La Liga & Serie A: Madrid fall from top spot; insane table in Italy

A roundup of all of Sunday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights:

Barcelona 3-0 Villarreal

Neymar, Neymar, Neymar, can’t you see… sometimes your goals just hypnotize me. Not sure what this is all about, have a look for yourself. Since Lionel Messi went out injured on Oct. 3, the Brailian superstar has bagged 10 goals and notched six assists in six games (all competitions). Those are Messi-like numbers. Neymar scored twice more, either side of Luis Suarez’s ninth league goal of the season (13 all competitions) to push Barca all alone on top of the league, with plenty of thanks to Real Madrid.

Sevilla 3-2 Real Madrid

Sergio Ramos gave Real Madrid an early lead with a stunning bicycle kick (below video), but Sevilla hit back not once, not twice, but three times through Ciro Immobile (WATCH HERE), Ever Banega (WATCH HERE) and Fernando Llorente (WATCH HERE) to knock Los Blancos off the top spot with their first league defeat of the 2015-16 season. James Rodriguez scored in the 92nd minute upon returning to action for the first time since late August, but it was nothing more than a late consolation goal.

GOLAZO from @SergioRamos! The former @SevillaFC_ENG man gets hurt with a bicycle kick! #LaLiga https://t.co/wfbIheECyF

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) November 8, 2015

Atletico Madrid 1-0 Sporting Gijon

Antoine Griezmann — who else could it be, though? — scored the game’s only goal, a 92nd-minute header, to give Atleti all three points and keep Diego Simeone’s side (23 points) within touching distance of Barca and the “other” Madrid side at the top of the table. How much longer can Los Rojiblancos  hold onto Griezmann, who scored 15 times in his first season with the club and already has seven goals and three assists this season?

Elsewhere in La Liga action

Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Espanyol

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Sampdoria 0-2 Fiorentina

Josip Ilicic and Nikola Kalinic scored either side of halftime to give Fiorentina all three points away to Sampdoria and keep the Viola top of the league through a vastly superior goal differential. Through 12 rounds, the Serie A table sees four teams within three points of the league lead, five within five, and AC Milan and Juventus the two lurking in sixth in seventh.

Torino 0-1 Inter Milan

Inter stayed joint-top of the league with a 1-0 victory away to Torino, courtesy of Geoffrey Kondogbia’s opportunistic side-volley (below video) in the 31st minute. It’s three wins in a row for Roberto Mancini’s side, which is back to competing for the Scudetto perhaps a year or two sooner than most would have expected.

Fantastic volley by @Geo_Kondogbia gives @Inter win and sends them to top of @SerieA_TIM. Watch goal. https://t.co/0YcIgUNupY

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) November 8, 2015

Roma 2-0 Lazio

The Derby della Capitale (derby of the capital) went Roma’s way on Sunday, keeping Rudi Garcia’s side (26 points) within a point of the league leaders. Edin Dzeko opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Gervinho provided the necessary insurance (below video) when he blew by the Lazio defense for 2-0 just after the hour mark. After a disappointing 2014-15 season in which they finished a stunning 17 points behind Juventus and only held off their neighbors in the capital by a single point for second, the Giallorossi look genuine title contenders once again.

GOAL! The genius of @GervinhOfficial, brilliant touch and finish. 2-0! #SerieA https://t.co/LsxEppKibl

— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) November 8, 2015

Empoli 1-3 Juventus

Don’t look now, but here come Juve making their charge past mid-table and into the top-third of the league, all the way up to seventh. Mario Mandzukic, Patrice Evra and Paulo Dybala scored for the four-time defending Serie A champions, canceling out Massimo Maccarone’s earlier opener to give the Bianconeri (18 points) their second-straight victory.

Elsewhere in Serie A action

Napoli 1-0 Udinese
Palermo 1-0 Chievo
Frosinone 2-2 Genoa
Sassuolo 1-0 Carpi

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