Roma leave it late, while Girona go top

LA LIGA

On Friday night Atletico Madrid had the chance to go top of La Liga. They faced Las Palmas, where the home side ensured this didn’t happen. Goals from Kirian Rodríguez and Benito Ramírez were enough to overcome the side from Madrid. This result means Diego Simeone’s side cannot now go top if they win their game in hand versus Sevilla. Atletico will be kicking themselves even more after Real Madrid’s 0-0 draw at home to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday night. Los Blancos dominated but couldn’t find their way past Stole Dimitrievski in the away side’s goal. 

The team who did climb above Real Madrid and went top instead was Girona. Despite trailing 2-1 heading into the final twenty minutes, Michel’s side claimed another three points with their 4-2 victory over Osasuna. Substitute Viktor Tsygankov scored the goal to put Girona ahead in the eightieth minute. Can Girona keep this up for the rest of the campaign?

BUNDESLIGA

Top of the table side Bayer Leverkusen were away to Hoffenheim this weekend, they triumphed 3-2 despite conceding two goals in quick succession from the home side. Two goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and two assists from Viktor Okoh Boniface helped Xabi Alonso’s side remain unbeaten and top of the table, two points ahead of Bayern. Munich themselves won again this weekend, putting four past Borussia Dortmund, a third hat-trick of the season from Harry Kane helped them on their way. Thomas Tuchel will be delighted after running riot at his former stomping ground. A much needed statement win after losing to third tier side FC Saarbrücken in midweek. 

A surprise result in Germany this weekend was Stuttgart dropping points to Heidenheim in a 2-0 win for the home side. Heidenheim sit in the bottom half of the table while Stuttgart are in the top 3, this result as well as last week’s loss to Hoffenheim highlight clearly how much Stuttgart need Serhou Guirassy back fit again!

SERIE A

AC Milan fans would’ve headed into their game this weekend feeling pretty confident. The third placed side hosted seventeenth placed Udinese on Saturday, the result that transpired wasn’t one to be expected. A goal from Roberto Pereyra in the sixty second minute was the difference between the two sides, as Udinese took 3 points from Milan in a 1-0 win for the away side. Elsewhere, both Inter Milan and Juventus won their games by a single goal, remaining first and second in the table. 

José Mourinho’s Roma side have had an interesting season so far, sitting in ninth place, winning as many as they had lost heading into their game against Lecce. They needed a win. Lecce went ahead through Pontus Almqvist and heading into the final minutes of the game it looked like they’d won it. This was until Sardar Azmoun equalised in the ninety first minute, and that wasn’t that. Up stepped Romelu Lukaku, scoring in the ninety fourth minute, to win it for Roma. What a turnaround!

LIGUE 1

After a slowish start to the campaign Paris Saint Germain look like they’re getting into their stride in Ligue 1. They picked up another win on Friday night, this time a 3-0 victory over Montpellier. Goals coming from Kang-in Lee, Warren ZaÏre-Emery, and Vitinha. They’re just one point off Nice in top spot. Nice themselves picked up a win the weekend versus Rennes, a deserved 2-0 victory in a dominant display. Nice remain one of the two unbeaten teams in all competitions in Europe, along with Bayer Leverkusen! 

At the bottom of the table Lyon faced off against Metz. The game concluded 1-1, not what either team needed, especially Lyon. Metz were leading but thanks to a goal from Skelly Alvero Lyon managed to salvage a point in a season which has been abysmal so far! Lyon remain at the bottom of the table, with a game in hand but even if they win this they’ll still be in the bottom two, tough times for the French giants. 

ELSEWHERE

Finally we can head to Amsterdam without having to document on a loss! This weekend Ajax defeated Heerenveen 4-1, following on from their 2-0 win over Volendam in midweek. They’re no longer in the relegation zone and move up to eleventh in the table with a game in hand that could take them up to 7th potentially. At the top of the table in the Netherlands PSV Eindhoven won again, this time 6-0 over Heracles. They remain top of the table with eleven wins from eleven games!

In Portugal Sporting remain top of the league and unbeaten in the league still after a 3-2 win over Estrela Amadora. Meanwhile, Porto lost 1-0 in a very surprising result against bottom of the table at the time Estoril! They now trail Sporting in top spot by six points after ten games.