Barcelona lost ground on La Liga leaders Real Madrid when their 11-match winning streak was snapped by Malaga, while Premier League pacesetters Chelsea dropped points at home to Burnley.
Bayern Munich enjoyed a second-successive goalrush in the Bundesliga after routing Paderborn 6-0 while AS Roma lost ground to Serie A leaders Juventus after yet another draw. This and more from the happenings in the world of football over the weekend.
Alves error ends Barca's winning streak
Barcelona's 11-match winning streak came to an end on Saturday when Malaga pounced on a bad mistake by defender Dani Alves to score a shock 1-0 win in La Liga.
The surprise result allowed Real Madrid, who won 2-0 at Elche on Sunday thanks to goals by Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo, to open up a four-point lead at the top.
Seventh-placed Malaga grabbed the only goal when Alves tried to nonchalantly sidefoot a back pass to his keeper but Juanmi nipped in and rounded stopper Claudio Bravo before slotting the ball into an empty net after seven minutes.
Lionel Messi had scored 12 goals in the previous eight games but could not provide a spark as Barca failed to win a match for the first time since Jan. 4.
Antoine Griezmann struck twice as Atletico Madrid produced a devastating performance to sweep Almeria aside 3-0 and move within three points of Barca.
Chelsea held; City down Newcastle
Leaders Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Burnley as rivals Manchester City thrashed Newcastle United 5-0 to give the Premier League title race a new lease of life at the weekend.
Fuming Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side had Nemanja Matic sent off for retaliating to an awful challenge from Burnley's Ashley Barnes and the hosts were also denied two strong penalty claims.
Second-placed City exposed Newcastle's failings with a David Silva double among the highlights of a crushing win that reduced their deficit at the top of the standings to five points.
Arsenal are third thanks to a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace while struggling Manchester United slipped to fourth after losing by the same score at Swansea City.
Liverpool are a point behind fifth-placed Southampton after beating them 2-0 away while Tottenham Hotspur stayed in touch with a 2-2 draw at home to London rivals West Ham United thanks to a controversial last-gasp goal by striker Harry Kane.
Bayern trounce Paderborn
Leaders Bayern Munich demolished Paderborn 6-0 with Robert Lewandowski and Arjen Robben scoring twice each as they bounced back from their goalless Champions League draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.
The Bavarians, in a class of their own in the Bundesliga after scoring 14 goals and conceding none in their last two league games, are eight points clear at the top.
Second-placed VfL Wolfsburg beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 with two goals from in-form striker Bas Dost, who has netted seven times in the last three league games.
They are 10 points clear of third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, who rescued a 1-1 draw at Hamburg SV courtesy of a 90th minute Branimir Hrgota equaliser
Borussia Dortmund edged VfB Stuttgart 3-2 to record their third consecutive win and climb into 12th place.
Nani weeps with emotion after 30-metre goal
Nani wept with emotion after scoring an outrageous 30-metre goal for Sporting Lisbon in their 2-0 over Gil Vicente on Sunday.
The Portugal winger, on loan from Manchester United, controlled a throw in with his head and then unleashed a vicious, dipping shot which flew into the top corner, midway through the second-half.
The 28-year-old was overcome with emotion, clearly weeping as he was mobbed by his team mates
"It was a goal like any other," he told reporters. "I received the ball, saw the goal, shot and I was lucky."
"I thought about myself and everything that I have gone through," added Nani, who was born in Cape Verde and had a tough upbringing in Lisbon after his family emigrated to Portugal. "It's personal stuff, that nobody knows about."
Junya Tanaka had opened Sporting's account when he bundled the ball home with his thigh following a corner early in the second half.
Sporting are third in the table with 47 points, nine behind Benfica who beat Moreirense 3-1 away on Saturday. Second-placed Porto (49) face Boavista on Monday.
Fekir on target as Lyon reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
Olympique Lyonnais reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 when Nabil Fekir's second-half goal earned them a 1-0 victory against Nantes on Sunday.
Fekir, who is still undecided on whether to represent France or Algeria internationally, struck in the 67th minute to put Lyon on 54 points from 26 games.
"It was an important game after Paris won yesterday. It was not perfect but we're back on top and we're happy," Fekir told BeIN Sport.
Lyon lead second-placed Paris St Germain, who beat Toulouse 3-1 on Saturday, by two points.
Olympique de Marseille are third on 50 points after Mevlut Erding's injury-time goal salvaged a 2-2 draw for hosts St Etienne.
Les Verts are fifth on 42 points.
Roma lose more ground after yet another draw
AS Roma drew for the sixth time in their last seven league games when they were held 1-1 at lowly Verona on Sunday, losing yet more ground on leaders Juventus in a chaotic Serie A programme.
Roma started well and stalwart Francesco Totti gave them the lead in the 26th minute with a 25-metre shot which bounced in front of goalkeeper Francesco Benussi.
Verona levelled before halftime when Bosko Jankovic's header took a deflection off Seydou Keita and left Morgan De Sanctis completely stranded.
Antonio Candreva capped the weekend's bizarre sequence of events when he scored a spectacular winner to give Lazio a 2-1 success over Palermo, only to injure himself as he tried to climb the fence to celebrate with fans.
Bottom club Parma's match at home to Udinese was postponed by the Italian federation (FIGC) on Friday because the cash-strapped hosts, who have not paid their players all season, could not afford stewards or policing.
Meanwhile, the Sampdoria-Genoa derby on Saturday was postponed minutes before kickoff due to a waterlogged pitch and will now be played on Tuesday.
Roma's draw left them with 48 points from 24 games, nine behind Juventus who beat Atalanta 2-1 on Friday.
Roma host Juve in their next game on March 2 while third-placed Napoli (42 points) host Sassuolo on Monday (1800).
AC Milan eased some of the pressure on beleaguered coach Filippo Inzaghi with a 2-0 home win over lowly Cesena, moving up to joint eighth alongside Palermo and Torino.
Eindhoven beat Dordrecht
PSV Eindhoven beat bottom side FC Dordrecht 3-0 to stretch their runaway lead at the top of the Dutch league to 14 points as second-placed Ajax Amsterdam were held to a goalless draw at Willem II Tilburg.
PSV found it difficult to dominate struggling visitors Dordrecht, who fired their coach after a big loss last weekend, but still emerged as comfortable winners to reach 64 points.
Ajax, who were aiming to become the first club to win five successive Dutch championships, dropped points at Tilburg, who might have won had they not squandered a late chance.
The Amsterdam side have 50 points from 24 games, with 10 left to play.
Olympiakos Piraeus lose
Panathinaikos blew the Greek Super League title race wide open by beating leaders and arch rivals Olympiakos Piraeus 2-1 in a top-of-the-table clash on Sunday.
An own goal by Olympiakos left back Arthur Masuaku four minutes after halftime and a Mladen Petric goal in the 78th saw Giannis Anastasiou’s team claim the spoils.
The win means Panathinaikos, who now have 55 points from 25 games, have moved within three points of Vitor Pereira’s Olympiakos team with nine matches to play.
