A roundup of Saturday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights…
[ MORE: PL roundup — Man City, Spurs win late; Man United 1-1 Arsenal ]
Atletico Madrid 0-3 Real Madrid
Newsflash: Cristiano Ronaldo… still pretty good!
How good, you ask? How about hat-trick-in-the-Madrid-derby good? Just another typical Saturday out for the world’s second-best player, as Real Madrid knocked off Atletico Madrid, 3-0, to capitalize on Barcelona’s slip-up and go four points clear at the top of the La Liga table.
That’s 29 games without a defeat for Real Madrid (all competitions), dating back to last season. As it turns out, Zinedine Zidane might be a pretty decent manager after all.
Barcelona 0-0 Malaga
By the end of Barca’s 0-0 draw with Malaga, the visitors had just nine players on the field (down to 10 for the final 22 minutes), but the Blaugrana, who were without Lionel Messi (illness), failed to convert a single one of their 28 shots (8 on target) into a goal, thanks in large part to some otherworldly goalkeeping by Carlos Kameni.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Deportivo La Coruña 2-3 Sevilla
Eibar 1-0 Celta Vigo
Sunday’s La Liga schedule
Alaves vs. Espanyol — 6 a.m. ET
Valencia vs. Granada — 10:15 a.m. ET
Sporting Gijon vs. Real Sociedad — 12:30 p.m. ET
Athletic Bilbao vs. Villarreal — 2:45 p.m. ET
Juventus 3-0 Pescara
Every game, it seems to be someone else stepping up and providing the goals for Juventus, who looked poised as ever to run away with their sixth straight Serie A title, based on Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Pescara. Sami Khedira, Mario Mandzukic and Hernanes provided the goals as Juve made it four straight victories and eight wins in their last nine league games. Seven points separate Juve and second-place Roma, who play on Sunday.
Udinese 1-2 Napoli
Napoli, who came closest to upsetting the applecart last season, have barely managed to remain on the fringe of the title race this season and remain nine points back of Juve, currently sitting in fourth. Lorenzo Insigne bagged a second-half brace on Saturday, which was just enough to win away to Udinese. The victory ends Napoli’s two-game winless skid and puts them just a point back of AC Milan, who play on Sunday, in the race for the third and final UEFA Champions League place.
Elsewhere in Serie A
Chievo 1-0 Cagliari
Sunday’s Serie A schedule
Sampdoria vs. Sassuolo — 6:30 a.m. ET
Atalanta vs. Roma — 9 a.m. ET
Bologna vs. Palermo — 9 a.m. ET
Crotone vs. Torino — 9 a.m. ET
Empoli vs. Fiorentina — 9 a.m. ET
Lazio vs. Genoa — 9 a.m. ET
AC Milan vs. Inter Milan — 2:45 p.m. ET