The Euro roundup: Real Madrid and Juve roll on, Bayern falter

Real Madrid and Juventus continue to outpace the competition; Bayern Munich allow RB Leipzig to catch up.

La Liga

Real Madrid won on and off the pitch this week: They beat Leganes 3-0 behind a Gareth Bale brace on Sunday, and, a day later, announced that Cristiano Ronaldo signed a new contract keeping him at the Bernabeu for the next five years. Ronaldo is Real’s all-time leading scorer and has won the World Player of the Year award three times. He will be 36 at the end of the new deal, but insisted it wouldn’t be his last contract.

The win keeps them in first place in La Liga, two points clear of Barcelona, who won at Sevilla 2-1 thanks to goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez. The result will help ease the anxiety many Barca supporters were surely feeling after the midweek dressing-down their club experienced at the hands of Manchester City — and former manager Pep Guardiola — in the Champions League.

Barca go into the international break within shouting distance of leaders Real, but do so under a cloud of uncertainty as Neymar may face corruption charges due to some alleged misdeeds that occurred during his transfer to Barcelona.

Elsewhere, after a promising start to the season, Atletico Madrid find themselves in fourth after a 2-0 loss away to Real Sociedad. This, coupled with a Sevilla loss, allowed Villarreal, who beat Real Betis 2-0, to hop up into third place, three points shy of Barcelona.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich have been playing with fire recently, drawing in three out their last five league matches, including the 1-1 result this Saturday with red-hot Hoffenheim. This allowed RB Leipzig — the biggest surprise in all of Europe — to draw level on points with Bayern after a 3-1 win over Mainz. Red Bull hardly need the additional publicity, but club officials have to be beside themselves at their newly-promoted club’s performances so far this season.

Now is the time when we talk about the USMNT players in the Bundesliga:

Fabian Johnson did not get the start as Monchengladbach traveled to Berlin to take on John Brooks, who did start, and Hertha. Johnson was, however, called off the bench early (33rd minute-early) to replace the injured Patrick Herrmann. Hertha Berlin came away with the 3-0 victory, leaving them tied on points with third-place Hoffenhiem, but trailing by one in goals scored. Gladbach have fallen all the way to 11th after going winless in their last five Bundesliga matches, including three losses.

Borussia Dortmund returned to form in spectacular fashion, crushing Bobby Wood-less Hamburg 5-2 on the road. Christian Pulisic started (duh) and played 68 minutes in which (redundancy warning) he caused problems for the Hamburg defense on a consistent basis. He assisted (he is tied for third in the Bundesliga in assists) on one of the four goals (!) scored by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the work he put in on the first goal was more impressive:

Each of the Americans mentioned above should have a part to play during the upcoming international break. Is there any possible way Jurgen Klinsmann can keep Pulisic out of the starting XI for the match again Mexico on Friday? There shouldn’t be, but Klinsmann is Klinsmann.

Serie A

Juventus remain atop the Serie A table after dispatching Chievo 2-1 on Sunday. It appeared Juve might be headed for a draw on the road until Miralem Pjanic did this 15 minutes from time:

The win puts them four points clear of Roma, who also won on Sunday, beating Bologna 3-0 in Rome. Mohamed Salah scored at hat-trick, securing his side’s fifth win in their last six league matches. AC Milan also won their fifth match in six league games, winning 2-1 away at Palermo. That leaves them one point shy of Roma, and three points clear of both Lazio and Atlanta (both are unbeaten in their last six league matches).

Next: Premier League roundtable: North London Derby edition

Best Unsuccessful Attempt on Goal of the Week

https://twitter.com/FCBarcaVi/status/795565382228643840

Seriously, I couldn’t care less that he didn’t score on this play. We are familiar with the things Lord Messi is capable of, and yet he still goes out and does something that makes our mouths fall open. He snatched three souls on his way to missing that shot; it’s perfect.