The Euro Roundup: Fairytale for Cazorla as Real Madrid halted again
By Matt Addison
All you need to know from the last couple of weeks of European football action, as Real Madrid return to action in disappointing form.
The Premier League might have continued right through the festive period, but across Europe, most leagues have an extended break.
Only in Spain has the league properly restarted, with a weekend full of stories as only two of the top seven sides won, and Real Madrid reached the verge of a crisis again.
Serie A returns on January 19, while the Bundesliga restarts after the Winterpause with what could be a brilliant game between Hoffenheim and Bayern Munich the night before, January 18.
Cazorla the hero
La Liga kicked off again last Thursday following the winter break, with Villarreal holding Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw, with two goals from Santi Cazorla.
The former Arsenal midfielder has fought back from what was thought to be a career-ending spell of injuries, including having 10 operations in the space of two years, and it was a special night for him and the club where he started his career.
On Friday night, Levante and Girona also played out a 2-2 draw, while Espanyol beat Leganes by a goal to nil.
The weekend saw seven matches, including Alaves beating Valencia 2-1 and Barcelona winning at Getafe, thanks to some more Lionel Messi brilliance.
Alaves and Barca were the only members of the top seven sides to pick up all three points, as the former climbed back into the top four and the latter extended their lead at the top to five points.
Sevilla in third held Atletico Madrid in second to a 1-1 draw in a closely-fought contest, with Real Betis going down to a shock 2-1 defeat at Huesca.
The biggest shock of the weekend, though, saw Real Madrid beaten 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad thanks to a penalty from William Jose after two minutes, and another from Ruben Pardo.
Lucas Vasquez was sent off the for hosts on what was another disappointing outing — Real’s sixth league defeat of the season already, and their second set of dropped points in the space of four days.
After Celta Vigo host Athletic Bilbao on Monday night, every team will have played 18 games, with Barca looking good for the title and Real struggling to make the Champions League.
Juve top of the tree
The last round of Serie A matches before a three-week winter break saw Juventus at the top of the table beat Sampdoria 2-1, while Napoli maintained the nine-point gap to the summit by beating Bologna 3-2.
Roma won 2-0 at Parma, Lazio drew 1-1 with Torino and Inter won 1-0 at Empoli. AC Milan also beat SPAL 2-1 at San Siro.
Serie A returns a week on Saturday as Roma host Torino, with a full round of fixtures concluding on the Monday night.
Resting up
Both the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 have paused for a few more days, with Borussia Dortmund six points clear of Bayern in Germany and PSG 13 clear of Lille in France.
In France, the Coupe de France matches mean teams are not afforded a complete winter break, although the likes of PSG and Lyon strolled to victory against lower league opposition.
The French League Cup also takes place this midweek before the league action returns next weekend.
German teams must wait another week, with most away on winter training camps to recharge the batteries.