Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw at struggling Osasuna on Saturday evening, failing to overcome the unforgiving conditions amid persistent snow and passing up the chance to go clear at the top of La Liga.
Zinedine Zidane’s side were held up on the runway in Madrid for four hours the day before the game due to a snowstorm and things did not get any easier for them when they kicked off on the snowy pitch at the El Sadar Stadium.
The closest they came to finding a breakthrough was when Karim Benzema had two goals ruled out for offside in the second half, while they were fortunate not to concede. The draw kept the champions second on 37 points, one behind the leaders, Atlético Madrid. Osasuna, who got their tactics spot-on, stay 19th.
Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann each scored twice as Barcelona thrashed Granada 4-0 away earlier on Saturday to win a third consecutive La Liga game for the first time this season.
Griezmann opened the scoring in the 12th minute while Messi struck twice before the break to make it four goals in his last two matches and go top of the league’s scoring charts with 11 goals. Griezmann scored a classy second goal after half-time while things got worse for Granada when Jesus Vallejo was sent off in the 78th minute for clattering into the Barça substitute Martin Braithwaite.
The victory took Barca back into third place in the table with 34 points, closing the gap with Atlético to four points. However, the leaders, whose game with Athletic Bilbao was postponed due to heavy snow in the Spanish capital, have three matches in hand.
Milan went four points clear at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Torino as Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his comeback from injury. The league leaders’ 27-match unbeaten run was ended by Juventus on Wednesday, but they showed little sign of dwelling on the result as a Rafael Leão strike and Franck Kessié penalty gave the hosts a commanding lead by half-time.
Ibrahimovic came on as a substitute for the final five minutes to make his first appearance since suffering an injury against Napoli in late November. The result leaves Milan on 40 points, four ahead of rivals Inter, who travel to third-placed Roma on Sunday. Torino, whose four-match unbeaten run came to an end, remain in 19th place on 12 points, two adrift of the safety zone.
Atalanta’s Josip Ilicic put on a masterclass to inspire his side to a 4-1 win at Benevento and move them up to provisional fourth place. The Slovenian forward put the visitors ahead on the half-hour after skipping between two defenders in the box and firing through another’s legs to wrongfoot goalkeeper Lorenzo Montipò. The unmarked Marco Sau equalised for the hosts against the run of play early in the second half.
Ilicic helped Atalanta back in front in the 69th minnute as he played a one-two on the edge of the area with Cristian Romero before striking a shot that Montipò could only parry into the path of Rafael Tolói for a tap-in. Duvan Zapata and substitute Luis Muriel completed the scoring.
Genoa’s revival continued as they beat Bologna 2-0 with goals from Miha Zajc and Mattia Destro to climb out of the relegation zone and record their first home league win since September.
Borussia Dortmund scored three times in the second half, twice through Erling Haaland and once through Jadon Sancho, to beat hosts RB Leipzig 3-1 and cut the gap to the top spots in the Bundesliga.
After a toothless first half Dortmund improved after the break, taking the lead when Haaland charged down the wing and Marco Reus flicked his cross on with his back heel for Sancho to fire in.
Haaland got on to the scoresheet, heading in a Sancho cross at the far post after launching the move himself in the 72nd minute. And the Norway international grabbed a second goal six minutes from the end when he was sent through by Reus to round Peter Gulacsi before Leipzig scored in the 90th thanks to Alexander Sørloth.
Dortmund are fourth on 28 points, five off leaders Bayern Munich, who lost 3-2 at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday. Leipzig, who suffered their first home loss of the season, are in second place on 31.
Mauricio Pochettino claimed his first win with Paris Saint-Germain as the French champions edged closer to the top of the Ligue 1 table by beating Brest 3-0 at home. PSG prevailed through goals by Moise Kean, Mauro Icardi and Pablo Sarabia to be on 39 points from 19 games, one point behind Lyon who salvaged a 2-2 draw at Rennes.
Lille are third behind second-placed PSG on goal difference after Burak Yilmaz’s goal earned them a 1-0 victory at bottom club Nimes. Monaco moved up to fourth on 33 points with a 3-0 home victory against Angers.
