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Winners and losers in Europe this weekend, featuring the Madrid sides, Ronaldo and Higuaín

Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - Real Madrid v Espanyol - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - September 22, 2018 Real Madrid's Marco Asensio celebrates scoring their first goal with team mates REUTERS/Susana Vera

There were plenty of talking points from the football action across the European leagues over the weekend. Cristiano Ronaldo is once again among our picks of winners, as are his former club Real Madrid. Here is our complete list.

Winners:

Real & Atletico Madrid

Barcelona established a gap at the top of La Liga last weekend when title rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid dropped points. The tables turned this weekend, however, when the Catalans were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Girona. Real beat Espanyol 1-0 and Atletico won 2-0 at Getafe. Barça and Real are now level on 13 points at the top of the table, while Atleti can’t afford to fall much further adrift as they already trail by six.

Cristiano Ronaldo

It is been a whirlwind week for Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward scored his first goals for Juventus last weekend, before being sent off under controversial circumstances in the Champions League in midweek. He managed to get over the disappointment with the opening goal in Juve’s 2-0 against Frosinone.

Gonzalo Higuaín

Gonzalo Higuaín arrived at AC Milan to a lot of fanfare this summer. He failed to score in his first two matches, but has since found his feet. He opened his account against Cagliari last weekend, scored in the Europa League on Thursday and once again got on the score sheet with a sumptuous finish against Atalanta yesterday.

Losers:

Barcelona

Barcelona dropped their first points of the season as Cristhian Stuani’s double for Girona earned the visitors a draw at Camp Nou. The Catalans have lost their invincible status in the last few years and will not enjoy having Real breathing down their necks, despite it being early doors still.

Referees

The decision to send off Ronaldo in the Champions League was heavily debated, and that discourse is likely to continue following another couple of controversial red cards over the weekend. Clement Lenglet was dismissed for Barcelona, as was Borussia Dortmund’s Abdou Diallo, but both decisions once again split opinions.

Ajax

Ajax had a golden opportunity to either go top of Eredivisie, or at least avoid losing ground at the top when they played PSV Eindhoven yesterday. Erik ten Hag’s started the weekend two points behind PSV, but now find themselves significantly distant after losing 3-0 to their rivals.

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