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Barcelona returned to the top of La Liga with a 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Levante as Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and substitute Fermín López struck at Camp Nou.
Last season’s champions moved to 61 points from 25 games, one ahead of Real Madrid after their rivals’ defeat by Osasuna on Saturday. Barça had slipped to second following last week’s 2-1 loss to Girona but rarely looked troubled by a Levante side second from bottom on 18 points.
Hansi Flick’s team led in the fourth minute when 18-year-old Bernal slid in from close range after Eric García surged down the left and crossed low. De Jong made it 2-0 in the 32nd, arriving unmarked to turn in João Cancelo’s arching cross, also from the left.
Barcelona controlled the second half, with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha missing chances before López came off the bench to seal it, drilling a left-foot shot from the edge of the box in off the post in the 81st minute.
In Serie A, Atalanta’s Lazar Samardzic scored a late winner at home as they fought back to beat third-placed visitors Napoli 2-1, extending their unbeaten league run to nine games. Napoli’s loss in their last five league games at Atalanta left them 14 points adrift of leaders Inter.
Napoli struck first when Rasmus Højlund, on loan from Manchester United, won a free-kick just outside the box. Miguel Gutiérrez’s left-footed free-kick curled into the goalmouth for the unmarked Sam Beukema to head home in the 18th minute.
Napoli’s Alisson Santos found the net not long after but was offside and Kamaldeen Sulemana’s push for a first-half equaliser was thwarted by Milinkovic-Savic, who kept out two shots from the Ghana international with a diving save and a block.
However, the hosts would not be denied and Pasalic headed into the net from Nicola Zalewski’s corner, bringing Atalanta level in the 61st minute.
But Samardzic had the final say, when he found the far post from Lorenzo Bernasconi’s cross in the 81st minute.
Genoa eased their relegation fears with a 3-0 home victory over 10-man Torino, overtaking their opponents in the process. First-half foals from London-born Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Caleb Ekuban came before Emirhan Ilkhan’s red card on the stroke of half-time. The hosts’ Brazilian forward Junior Messias then made the points safe seven minutes from time.
Later on Sunday in Italy, Milan will attempt to narrow the gulf to Inter, when they host Parma. In the late game, Roma welcome Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese to the Stadio Olimpico.
In Germany, Matthias Ginter and Igor Matanovic scored as Freiburg beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1.
Ginter struck in the 38th minute when he flung himself at the ball after a long throw in to acrobatically steer it in despite the attention of Mönchengladbach defender Joe Scally. Ginter, who previously spent five seasons at Sunday’s opponents, restrained his celebrations.
Matanovic had no such reticence after scoring Freiburg’s second goal in the 74th when he had a simple tap-in after Moritz Nicolas’s save from Maximilian Eggestein’s cross.
Haris Tabakovic pulled one back late for visitors Mönchengladbach, just a minute after having another goal ruled out for offside.
Freiburg stretched their winning streak at home to five games across all competitions, while Gladbach’s winless run stretched to seven matches.
Stuttgart hope to consolidate fourth place for Champions League qualification with a win at last-place Heidenheim later Sunday, while Werder Bremen visit St Pauli in a relegation duel.
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