Barcelona missed the chance to reclaim the LaLiga summit after suffering a 2-1 derby defeat to Girona, who roared back in the second half to leave Real Madrid top of the table.
The underdogs kept their noses in front as Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-2 to stay top of the Premier League and Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Getafe to increase their lead in La Liga after Barcelona slipped up at lowly Granada. Read on to meet the players of the weekend...
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema produced an audacious back-heeled assist for Casemiro to score as they beat Espanyol 1-0 away on Sunday to capitalise on Barcelona's slip-up a day earlier and move two points clear at the top of La Liga. Brazilian midfielder Casemiro slid to the ground to guide the ball home on the stroke of halftime after being played in by a stroke of genius from Benzema, who dragged the ball through the legs of his marker Bernardo Espinosa to find his team mate.
Barcelona slipped five points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid when Alvaro Vazquez netted a shock late equaliser to snatch a 1-1 draw for Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Sunday.
Real Madrid made the most of Barcelona's slip-up to close to within one point of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with a 2-0 win over third-placed Valencia at the Bernabeu.
Real Madrid showed their character by beating Barcelona 2-0 in Sunday's top-of-the-table 'Clasico', leapfrogging their rivals at the La Liga summit after a week in which their pride had taken a beating at home and in Europe. Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr scored the opener in the 71st minute with a strike that deflected off Gerard Pique, flummoxing goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who had made some jaw-dropping saves, and substitute Mariano added the second in added time.
When Barcelona host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday hoping to edge closer to the La Liga title, many may be haunted by Raul Tamudo's 89th minute equaliser which wrecked their title bid in 2006/07.
Atletico Madrid took advantage of Barcelona's slip-up to go top of La Liga with a 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad as Real Madrid drew 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao and Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off on Sunday.
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