Celta Vigo fought back with two late goals in quick succession to hold LaLiga leaders Barcelona to a highly entertaining 2-2 draw on Saturday.
It looked like Barca were cruising towards victory after they opened a two-goal lead thanks to strikes by captain Raphinha in the 15th minute and by Robert Lewandowski in the 61st, but the script changed after their midfielder Marc Casado was sent off due to a second-yellow card for a foul in the 82nd minute.
With Barca down to 10-men, the home side piled on the pressure and managed to score twice with strikes by substitute Alfonso Gonzalez and Hugo Alvarez in the 84th and 86th minutes respectively.
Barca top the LaLiga standings with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and seven ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who have two games in hand.
"We had the game under control, but the red-card really affected us," said midfielder Gavi, who was making his first start since suffering an ACL tear with Spain national team over a year ago.
"Celta put us away in two very specific actions, if you loose focus, this is what happens... We can't allow ourselves to have a player sent off because then those things happen."
"Their first goal was stupid. We have to clear the ball away. And with one man down it's difficult to get the three points. It's football and we have to learn..."
Gavi was referring to Barca defender Jules Kounde mishandling the ball on the edge of Barca's box that allowed Gonzalez to pounce and steal it before firing Celta's first past goalkeeper Inaki Pena.
Barca capitalised on a couple of bad mistakes by Celta defenders to score their goals in a game where the home-side were the dominant force.
Oscar Mingueza missed a header while trying to clear away a long ball from Kounde, allowing Raphinha to pounce and fire in the opener in the 15th minute.
Barca goalkeeper Pena made a string of saves to deny an equaliser and they were lucky not to go into the break a man down after Celta captain Iago Aspas was fouled with a tackle from behind by defender Gerard Martin, who already had a yellow card.
Celta players and coach asked for a second-yellow, but the referee only gave a verbal warning to the Barca academy player, while flashing a yellow to Aspas for complaining. A fuming Aspas had to be held back by his manager and team mates.
Another mistake by Mingueza allowed Barca to extend their lead in the 61st minute.
The distracted fullback lost possession to Raphinha, who passed to Lewandowski and the Polish striker eventually scored Barca's second.
However, Casado's two yellow cards in a seven-minute spell handed Celta an opportunity, with 21-year-old Alvarez equalising from close-range to rescue a point for the home side.
The result meant Barcelona are now winless in their last two games, following their 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad before the international break.
Atletico leave it late to beat Alaves in Simeone's 700th game
Diego Simeone's 700th game in charge of Atletico Madrid ended in a late 2-1 win over Deportivo Alaves in LaLiga after Alexander Sorloth rescued the home side with an 86th-minute winner at the Metropolitano Stadium on Saturday.
Alaves took an early lead from the penalty spot but Antoine Griezmann equalised in the 76th minute with a spot kick of their own before second-half substitute Sorloth bagged his fifth goal of the season to seal all three points.
Atletico provisionally moved up to second in LaLiga, four points behind leaders Barcelona who have two games in hand, while Alaves dropped to 16th.
"It's an incredible amount, 700 games. Congratulations to him. The result is for him and the supporters," said his son Giuliano, who livened things up in the second half and earned the man-of-the-match award in his father's landmark game.
"Alaves came here to compete and they fought hard, they made it difficult for us. That's the way they are, that's how they always play.
"I'm happy for what I was able to do when I came on but what's more important is that we won the game."
Atletico found themselves on the backfoot in the seventh minute when Javi Galan conceded a penalty with a handball when he had his arm raised to block a cross and Jon Guridi made no mistake from the spot when he sent Jan Oblak the wrong way.
The Metropolitano crowd fell silent after going 1-0 down but they found their voice when Griezmann set up Samuel Lino, who saw his shot smash into the crossbar before the visitors cleared the ball.
As Alaves stood firm in defence, a few boos and whistles could be heard as Atletico failed to make better use of their possession and played wasteful passes in the final third while Antonio Sivera was alert to danger and made several saves.
Simeone made two halftime substitutions with Giuliano and Sorloth coming on while Julian Alvarez was introduced at the hour mark, but Alaves' disciplined defence kept the home side at bay.
Giuliano galvanised their attack and he seemed to be everywhere, popping up on both flanks, and he nearly scored an equaliser from a counter-attack when he raced through on goal, only to see his shot saved by the outstretched leg of Sivera.
Atletico received a lifeline in the 74th minute when Sorloth's header hit the arm of defender Abdel Abqar to earn a penalty and although Sivera dived in the right direction, Griezmann's spot kick found the back of the net.
With a draw on the cards, Rodrigo De Paul spotted Sorloth making a run in behind and the Norwegian's thunderous strike squeezed in at the near post to give Atletico the win.
Miovski double helps Girona to crush Espanyol 4-1
Girona thrashed Espanyol 4-1 in LaLiga on Saturday thanks to a superb double from Bojan Miovski and goals from Bryan Gil and Ladislav Krejci.
