The Euro Roundup: Dortmund win Klassiker, Barca lose thriller
By Matt Addison
All the info you need on the weekend of European action, from another defeat for Barca to a disastrous display from Gonzalo Higuain against his old club.
Gonzalo Higuain was always going to be either the hero or the villain as he faced Juventus for the first time since they sold him to sign Cristiano Ronaldo — and unfortunately for the Argentinean, he proved to be the latter.
Barcelona, too, were on the wrong end of a result, although they remain top of La Liga, while there was delight for Dortmund, who went seven points clear of Bayern Munich after winning Der Klassiker.
Barca shock
Barcelona remain top of La Liga, but the gap to Sevilla is now only one point after Sevilla’s 2-1 win at home to Espanyol and Real Betis’ shock victory in a thrilling game at the Camp Nou.
Lionel Messi returned from injury to face Betis, but Barca found themselves two goals down at halftime.
Messi pulled a goal back before Giovani Lo Celso made it 3-1. Arturo Vidal got Barca back into the game again but then Ivan Rakitic was sent off for a second bookable offense.
Sergio Canales made it 4-2 before Messi scored again late on and it finished 4-3. This was the first match ever that Barca have lost when Messi has scored two or more goals.
Elsewhere, Real Madrid continued their turnaround under Santiago Solari by beating Celta Vigo 4-2 with Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Dani Ceballos and an own-goal on the scoresheet for Los Blancos.
Atletico Madrid were involved in a rare open game at the Wanda Metropolitano as they overcame Athletic Bilbao 3-2 thanks to two goals in the last 10 minutes from Rodri and Diego Godin, while Valencia won only their second match of the season against Getafe.
Alaves are still in the top four having beaten Huesca 2-1.
Higuain’s horror
The big game of the weekend in Italy saw Juventus beat AC Milan 2-0 at the San Siro in what proved to be a frustrating afternoon for Gonzalo Higuain on his first match against Juve after they sold him in the summer.
Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring for the visitors before Higuain saw a penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny. Ronaldo made the points secure with just under 10 minutes remaining, but then Higuain was sent off to compound his misery.
He was booked for a high foot and then shown a second yellow card after he had too much to say to referee Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni.
Napoli remain second in Serie A after they beat Genoa 2-1, although there’s a six-point gap to the top of the table, while Inter were hammered 4-1 by Atalanta.
Luciano Spalletti’s side are third in the table, three points ahead of fourth-place Lazio, who could only draw with Sassuolo.
Roma beat Sampdoria 4-1, Empoli beat Udinese 2-1 and Chievo drew 2-2 with Bologna.
No luck for Thierry
PSG won their 13th match in a row to maintain their 100 percent record in Ligue 1, meaning Monaco are still yet to win under Thierry Henry and have still not picked up all three points since the opening match of the season.
The game, played in Monaco, finished 4-0 to the visiting team with Edinson Cavani scoring a hat-trick and Neymar adding a late goal from the penalty spot.
Guincamp also lost (4-2 to Lyon) so Monaco are not bottom of the table, but their situation is looking increasingly treacherous.
There was a shortage of goals to talk about during the matchweek as a whole, with nine teams keeping clean sheets including a goalless draw between Lille and Strasbourg.
Amiens beat Toulouse 1-0, Saint-Etienne won 2-0 against Reims, while both Nice and Angers won 1-0, against Nimes and Montpellier respectively.
Reus tears into Bayern
Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich was the undoubted game of the weekend as Marco Reus scored twice and Paco Alcacer once to see Dortmund go four points clear at the summit of the Bundesliga, and seven clear of Bayern, who sit fifth.
Reus was the star of the show and could easily have had a hat-trick, but he will not mind missing out on that opportunity as the title race was blown wide open. The game finished 3-2 to Dortmund, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice for Bayern against his former club.
Second-placed Borussia Monchengladbach beat Werder Bremen 3-1 to keep the pressure on Dortmund, but Bayern are the more likely challengers over the course of the entire season, hence why the Klassiker result was so significant.
Elsewhere in Germany, Hoffenheim beat Augsburg 2-1 and Mainz won 3-1 at Freiburg. Bottom side Stuttgart won 2-0 at Nurnberg, while Hertha Berlin are down in eighth having been hammered 4-1 at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
RB Leipzig also won 3-0 against Bayer Leverkusen, while Schalke lost by the same scoreline against Eintracht Frankfurt.