Euro round-up: Goals from Jordi Alba and Frenkie De Jong knocked Real Sociedad off the top of La Liga; In Ligue 1, Lille stayed top after beating Dijon; They face PSG, who beat Lorient, at the weekend
Thursday 17 December 2020 00:14, UK
Barcelona knocked Real Sociedad off top spot in La Liga after coming from behind to claim a 2-1 victory at the Nou Camp.
Victory saw Barcelona move up to fifth, while Atletico Madrid are now the league leaders on goal difference from Real Sociedad.
Willian Jose gave the visitors the perfect start, converting Portu's pass in the 27th minute, but Barcelona hit back, Jordi Alba levelling with an excellent curled strike four minutes later.
Frenkie de Jong then gave the hosts the lead just before the break from Alba's deflected cross. The goal was initially chalked off for offside, but a VAR review saw the goal eventually given.
Antoine Griezmann hit the crossbar as Barca tried to make the game safe from a tight angle and he spurned an excellent opportunity, deflecting the ball to the goalkeeper with the goal at his mercy.
Real Sociedad went close to an equaliser late on but they found Marc-Andre ter Stegen in fine form, making a double save to deny Jose and Alexander Isak.
Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, who had drawn their past six games, and Real Madrid are all level on 26 points at the top of La Liga, with Barcelona, who jumped from eighth to fifth, now only six points further back.
Robert Lewandowski's double saw Bayern Munich come from behind to beat Wolfsburg and stay within a point of leaders Bayer Leverkusen.
The Polish marksman cancelled out Max Philipp's fifth-minute opener in first-half stoppage time, before a slip from Maxence Lacroix let the striker run through and goal and seal victory five minutes after the break.
Bayer Leverkusen's stay at the top was never in doubt with a 4-0 win at Cologne.
Mitchell Weiser and Moussa Diaby put the visitors two ahead inside 10 minutes, before Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz scored after the break to keep Leverkusen a point clear of heir nearest rivals.
RB Leipzig stayed level on points with Bayern In third thanks to Yussuf Poulsen's goal on the hour mark to win a tight game at Hoffenheim.
Marcel Sabitzer made the Danish international's winner, which keeps Hoffenheim only five points above the relegation play-off spot, with one win from their last five matches.
Elsewhere, Augsburg moved up to ninth with a 1-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld, while Freiburg were comfortable 2-0 winners at basement side Schalke.
Pierre Kalulu helped AC Milan maintain their unbeaten league record as his late equaliser snatched a 2-2 draw at Genoa.
Milan appeared to be heading for a first league defeat since March after a double from Mattia Destro had given Genoa a 2-1 lead.
However, Kalulu, who was making his first start for the club, netted the equaliser seven minutes from time.
The point saw Milan remain top but their advantage over Inter Milan was cut from three points to one after Antonio Conte's side beat 10-man Napoli 1-0.
Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty for Inter after Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina had fouled Matteo Darmian.
Napoli also had to play the remaining 19 minutes with 10 men after Lorenzo Insigne was sent off for dissent but they continued to dominate and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic had to come to his side's rescue several times.
Juventus are third, four points off Milan after a 1-1 draw against Atalanta.
Alvaro Morata had a golden opportunity to give Juventus an early lead in Turin but his decision to try to backheel the ball into an empty net backfired as his effort went wide.
Federico Chiesa did give Juventus the lead in the 29th minute when he curled into the top right corner.
Atalanta had chances to level and eventually did so in the 57th minute through Remo Freuler.
Cristiano Ronaldo could have restored Juve's lead four minutes later but his weak penalty was straight at Pierluigi Gollini after Chiesa had been fouled by Hans Hateboer.
Elsewhere, Sassuolo moved level on points with fourth-place Napoli after drawing 1-1 at Fiorentina.
Bologna came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Spezia, Sampdoria won 2-1 at 10-man Hellas Verona and Parma drew 0-0 against Cagliari.
American striker Timothy Weah grabbed a late goal as Lille won 2-0 at Dijon to remain top of Ligue 1 ahead of a crucial weekend showdown with defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.
Lille's opening goal came in the 18th minute when right-back Zeki Celik set up Yusuf Yazici. Weah, the son of Liberia President and 1995 Golden Ball winner George Weah, then grabbed his first league goal for the club, coming off the bench to score with a smart finish deep into stoppage time.
Lille's win kept them one point ahead of PSG, who laboured to a 2-0 home victory against Lorient after the visitors had a player sent off for conceding a penalty early in the second half.
Kylian Mbappe's 50th-minute penalty gave the hosts the lead after a poor first half at Parc des Princes. Mbappe slotted home from the spot after being fouled by defender Andreaw Gravillon, who was red carded. Italy striker Moise Kean sealed the 2-0 victory 10 minutes later.
Lille are two points ahead of third-place Lyon, who are now 12 games unbeaten, but they did concede an injury-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw at home to Brest.
Fourth-placed Marseille, who have two games in hand on the top three teams, missed the chance to move level on points with Lyon after losing 2-1 at Rennes.
Victory saw Rennes climbed to sixth spot, while seventh-placed Lens won 3-0 away to Monaco, with former Chelsea starlet Gael Kakuta among the scorers.
In Wednesday's other games, Reims beat Nantes 3-2, Nice won 2-0 at Nimes, Metz beat Montpellier 2-0, Angers lost 2-0 at home to Strasbourg and Saint-Etienne won 2-1 at Bordeaux.
