Robert Lewandowski netted an impressive hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Celta Vigo, helping the Catalan side close the gap on Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Barça capitalised on Los Blancos' goalless draw at Rayo Vallecano to move within three points of the league leaders.
The Polish striker, who had made a brief substitute appearance last week after a month out with a muscle injury, scored his first goals for the club since late September.
Lamine Yamal was also on target, although Celta made it difficult for the Spanish giants, striking first-half goals through Sergio Carreira and Borja Iglesias.
English forward Marcus Rashford has also hit top form, now the leading assist maker in the league with five, after his Manchester United exit.
Real Madrid, still reeling from their midweek Champions League defeat to Liverpool, created few clear chances in the draw with Vallecano.
Elsewhere in Spain, Valencia held Real Betis to a 1-1 draw, with Luis Rioja cancelling out Cucho Hernández’s opener eight minutes from time, while Mallorca edged Getafe 1-0.
Nico Williams scored midway through the first half to give Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 win over bottom side Real Oviedo.
Robert Lewandowski netted a hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Celta Vigo
|REUTERS
Standings around Europe also changed as Inter Milan and AS Roma climbed to the top of Serie A in Italy, as struggling Napoli slipped up against Bologna.
The Italian champions, goalless in their last three games, fell behind to Thijs Dallinga’s early second-half strike before Jhon Lucumí’s header sealed a 2-0 win for the red and whites.
Inter and Roma both claimed 2-0 victories over Lazio and Udinese, respectively.
Lautaro Martínez opened the scoring for I Nerazzurri inside three minutes, with Ange-Yoan Bonny adding another just after the hour.
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Robert Lewandowski scored his first goals for the club since late September
|REUTERS
For Roma, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Mehmet Zeki Çelik found the net.
Pressure mounted on Atalanta boss Ivan Jurić after a 3-0 home defeat to Sassuolo, where Domenico Berardi struck twice, while a 2-2 draw between Fiorentina and Genoa did little to help either side.
In France, depleted Paris Saint-Germain snatched a last-gasp win for the second successive weekend to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1.
After their late triumph over Nice last Saturday, PSG repeated the feat against Lyon, with João Neves scoring in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 victory.
Real Madrid’s goalless draw at Rayo Vallecano closed the gap to only three points at the top of the table
|REUTERS
Lyon twice came from behind, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ stunning second-half equaliser looking to have earned them a point before the dramatic finale, which also saw Nicolas Tagliafico sent off.
The first half featured three goals in seven minutes: Warren Zaïre-Emery opened the scoring for PSG, Afonso Moreira equalised, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia restored the visitors’ lead.
Strasbourg climbed above Lille into fourth place with a 2-0 win over Les Dogues, courtesy of a brace from Emanuel Emegha.
Metz moved out of the bottom two with a 2-1 victory over Nice, Lorient drew 1-1 with Toulouse, and Angers beat last-placed Auxerre 2-0.
In the Bundesliga, Stuttgart rose to fourth with a 3-2 win over lowly Augsburg, Freiburg beat St Pauli 2-1, and Eintracht Frankfurt edged Mainz 1-0.
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