Saturday 7 December 2019 22:40, UK
Real Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 victory over Espanyol but Barca responded as Lionel Messi put on a show.
Goals from Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema secured Zinedine Zidane's side a fourth straight league win, despite Ferland Mendy's late dismissal.
Zidane was without injured duo Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard so started teenage wingers Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo together for the first time. The pair were involved in Real's best moments early on as they tried to break down an Espanyol side that have not won in the league since October.
Real, wearing their green third kit rather than their usual white to raise climate change awareness, had their first effort in the sixth minute when 19-year-old Vinicius cut inside from the left and forced a save out of former Real goalkeeper Diego Lopez.
Rodrygo soon had sight of goal, curling an effort harmlessly wide, and then Vinicius slipped in Benzema down the left, only for the former France striker to shoot straight at Lopez.
Espanyol had their first real sight of goal in the 27th minute when Esteban Granero's header forced Thibaut Courtois into a diving save, but seconds later Real had broken down the other end and Lopez had to extend his left foot to keep out Vinicius.
Real finally found a way through eight minutes before half-time and it came from an unlikely source. Benzema threaded a ball into Varane, who was still forward following a corner, and the centre-back slotted low into the far corner for his first club goal since March.
Real pushed for a second to kill the game after the break, with left-back Mendy firing wildly over from the edge of the area and Benzema forcing another impressive save from Lopez.
Benzema should have settled the game with 19 minutes left, failing to hit the target from near the penalty spot, but he made the game safe in the 79th minute, lashing home from close range after exchanging passes with Federico Valverde in the penalty area.
Real had Mendy dismissed after he picked up a second booking in the 83rd minute, but Espanyol were unable to cause any late problems as the game petered out.
Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona moved back top of La Liga with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Real Mallorca on Saturday.
Madrid had climbed three points clear after beating Espanyol, but Ernesto Valverde's side were at their vibrant best as they dispatched visitors Mallorca at the Camp Nou.
Antoine Griezmann dinked home the opening goal after being played through by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, six-times Ballon d'Or winner Messi twice curled home from outside the area and Luis Suarez netted a brilliant backheel.
Ante Budimir scored with a deflected effort for Mallorca in the first half and doubled his tally by nodding home, but Messi smashed a shot in late on to complete his hat-trick and round off an impressive win for the Catalans.
Lazio came from behind to beat Juventus 3-1 and hand the Turin side their first defeat of the season, scoring the two decisive goals in the final 20 minutes after their opponents had Juan Cuadrado controversially sent off.
Juve, who had gone their first 19 games under new coach Maurizio Sarri unbeaten in all competitions, went ahead with a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the 25th minute but Luiz Felipe levelled for Lazio in first-half stoppage time.
The game turned in the 69th minute when Juve wing-back Cuadrado clattered into Manuel Lazzari after he was sent clear by Luis Alberto's pass and the referee dismissed the Colombian after viewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Five minutes later, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic latched on to Luis Alberto's cross to put Lazio in front. There was further drama when Lazio forward Ciro Immobile had a penalty saved by Wojciech Szczesny who also blocked the rebound and substitute Felipe Caicedo scored a third goal in stoppage time.
Juventus stay second, two points behind Inter Milan, with 36 points from 15 games while Lazio, who are third, closed the gap on their opponents to three points after their seventh successive league win.
Surprise Bundesliga leader Borussia Monchengladbach showed their title credentials by beating Bayern Munich 2-1 on Saturday with a last-gasp penalty.
Left-back Ramy Bensebaini scored both goals for Gladbach, which last won the title in 1977. Bensebaini headed in a corner to draw Gladbach level after Ivan Perisic's volley for Bayern, and then scored the decisive penalty in added time.
"That shows why were rightly up there," Gladbach coach Marco Rose said. "We tried until the 90th minute to show what's made us stand out in the last few weeks and months, and we got the penalty."
Bayern wasted numerous chances to score in the first half as it lost back-to-back Bundesliga games for the first time in 14 months.
Gladbach leads the league by a point ahead of Leipzig, which beat Hoffenheim 3-1 thanks to two goals from Timo Werner while Jadon Sancho scored twice as Dortmund thrashed Fortuna Dsseldorf 5-0.
