Barcelona held by Real Sociedad, Coutinho scores Bayern treble - European round-up
Real Madrid can go top of La Liga with a win against Valencia after Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw by Real Sociedad.
Saturday 14 December 2019 22:18, UK
Barcelona's six-game winning streak in all competitions was brought to an end as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Real Sociedad.
The hosts took an early lead through Mikel Oyarzabal's penalty, but Antoine Griezmann cancelled that out with a first-half equaliser against his former club.
Luis Suarez struck at the start of the second half to put league leaders Barca ahead, but Alexander Isak replied for Sociedad to ensure the spoils were shared at Anoeta.
The opening goal came in the 12th minute when Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets was deemed to have tugged on the shirt of Diego Llorente as he lunged to covert a corner.
Oyarzabal stepped up to take the resulting penalty, sending Marc-Andre ter Stegen the wrong way to put Sociedad in front.
The Basque side were pegged back before the break, though, by former fan favourite Griezmann.
The French World Cup winner, who left Sociedad for Atletico Madrid in 2014, was put through by Suarez before coolly dinking his shot over the head of Alex Remiro.
Buoyed by that equaliser, Barca got their noses in front four minutes after half-time when Busquets found Lionel Messi, who unselfishly opted to pass outside to team-mate Suarez despite being one-on-one with Remiro.
Suarez duly tapped the ball into the unguarded net to give the visitors the advantage.
However, Sociedad pulled themselves level 12 minutes later when Ter Stegen could only parry a low cross from Oyarzabal out to Isak, who netted from close range.
The goal was looked at by the video assistant referee before being ratified.
A handful of near misses followed as the final whistle approached, with Mikel Merino missing a close-range header for Sociedad and team-mate Willian Jose also failing to convert an opportunity.
Rakitic had the last roll of the dice for the defending champions, but could only find the side of the netting as his long-range shot landed just wide of the mark.
Atletico Madrid moved back into the top four by earning a commanding 2-0 win at home to Osasuna for their first victory in four La Liga games.
Diego Simeone's side dominated the match although they did not break the deadlock until their top scorer Alvaro Morata headed home a free kick from Kieran Trippier in the 67th minute.
Midfielder Saul Niguez made sure of victory by scoring with a dinked finish in the 75th minute, starting the move by winning the ball back deep in Osasuna's half.
The win saw Atletico climb from seventh in the standings to fourth on 29 points after 17 games, six behind leaders Barcelona who have a game in hand.
A late winner by North Macedonia midfielder Enis Bardhi gave Levante a 2-1 win at Granada, ending the team's two-game losing streak.
Bardhi scored with a shot from outside the area in the 89th minute.
Ruben Rochina had put Levante ahead in the 55th, with Darwin Machis equalising for the hosts five minutes later.
Levante moved to 11th, one point behind ninth-place Granada.
Coutinho hat-trick inspires Bayern to win
Bayern Munich's Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick and Robert Lewandowski added two more goals as the champions demolished Werder Bremen 6-1 on Saturday to impressively bounce back from two straight league defeats.
The Bavarians, missing several players through injury, climbed to fourth place on 27 points, six points behind RB Leipzig, who beat struggling Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-0.
Borussia Dortmund stayed two points ahead of Bayern in third after a 4-0 win at Mainz 05 but Bayer Leverkusen missed a chance to move into the top four after suffering a shock 2-0 defeat at strugglers Cologne and instead dropped to seventh on 25.
Bayern's man of the match Coutinho, who also helped set up two more goals, delivered at just the right time with the team, struggling to find their rhythm under interim coach Hansi Flick, were at risk of losing touch with the top spots.
The Brazil forward, brought in on loan from Barcelona this season, scored his first Bundesliga treble with Bayern playing a dominant second half.
However, they fell behind in the 24th minute to a Milot Rashica goal after again missing golden chances, including by top scorer Lewandowski, as had been the case in recent weeks.
But their wastefulness was not punished this time as goals from Coutinho in the 45th minute, and Lewandowski in first-half stoppage time, turned the game for the hosts.
Coutinho then chipped a superb David Alaba pass over Bremen keeper Jiri Pavlenka for their third goal in the 63rd as Bayern completely bossed the game following the break.
Poland forward Lewandowski added a fifth after 72 minutes and Thomas Muller also scored before Coutinho rounded off a fine performance with another goal to complete his hat-trick.
