Barcelona forward Lionel Messi set a La Liga scoring record of 253 goals with a hat-trick in his side’s 5-1 victory against Sevilla while unbeaten Chelsea and Bayern Munich maintained their dominance in their respective domestic leagues.
SPAIN
Lionel Messi set a La Liga record of 253 goals with a hat-trick in second-placed Barcelona’s 5-1 rout of Sevilla while Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as leaders Real Madrid subdued Eibar 4-0.
Messi matched Telmo Zarra’s record of 251 goals and with his 30th career treble took his tally to 253 in 289 games.
Real are two points clear of their arch rivals with 30 points from 12 matches, during which they have scored 46 goals, 20 of them coming from Ronaldo in 11 appearances.
Champions Atletico Madrid (26 points) climbed above Valencia (24) into third after they won 3-1 at home to Malaga on Saturday and Valencia were surprised 2-1 at city rivals Levante on Sunday.
Chelsea’s blistering surge towards the Premier League title showed no sign of slowing down as they beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to remain unbeaten after 12 matches and seven points clear at the top of the table.
That lead would be cut to four points if Southampton win at Aston Villa on Monday but Saturday’s victory still leaves Chelsea eight points clear of third-placed champions Manchester City and 13 ahead of fourth-placed Manchester United.
City came from behind to beat Swansea 2-1 on Saturday while United won 2-1 at Arsenal for their first away win of the season.
GERMANY
Champions Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to seven points after demolishing Hoffenheim 4-0 with Bastian Schweinsteiger marking his comeback from a long injury break since the World Cup final.
The Bavarians, who set a club record after having conceded only three goals in their 12 league games, are undefeated in all competitions. VfL Wolfsburg stayed second on 23 points after conceding three goals in the opening 25 minutes in a 3-2 loss at Schalke 04.
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund continued their erratic run, squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 against promoted Paderborn and losing Marco Reus to injury for the rest of the year.
ITALY
Leading pair Juventus and AS Roma both won away from home to move further clear of the pack as they threatened to turn Serie A into a two-horse race for the second year running.
Paul Pogba scored twice and Carlos Tevez notched his ninth goal of the campaign in Juve’s 3-0 win at Lazio while Roma won 2-1 at Atalanta despite falling behind in the first minute.
Udinese’s 37-year-old striker Antonio Di Natale scored his 200th Serie A goal in a 1-1 draw against Chievo.
The Milan derby ended 1-1 as Roberto Mancini began his second stint on the Inter bench after replacing Walter Mazzarri, sacked 10 days ago.
FRANCE
Olympique de Marseille remain top of Ligue 1 with 31 points after Andre-Pierre Gignac scored his 11th league goal of the season in an entertaining 3-1 victory against Girondins Bordeaux.
Champions Paris St Germain remain unbeaten in second, one point adrift of the leaders, after Ezequiel Lavezzi’s late goal earned a 3-2 win at Metz while Olympique Lyonnais are three points further behind in third after a goalless draw against Bastia.
NETHERLANDS
PSV Eindhoven’s lead in the Dutch Eredivisie was cut to two points after their 1-1 draw against FC Groningen and second-placed Ajax Amsterdam’s comfortable 4-1 victory against Heerenveen.
NORWAY
Goals from Fredrik Gulbrandsen and Mohamed Elyounoussi gave Molde a 2-0 victory over Odd Grenland in Sunday’s Norwegian Cup final, securing the second part of a domestic double after they romped to victory in the league.
