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European Round-up: Serie A lead changes, Zagreb crisis, Spurs let it slip, PSG held

ATALANTA have taken over at the top of Serie A following their 2-1 win over AC Milan in Bergamo on Friday night. The winning goal was scored by Ademola Lookman (pictured), his eighth in the league this season. Atalanta, with 38 goals, are the leading scorers in Serie A and they also have the top marksman in Mateo Retegui, who has 12 to his name. It remains tight at the top, however, with Napoli in second place despite losing 1-0 at home to Lazio, their second defeat at the hands of the Roman side in a week after their Coppa Italia exit. Inter were in good form, beating Parma 3-1 with Marcus Thuram netting his 10th of the campaign. Juventus were held by Bologna and had coach Thiago Motta sent-off for aggressive behaviour towards the referee. Fiorentina were 1-0 winners at home to Cagliari thanks to a Danilo Cataldi goal in the first half. 

**Croatia: Dinamo in crisis**

DINAMO Zagreb have had things largely their own way in Croatia over the past decade, but the club is currently in a crisis that has confounded their passionate fans. Dinamo have not won since the end of September and they are so concerned they have issued a statement that explains the situation. “Surrender is not an option in Dinamo’s DNA,” was the message coming out of Croatia’s top club. At present, Rijeka are leading the title race but they are level on points with Hajduk Split. Dinamo were beaten by Hajduk a week ago and were held to a draw by Slaven Koprivnica at the Maksimir stadium. Hajduk lost 1-0 at Gorica and Rijeka won 1-0 at Šibenik at the weekend. 

**Czech Republic: Slavia are clear favourites**

SLAVIA Prague are on course to win the Czech First League for the first time since 2021. They are 10 points clear of Viktoria Plzen and unbeaten after 18 games. Slavia were a goal down at Sigma with just over 10 minutes to go, but scored twice in three minutes through Tomáš Chory and Lukáš Provod to clinch the points. Plzen won 2-1 away at Karviná with two goals from Pavel Šulc in the 76th and 86th minutes. Meanwhile, third-placed Sparta, who are 16 points behind Slavia, won the Prague derby against Bohemians 1-0 in front of almost 15,000 people. 

**Hat-trick heroes**

**League**

**Player**

**Club**

**Opponents**

**Timings**

Czech

Marek Matêjovsky

Mladá Boleslav

SK Dynamo

60, 68, 93 (34 mins)

Netherlands

Victor Evardsen

Go Ahead Eagles

NEC

5, 6, 25 (21 mins)

Serbia

Luka Ilić

Red Star Belgrade

Tekstilac

10, 4, 67 (58 mins) 90

**Attendances**

**League**

**Home**

**Away**

**Attendance**

Germany

Bayern Munich

Heidenheim

75,000

England

Manchester United

Nottingham Forest

73,778

Italy

Inter Milan

Parma

71,879

England

Tottenham

Chelsea

61,184

Spain

Atlético Madrid

Sevilla

60,065

Germany

VFB Stuttgart

Union Berlin

59,000

Portugal

Benfica

Guimarães

58,839

Scotland

Celtic

Hibernian

58,641

**Premier League: Spursy again**

AFTER 10 minutes of their game with Chelsea, Tottenham looked to be cruising. Two goals ahead, largely due to Marc Cucurella’s slippery studs, they seemed to have put their London rivals in their place. However, life is never dull or goes to plan at Spurs and they were beaten 4-3 by a resurgent Chelsea side who certainly know how to score goals. Cole Palmer netted two penalties while Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandez put the game beyond Ange Postecoglou’s team, despite a very late third Spurs goal. Chelsea are now second in the table and four points behind Liverpool, whose Merseyside derby was postponed due to bad weather. Arsenal and Manchester City both drew, against Fulham and Crystal Palace respectively. Arsenal though they had won at Craven Cottage but had a very late effort ruled out, while City’s defence was again suspect in their 2-2 draw at Selhurst. City had Rico Lewis sent off. Manchester United were beaten 3-2 at home by Forest and Newcastle went down 4-2 at Brentford. Aston Villa earned a 1-0 win against Southampton.

**Ligue 1: Enrique under pressure**

ALTHOUGH Paris Saint-Germain’s management have described the calls for Luis Enrique to leave the club as ridiculous, there is an underlying feeling that all is not well at the home of the French champions. There are also media reports that a rift has developed between Enrique and the club’s sporting director Luís Campos. PSG were held to a goalless draw at Auxerre but are still five points ahead of second-placed Olympique Marseille. OM won 2-0 at struggling Saint-Étienne with Andre Rabiot and Mason Greenwood on the scoresheet. Monaco won 2-0 against Toulouse and Lyon were 3-0 winners at Angers. Jonathan David, who has caught the eye of Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United, scored twice for Lille as they beat Brest 3-1. 

**Bundesliga: No pain without Kane**

BAYERN Munich were without the injured Harry Kane, but managed to beat Heidenheim 4-2 at the Allianz. Jamal Musiala scored twice while Leon Goretzka and Dayot Upemecano were also on target. Bayern needed two late goals to secure the points, but they are six points clear of Eintracht Frankfurt who drew at home to Augsburg.  Wolfsburg were thankful for two late goals from Jonas Wind to secure a 4-3 win in their clash with Mainz, while Bayer Leverkusen won 2-1 against St.Pauli. Stuttgart were 2-0 down at home to Union Berlin, but came back to win 3-2 with Nick Woltemade grabbing two of the goals.

**Most clean sheets**

**League**

**Player**

**Club**

**No. clean sheets**

Scotland

Kasper Schmeichel

Celtic

12

Bulgaria

Hans Christian Bernat

Botev Plovdiv

11

Czech

Antonin Kinsky

Slavia Prague

10

Bulgaria

Plamen Illiev

Cherno More

10

**La Liga: Atléti win see-saw battle**

ATLÉTICO Madrid may have been behind at the hour mark, but they came through as 4-3 winners at the Metropolitano against Sevilla. Atléti attacked relentlessly in the latter stages but it was left to Antoine Griezmann to net the winner four minutes into added time, his second of the game. Real Madrid won 3-0 at Girona, with Jude Bellingham scoring for the fifth consecutive game. Further goals came from Arda Güler and Kylian Mbappé. Barcelona led twice at Real Betis, but had to settle for a point. The home side levelled at 2-2 in the 94th minute of the match. Barca lead the table with a two-point advantage over Real Madrid, but they have played a game more.

**And elsewhere…** 

* Celtic went nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 3-0 win against Hibernian making it a good week in which they also beat challengers Aberdeen at Pittodrie

* Ludogorets beat their closest rivals Botev Plovdiv 3-0 in the Bulgarian League. They now have a 10-point margin at the top

* PSV Eindhoven came from behind to beat Twente 6-1 in the Eredivisie. Ajax were beaten 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar while Utrecht won 3-1 at Almere. Feyenoord were 3-1 winners at Waalwijk

* Benfica and Porto are both closing in on Sporting, who have lost their last two games. Sporting have a two-point lead at the top of the Portuguese Primeira.

Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)

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