There was plenty of action amongst major European football leagues and we have highlighted some of the biggest talking points for your information. Bet on football here.
WINNERS
Borussia’s title chances
Borussia Dortmund beat Wolfsburg 3-0 on Saturday to end the visitors’ unbeaten league run and move into second place, three points behind leaders Borussia Monchengladbach. It was the perfect birthday present for coach Lucien Favre, who had been under mounting pressure in recent weeks. The fact that Bayern suffered a shock 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt to drop to fourth makes this victory even sweeter for the Dortmund faithful.
Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad scored a late winner at Granada to complete another unpredictable weekend in the La Liga title race. With Barcelona suffering a shock 3-1 defeat at Levante and Real Madrid failing to take advantage in their goalless draw against Real Betis at home on Saturday. Sociedad climbed to third in the standings and Imanol Alguacil’s side could have hoped for even better had it not been for a midweek 2-1 defeat at home to Levante.
Roma
Roma’s impressive display at the Stadio Olimpico against Napoli ensured that they came out on top in the Derby del Sole. Nicolò Zaniolo opened the scoring for the hosts just before the 20 minute mark and the visitors gifted two penalties, one which was missed and the other one doubled their advantage. Arkadius Milik pulled a goal back for Napoli with 20 minutes to play but that is all they could manage. Roma have now moved to third behind Juventus and Inter Milan.
LOSERS
Niko Kovac
Bayern Munich’s loss away at Eintracht Frankfurt saw manager Niko Kovac sacked following the embarrassing 5-1 defeat. This was the Bavarian’s second defeat of the season, but they have also drawn three and are in fourth place in the league standings. Kovac’s team were impressive in the 7-2 rout of Tottenham in the Champions League, but have struggled in every game since and it was only a matter of time before this action was taken.
Napoli
Napoli’s season has not gone according to plan following Saturday’s loss away to Roma as they find themselves seventh in the table three places behind their next opponents. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have been drawing too many games and a host of defensive errors cost them here. They conceded two penalties and they were lucky that the other one was no scored as they would have ended 3-1 or worse. They will have to go to the drawing board or soon they will be out of time and there is a real competition for Champions League places this time around.
PSG
PSG suffered their third Ligue 1 defeat of the season when they wasted a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 to Dijon on Friday. Kylian Mbappe scored for the leaders in the 19th minute before Dijon struck back through Mounir Chouiar and Jhonder Cadiz to take all three points. PSG have 27 points from 12 games and lead second-placed Nantes by eight points. Thomas Tuchel would surely be disappointed in the manner in which they lost the match.