A roundup of Saturday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights…
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Real Madrid 5-2 Real Sociedad
Turmoil can be best-used to describe Zinedine Zidane’s season with Real Madrid, but the defending league and European champions look to be finding their form at the right time. Los Blancos extended their unbeaten streak to four matches on Saturday, behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick.
Lucas Vasquez handed the hosts the lead at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first minute, while Toni Kroos made it 2-0 before halftime.
Ronaldo capped off his hat-trick with 10 minutes remaining in regulation from close range, bringing the Portuguese international up to 23 goals in all competitions this season.
Malaga 0-1 Atletico Madrid
Atletico pulled to within six points of league leaders Barcelona on Saturday behind Antoine Griezmann’s first-minute strike. The Frenchman found himself in on goal just 40 seconds into the match, after Saul Niguez had his attempt deflected at the top of the box. Malaga remains in last place in La Liga on 13 points.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Villareal 1-2 Alaves
Leganes 0-1 Eibar
Sunday’s La Liga schedule
Sevilla vs. Girona (6 a.m. ET)
Barcelona vs. Getafe (10:15 a.m. ET)
Celta Vigo vs. Espanyol (12:30 a.m. ET)
Valencia vs. Levante (2:45 p.m. ET)
Napoli 4-1 Lazio
A brilliant second-half turnaround handed Napoli a return to the summit of Serie A on Saturday, in what continues to be a back-and-forth battle with Juventus. A second-half own goal from Wallace gave Napoli the advantage, before Piotr Zielinski and Dries Mertens sealed the match for the hosts. Lazio went ahead inside three minutes when Stefan de Vrij finished off a Ciro Immobile cross from close range.
SPAL 0-4 AC Milan
Patrick Cutrone scored on both sides of halftime at the Paolo Mazza, while Lucas Biglia and Fabio Borini each added goals inside the final 15 minutes to cap off a dominating road victory for AC Milan. The Italian giants are seven points outside of the top four, while SPAL remains four points buried in the relegation zone.
Elsewhere in Serie A
Crotone 1-1 Atalanta
Sunday’s Serie A schedule
Sassuolo vs. Cagliari (6:30 a.m. ET)
Chievo vs. Genoa (9 a.m. ET)
Inter Milan vs. Bologna (9 a.m. ET)
Sampdoria vs. Hellas Verona (9 a.m. ET)
Torino vs. Udinese (9 a.m. ET)
Roma vs. Benevento (2:45 p.m. ET)