootout by a scoreline of 4-3. It appears Barca aren’t functioning as well without Lionel Messi as some (me) thought they would. It was their defense, however, that let them down early on Sunday, giving up three goals in the first half.

Two goals from defender Gerard Pique, and another from Neymar, allowed Barcelona to pull level and apparently salvage a point. That went by the wayside when Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen commited this absolute howler in the 77th minute:

Bundesliga

Leaders Bayern Munich experienced their first misstep of their 2016-17 Bundesliga campaign, drawing 1-1 with Cologne on Saturday. They are still three points ahead of Hertha Berlin, who moved up to second place after beating Hamburg 2-0.

The big story of the weekend involved Bayer Leverkusen ending the recent red-hot form of Borussia Dortmund, beating BVB 2-0. Dortmund were coming off a midweek Champions League match up in which they drew with Real Madrid. Christian Pulisic set up Andre Schurrle for the late equalizer.

Pulisic got the start Saturday against Leverkusen, but both he and the rest of his team struggled to make any positive impact on the game. Instead, a different North American made his mark on the match: Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez scored his second goal of the week – the first came against Monaco in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The dude just scores goals. He’s one of those strikers that somehow manages to find the perfect spot when around the goal. He’s an uber-poacher with world class positioning sense. Here is his goal from Saturday:

Serie A

Juventus won their third consecutive league match on Saturday, defeating Empoli 3-0 on the road. Gonzalo Higuain continues to impress for the leaders, scoring a brace in three minutes, bringing his league total to six goals. Here’s his first from Saturday, a rocket from the top of the box:

Napoli failed to keep pace with Juve as their unbeaten start to the Serie A season came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Atalanta. They are still in second place, but are only one point ahead (14 points total) of a group of four teams fighting for third place (all with 13 points), which includes Roma and AC Milan.

Napoli fared better in their midweek Champions league group stage match, thumping Benfica 4-2. Marek Hamsik was on target, and Dries Mertens added a brace. Napoli, after two victories, currently sit atop Group B with six points. Take a gander at Mertens exquisite free kick:

Quick Hits

• Nice retained the top position in France, remaining undefeated in Ligue 1 play. Monaco are nipping at their heels as they trail the leaders by one point after thrashing Metz 7-0 (!). Paris Saint-Germain currently sit in third after a Edinson Cavani brace saw them past Bordeaux.
• Feyenoord continue to pull away from the rest of the Dutch Erdivisie. They have won all eight of their league matches and have a goal difference of 21 (seems excessive). Ajax (19 points) and PSV (17 points) are doing their best to keep up; both have only been defeated once in league play.
• Goal of the Week goes to this audacious back heel from the aforementioned Cavani: