Barcelona finally wrestled first place in La Liga away from Real Madrid, Bayern Munich went off and Juventus stay winning.
La Liga
Go ahead and take a look at the results from La Liga play on Wednesday. I’ll wait.
No, you weren’t hallucinating — well I guess you could’ve been, you do you — Real Madrid drew 3-3 with Las Palmas, at the Bernabeu. Cristiano Ronaldo had to score twice after the 85th minute to save a point for his club. Gareth Bale picked up a red card in the 47th minute.
Something appeared to be amiss when Real needed three late goals on Sunday to overcome a 2-0 deficit to beat Villarreal, but I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the used-to-be-leaders laying an egg of this size.
That’s right, Barcelona finally took over top spot in La Liga thanks to their 2-1 away win over fourth-place Atletico Madrid. You will be shocked to learn that Lionel Messi supplied the game-winning goal in the 86th minute. Barca probably aren’t as excited to be first place as they might have been if Real Madrid didn’t still possess a game in hand, but it’s obviously preferable to their former position. There’s also the whole thing of manager Luis Enrique confirming that he will not be returning after this season.
Every single point is of vital importance for these two clubs for the rest of the season. Real travel to seventh-place Eibar on Saturday, which on our Earth would usually be seen as an easy win for the visitors. But, now, in the alternate universe we have apparently been beamed to, who knows how Madrid will play?
Barca host 10th-place Celta Vigo, also on Saturday, where they will expect to extend their league winning streak to six matches. Third-place Sevilla are only one point behind Real Madrid after they hung on to beat eighth-place Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Thursday.
A very scary moment happened in the other Thursday La Liga game: Fernando Torres was rushed to the hospital after suffering what Atletico Madrid officials are calling a “traumatic brain injury.” Thankfully, he was reported to be stable and conscious. Atleti drew 1-1 with 17th-place Deportivo La Coruna, and will take on 13th-place Valencia this Sunday.
Bundesliga
American Bobby Wood is probably thankful he stayed on the Hamburg bench this weekend as leaders Bayern Munich laid waste to the visitors 8-0. That’s not a typo. Bayern scored eight goals against a fellow Bundesliga team. Sure, Hamburg are one of the worst teams in Germany’s top division, but that seems a bit excessive, doesn’t it? This probably goes without saying, but Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick. If I owned the team, I’d have made them walk back home to Hamburg.
Second-place RB Leipzig made it two league wins in a row on Saturday, defeating seventh-place Cologne 3-1. They travel to Augsburg on Friday, where they will hope to stay within shouting distance of the leaders.
Borussia Dortmund claimed third place all to themselves with nice 3-0 away win against Freiburg on Saturday. USA international Christian Pulisic continues to come off the bench as head coach Thomas Tuchel seems to be sticking to a lineup that relies on the young American as a supersub.
At first glance this may be disheartening to USMNT fans, but it’s important to remember that Pulisic is still only 18 years old and is usually the first one off BVB’s bench. He’ll be fine. Dortmund host Chicharito and eighth-place Bayer Leverkusen, who lost at home to 11th-place Mainz last weekend, on Saturday.
Americans John Brooks (Hertha Berlin) and Fabian Johnson (Monchengladbach) played all 90 minutes of their clubs’ respective 2-0 wins. Fifth-place Hertha Berlin face 16th-place Hamburg on Sunday while 10th-place Gladbach host 12th-place Schalke on Saturday.
Serie A
Juventus continued their ridiculous hot streak, winning their seventh league game in a row on Saturday by defeating 17th-place Empoli 2-0 at home. The Serie A leaders also took a commanding lead over Napoli in the Coppa Italia semifinals with a controversial 3-1 win in the first leg. Juve were awarded two penalties while many Napoli fans feel they were denied their own chance from the spot in the contentious match.
Napoli were so upset by the officiating that they have threatened to field their youth team in the second leg (LOL). They were coming off a frustrating league loss in a big matchup with fourth-place Atalanta last weekend. Napoli have another huge match on Saturday as they travel to second-place Roma.
The Romans won a big match of their own last Sunday, defeating Inter Milan, who fell to sixth-place, 3-1. However, not to be outdone in the controversy department, Roma lost to bitter crosstown rivals Lazio in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semifinal on Wednesday. There were a lot of empty seats at the Stadio Olimpico due to a boycott by Roma supporters. Lazio fans further degraded the proceedings by directing racist chants at Roma players. I’m sure the second leg will be fine and calm.
Bonus Goal(s)
From the official Bundesliga YouTube page, here’s all eight of Bayern Munich’s goals against Hamburg. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.
Let us know which games you are most looking forward to this weekend below in the comments.
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