Spezia felled another Serie A giant as they shocked leaders Milan with a dominant display in a 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Having already beaten AS Roma in the Coppa Italia and Napoli in the league since the turn of the year, Spezia, making their Serie A debut this season, scored twice in the second half through Giulio Maggiore and Simone Bastoni.
Milan never got going and finished the match without having had a shot on target, while being completely outplayed by their opponents. They now face the prospect of losing top spot to rivals Inter Milan, should Antonio Conte’s side beat Lazio on Sunday.
Lorenzo Insigne’s first-half penalty earned Napoli a 1-0 home win over Juventus, leaving the champions seven points off top spot.
Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini was penalised for a foul on Napoli’s Amir Rrahmani in the penalty area to concede a 31st-minute spot kick, which Insigne converted to score what proved to be the winner and his 100th goal in all competitions for Napoli.
Juventus looked a shadow of their normal selves offensively in the first half but improved after the break. Federico Chiesa was denied by a fine save from Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret, while Cristiano Ronaldo missed a glorious chance with his head late on to snatch a point. The win lifted Napoli into fourth place on 40 points, two behind Juventus in third.
A heavily deflected strike from Ángel Correa gave Atlético Madrid a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Granada, extending their lead at the top of La Liga to eight points.
Marcos Llorente put Atlético in front in the 63rd minute with a low finish from the edge of the area before Venezuelan midfielder Yangel Herrera equalised for Granada three minutes later, his shot flying into the net after bouncing off Llorente’s trailing leg.
Atlético appeared on course to drop points for a second consecutive game after Monday’s 2-2 draw at home to Celta. But they regained the lead in the 75th minute when Correa saw his desperate attempt bounce off the foot of Jesús Vallejo and loop over keeper Rui Silva into the net.
Diego Simeone’s side are now eight points clear of Real Madrid with a game in hand. Their city rivals, however, have a chance to close the gap on Sunday when they play Valencia.
Lionel Messi marked his club record-equalling 505th La Liga appearance for Barcelona with two goals in an impressive 5-1 home win against Alaves.
Messi, who joined Xavi with most league games played for the Catalans, struck with a low 25-yard shot at the end of the first half after Trincao had opened the scoring on his full La Liga debut.
Luis Rioja struck for Alaves early in the second half, but Trincao added his second and within a minute Messi curled home Barcelona’s fourth.
Junior Firpo completed the scoring with 10 minutes remaining as Barcelona extended their unbeaten league run to 12 matches and climbed up to second in the table, eight points behind leaders Atlético Madrid.
Meanwhile, Sevilla eventually got the breakthrough against La Liga’s bottom club, Huesca, as a goal from Munir El Haddadi gave them a 1-0 win. The relegation six-pointer between Eibar and Real Valladolid ended in a 1-1 draw after Roque Mesa’s seventh-minute penalty for the visitors was cancelled out by Kike.
Erling Haaland scored an 81st-minute equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw for Borussia Dortmund against Hoffenheim as they lost further ground in their battle for a top-four finish in the Bundesliga.
Jadon Sancho put Dortmund in front in the 24th minute but sloppy defending allowed Mu’nas Dabbur to slip into the box and convert a Sebastian Rudy pass for the equaliser seven minutes later, before Ihlas Bebou headed Hoffenheim in front in the 51st minute.
Dortmund had to wait until Haaland’s equaliser nine minutes from the end to rescue a point but pressure will be mounting on coach Edin Terzić, who has so far failed to turn their season around following the sacking of his predecessor Lucien Favre.
Dortmund’s top-four rivals Bayer Leverkusen squandered a two-goal lead, conceding twice in the last two minutes to draw 2-2 against Mainz 05. The hosts led through goals from Lucas Alario and Patrik Schick, but Robert Glatzel’s 89th-minute strike and Kevin Stöger’s stoppage-time equaliser turned the game around for the visitors.
The result left them in fourth and level on points with fifth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt, who have played a game less. Dortmund are three points further back in sixth.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Hertha Berlin drew 1-1 at Stuttgart while the game between Werder Bremen and SC Freiburg finished goalless.
PSG geared up for their Champions League trip to Barcelona with a 2-1 home win against Nice that sent them top of Ligue 1.
Julian Draxler, who replaced the injured Marco Verratti, opened the scoring for the French champions from close range after Mauro Icardi’s attempt bounced off the post and into his path in the 22nd minute. Nice then equalised through Rony Lopes but striker Moise Kean, on loan from Everton, eventually headed home from point-blank range to give PSG all three points.
They are now on 54 points from 25 games and lead Lille, who host Brest on Sunday, on goal difference, with Olympique Lyonnais in third place on 52 points.
