BARCELONA WON FOR the fifth time in their 11-game old La Liga campaign and Lionel Messi was the difference between them and struggling Levante.
Levante sit 18th while Barca move up to eighth thanks to the Argentine’s strike 14 minutes from time.
Messi’s angled drive, his eighth goal of the season, ensures Ronald Koeman’s side bounce back after defeats to Juventus and Cadiz over the past wee.
Meanwhile, in France Tino Kadewere earned Lyon their first win away to Paris Saint-Germain since 2007 as tonight’s 1-0 victory in the French capital allowed Lille to climb to the Ligue 1 summit.
The Zimbabwe striker’s first-half goal secured a seventh win in eight games for in-form Lyon as they moved level on points with Lille, who beat Bordeaux 2-1 at home earlier in the day.
PSG dropped to third after losing for the fourth time in 14 matches this season and face the prospect of a genuine title race with the top five teams separated by just three points.
Thomas Tuchel’s side trail the leading duo by a point with Marseille, who have two games in hand on their rivals, another point back in fourth alongside Montpellier.
Cristiano Ronaldo marked his 100th game for Juventus with a pair of penalties in a 3-1 success over Genoa as the champions closed the gap on Serie A leaders AC Milan who were held at home against Parma.
French defender Theo Hernandez’s brace rescued a point at the death for AC Milan who came from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Parma in the San Siro.
Milan’s lead on second-placed Inter was cut to three points after Antonio Conte’s side staged a 3-1 comeback win at Cagliari.
Napoli, in third, are a further point adrift after beating Sampdoria 2-1, equal on points with nine-time reigning champions Juventus.
Playing without injured top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Milan had looked set for their first league defeat this season.
Hakan Calhanoglu rattled the woodwork three times with Brahim Diaz also hitting the post for the hosts before Hernani put Parma ahead after quarter of an hour in the San Siro.
The Brazilian midfielder then set up Jasmin Kurtic for the second after 56 minutes.
But two minutes later Hernandez headed in off a Calhanoglu corner with the French defender adding a second in injury time.
In Genoa, Paulo Dybala got his first league goal of the season for Juventus in the 57th minute and Ronaldo sealing the points with two late strikes from the spot after Stefano Sturaro had levelled for the hosts after an hour.
The Portuguese forward’s goals have taken him level with AC Milan star Ibrahimovic as leading scorer in Serie A with 10 goals this season, for a total of 79 since joining Juventus in 2018.
