A roundup of Sunday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights…
[ MORE: Saturday’s PL roundup — Chelsea go 9 points clear; Man Utd streaking ]
Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol
The gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid is now just three points after the Blaugrana thrashed Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Sunday (though Madrid now have a game in hand due to their trip to the Club World Cup). Luis Suarez scored twice, his 11th and 12th goals of the 2016-17 La Liga season, with Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba also netting for Barca.
Suarez’s second, and Barca’s second, stands out as the pick of the litter, not for the Uruguayan’s finish, but for the mesmerizing passage of dribbling by Messi during the build-up (WATCH HERE). Messi was made to wait until the 90th minute to notch his 10th goal of the league season, but it was well worth the wait, even if only for the sequence of passes between himself and Suarez.
[ MORE: La Liga — Atleti end poor run of results; Sevilla go 2nd (for now) ]
Elsewhere in La Liga
Deportivo La Coruña 2-0 Osasuna
Leganes 1-1 Eibar
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Real Madrid | 15 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 6-2-0 | 5-2-0 | 37 |
| Barcelona | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 41 | 16 | 25 | 4-3-1 | 6-1-1 | 34 |
| Sevilla | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 7-0-1 | 3-3-2 | 33 |
| Villarreal | 16 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 25 | 11 | 14 | 6-1-1 | 2-4-2 | 29 |
| Real Sociedad | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 28 | 21 | 7 | 5-2-1 | 4-0-4 | 29 |
| Atlético Madrid | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 14 | 15 | 5-2-1 | 3-2-3 | 28 |
| Eibar | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 2 | 5-2-1 | 1-3-4 | 23 |
| Athletic | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 5-1-1 | 2-1-5 | 23 |
| Espanyol | 16 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 2-4-2 | 3-3-2 | 22 |
Napoli 5-3 Torino
Dries Mertens scored not one, not two, not three, but four goals as third-place Napoli blitzed ninth-place Torino early and held on for dear life late. Mertens had his hat trick after 22 minutes, and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Vlad Chiriches made it 4-1 (following Andrea Belotti’s league-leading 12th goal of the season) after 70 minutes.
Then came the comeback attempt, as Torino pulled one back six minutes later, only to be rebuffed by Mertens’ fourth of the game in the 80th minute, followed by another for former Tottenham man, Iago Falque, pulling the visitors back to within two goals. The victory pulls Napoli to within a point of Roma in the race for second, but still only fourth in the league table after Lazio made easy work of Fiorentina to remain third.
[ MORE: Serie A — Juventus beat 2nd-place Roma, go 7 points clear ]
Lazio 3-1 Fiorentina
Keita put the home side ahead after 23 minutes, and Lucas Biglia made it 2-0 during first-half stoppage time. Former West Ham United forward Mauro Zarate pulled Fiorentina back to 2-1 in the 64th minute, but that’s as close as the Viola would get, as Stefan Radu put a tidy bow on the victory in the 90th minute.
[ MORE: Ligue 1 — Pressure increasing on Emery as PSG lose 4th league game ]
Elsewhere in Serie A
Sassuolo 0-1 Inter Milan
Udinese 2-0 Crotone
Pescara 3-0 Bologna
Chievo 2-1 Sampdoria
Genoa 3-4 Palermo
| Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Home | Away | PTS |
| Juventus | 17 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 14 | 22 | 9-0-0 | 5-0-3 | 42 |
| Roma | 17 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 8-0-0 | 3-2-4 | 35 |
| Napoli | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 18 | 19 | 6-2-1 | 4-2-2 | 34 |
| Lazio | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 18 | 14 | 6-1-2 | 4-3-1 | 34 |
| AC Milan | 17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 27 | 20 | 7 | 6-2-1 | 4-1-3 | 33 |
| Atalanta | 17 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 25 | 20 | 5 | 5-0-3 | 4-2-3 | 29 |
| Inter Milan | 17 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 5-2-1 | 3-1-5 | 27 |
| Fiorentina | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 21 | 4 | 4-4-0 | 3-1-5 | 26 |
| Torino | 17 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 27 | 8 | 5-2-1 | 2-2-5 | 25 |