Last season's surprise package Girona now sit fifth in the standings, level on 21 points with Mallorca, who lost 3-2 to Las Palmas. They face Austrian side Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Girona took an early lead when Gil unleashed a stunning long-range strike into the bottom corner of the net after the match had been halted for a few minutes after kick-off due to a fan being taken ill in the crowd.
The hosts continued to dominate and Gil capitalised on an Espanyol defensive error and crossed to Miovski, who doubled the lead on 16 minutes before the pair combined again to add the third goal five minutes later.
"The main thing was to win today, we wanted the three points and the team came out with tremendous aggression. I'm very happy because I'm coming from a heavy week, today a goal and two assists," Gil said.
"In the end Miovski needed the goals and I always try to support him to gain that confidence, today he scored two and I am very happy for him," he added.
The visitors looked on helplessly when Donny van de Beek's header from Yaser Asprilla's corner was pushed in by Krejci for the fourth in the 27th minute.
Espanyol got a consolation goal 10 minutes into the second half, however, when Javi Puado hit an unstoppable long-range strike that found the back of Paulo Gazzaniga's net.
Espanyol, who have not won away this season, are 19th and in the relegation zone with 10 points. They face Celta Vigo on Saturday, while Girona play Villarreal on Sunday.
Milan and Juventus play out dour scoreless draw at San Siro
AC Milan and Juventus played out a 0-0 draw in their Serie A meeting at the San Siro on Saturday, in a game light on entertainment and low on chances.
Juventus remain the only unbeaten side in Serie A but their seventh draw of the season means they remain sixth in the standings and are now three points behind leaders Inter Milan. Milan stay seventh, six points behind Juve, though they have played one game fewer.
Juventus, missing injured top scorer Dusan Vlahovic, opted to start without a recognised striker, with midfielders Weston McKennie and Teun Koopmeiners leading the line and while they were the more positive side, they never really threatened to score.
The visitors' manager Thiago Motta left it late to make any changes and the introduction of forward Timothy Weah 10 minutes from time failed to spark the game into life, with the final whistle greeted by a chorus of boos from the crowd.
Juventus were the livelier side in attack in the opening half but their only shot on target was a Federico Gatti effort from distance which did not trouble keeper Mike Maignan.
Milan's only real chance before the break came after the first corner of the match in added time, with Emerson Royal heading wide of the near post.
"We have to continue to play with patience," Motta told DAZN before the start of the second half, and his side remained true to his words.
Last month, Juventus came away from the San Siro with a point after a spectacular 4-4 draw with Inter but this match was the complete opposite as neither side ever really threatened to break the deadlock.
Khephren Thuram tried a curling shot from distance which fell into the arms of Maignan, and shortly afterwards Theo Hernandez played a Milan free kick short to Tijjani Reijnders who blasted a wild shot high over the bar.
A weak Hernandez header straight at the keeper in added time will count as Milan's only effort on target and the reaction from the crowd at the end summed up the game, a frustrating watch for both sets of fans.
Leverkusen's Schick scores hat-trick in comeback win over Heidenheim
Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick bagged a hat-trick on Saturday to help the German champions battle back from a two-goal deficit and crush Heidenheim 5-2 in the Bundesliga.
The Czech forward got the nod after Victor Boniface was ruled out with a muscle injury and he made the most of his chance as Leverkusen won their first match after three consecutive league draws.
It was only the second league win in their last seven games for Xabi Alonso's team, who won the domestic double last season undefeated. With the champions contesting eight matches in four weeks, including their German Cup clash against Bayern Munich on Dec. 3, they have to contend with a crammed schedule.
Leverkusen, who first take on RB Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday, are on 20 points in fourth place, nine off leaders Bayern Munich, 3-0 winners over Augsburg on Friday, and one behind RB Leipzig, who lost 4-3 against Hoffenheim to drop to third place.
Eintracht Frankfurt moved into second on 23 after their 1-0 win over Werder Bremen courtesy of a Mario Goetze goal.
Leverkusen got off to a nightmare start, however, looking far from fresh following the international break, and quickly found themselves two goals down.
They were completely taken by surprise when Niklas Dorsch's powerful shot put the visitors in front after 10 minutes.
Mathias Honsak made it look easy when he powered into the box, dribbled past three Leverkusen players and drilled in to double their lead in the 21st.
Leverkusen, however, quick bounced back with two goals of their own to level before going into the break.
Exequiel Palacios turned well in the box, firing in from a tight angle on the half-hour mark before Schick chipped over the Freiburg keeper in the 32nd to get on to the scoresheet and level.
Leverkusen completed their comeback seven minutes after the restart with Florian Wirtz cutting back and Schick beating his marker to flick in the hosts' third goal of the afternoon.
Nathan Tell then hit the woodwork a minute later as the hosts ramped up the pressure against deflated Heidenheim.
Schick completed his hat-trick, heading in a cross from Arthur in the 71st, and Granit Xhaka curled in their fifth goal from the edge of the box in the 82nd.
