Winning: Robert Lewandowski and Barcelona
Robert Lewandowski secured his team's victory over Deportivo Alaves and saw off Kylian Mbappe in the goalscoring standings. His only goal of the match gave three points to the Pride of Catalonia, who moved four points behind Real Madrid in the LaLiga table and are starting to put pressure on Carlo Ancelotti's side again.
Lewandowski has now scored his 18th goal of the league season. His main rival in the chase for the Pichichi Kylian Mbappe currently has 15 strikes to his credit. These are still not the days of Leo Messi's rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, but Spanish football fans are certainly rubbing their hands.
It's going to be a fascinating battle for the title and the King of Scorers crown, with the Pole 10 years older than the Frenchman leading the way. Will experience beat youth? Or has Mbappe only shifted into third gear?
Loser: Real Madrid
Real Madrid can definitely be counted among the losers of the weekend, and not only because of the final result against Espanyol. Madrid fell to a 1-0 defeat and, with victories for Atletico and Barcelona, their lead in the LaLiga table has severely diminished. They already have only a point more than their local rival and are four ahead of the Blaugrana.
In addition, Los Blancos have lost their defensive leader. Antonio Rudiger is out of action for the next ten days or so, which means he will not play in the important cup and LaLiga matches and will also definitely miss the first Champions League clash against Manchester City.
The German will be doing everything he can to make it in time for the second leg. This is a huge problem for Ancelotti, who has long pointed out that his team need to improve their defensive play anyway.
Winner: Arsenal
Arsenal recorded a stunning victory in the 24th round of the Premier League. The Gunners smashed Manchester City in front of their home crowd, scoring as many as five goals against them. With this result, they have kept themselves firmly in the title race - although Liverpool still have a strong lead.
The Gunners scored five goals against Manchester City in front of their home crowd for the second time in the 21st century. The last such match was on October 28th, 2000, when Arsenal won 5-0.
Losers: Manchester clubs
And who have we got here? Fans of the Manchester clubs have little to cheer about this season. Both the red and blue sides of the city have been disappointing. Their situation in the table is vastly different, but the level of dissatisfaction and frustration among fans may be at a similar level.
City have spoilt their fans with successive league titles in recent years, but this year has been a struggle. After a 5-1 defeat to Arsenal, they sit in fourth place, already fifteen points behind Liverpool and with the prospect of missing out on the Champions League next season.
United, on the other hand, have been in a streak of sheer misery for many years, but in this campaign, they are getting worse and not even a change of coach has helped. The Red Devils were beaten 2-0 at home by Crystal Palace, and on top of that, they lost Lisandro Martinez to a serious knee injury, who has been one of the team's brighter points in recent times.
Amorim's side sit 13th in the Premier League table and eleven points behind sixth-placed Chelsea and twelve ahead of the relegation zone.
Winner: Krzysztof Piatek
Do you remember 'Pio, Pio' and the famous pistol carnage? Krzysztof Piatek continued his sensational form last weekend and consolidated his lead in the Super Lig scorers' standings. The Pole scored a hat-trick against Samsunspor, which takes him to 18 goals in this league season. That is one more than he scored in the entire previous campaign, and he has done it in just 20 games.
Currently, Piatek currently leads several global stars in the race for the top goalscorer award. Behind him are: Victor Osimhen (12 goals), Edin Dżeko (12 goals) and Ciro Immobile (10 goals). The Polish national team striker is experiencing by far his best time since his first season in Serie A when he scored a total of 22 goals in the colours of Genoa and Milan.
Loser: Referee Erwin Blank
A bizarre and unprecedented situation occurred in the match between Heerenveen and Fortuna Sittard in the 21st round of the Eredivisie. Towards the end of the match, the visitors were playing with 12 men. The whole situation lasted 25 seconds, but if it wasn't for the reaction of Heerenveen coach Robin van Persie, we don't know when Erwin Blank would have noticed that something was wrong.
At that point, Heerenveen were leading 2-1 and the match eventually ended in a draw, but the hosts promised that they would not leave this situation without consequences. "Twelve against eleven. I didn't know it was allowed, but apparently it can be done," Van Persie said after the match.
"We have asked the referees and clubs for statements on the exact events," wrote the KNVB on its website. "On the basis of these statements we will seek advice from the IFAB. After receiving this advice, the board of the professional football league will take a decision."
Winner: Randal Kolo Muani
Imagine a situation like this. You play little, you want to change club. After many long negotiations, you finally get the chance to go on loan to another European team. The evening flight is already supposed to be the last stop, but it turns out that unexpected administrative problems follow. Eventually, the formalities are dealt with positively, but the subsequent stress and nervous waiting can certainly affect your mental state.
However, Randal Kolo Muani showed that the hunger to score goals is stronger than all minor and major obstacles. The Frenchman entered the Juventus line-up immediately, scoring three goals in two games.
Thanks to his double, Juve may have avoided another points loss and defeat, instead moving up temporarily to fourth place in the table. In addition, his strikes had a mobilising effect on Dusan Vlahovic, who had not scored in his previous seven games but bagged off the bench. Was Kolo Muani the missing piece of Thiago Motta's puzzle?
Loser: Riots in Recife
Explosive charges, fights, escapes and numerous acts of vandalism. All of this was witnessed by the residents of Recife in Brazil, where there was considerable unrest on Saturday. It involved fans of two feuding clubs, Sport Club do Recife and Santa Cruz Futebol Clube. According to the Secretariat of Social Defence, 14 people were detained. Another 12 participants were injured, all of whom were treated at the Hospital da Restauracao.
Pernambuco state authorities immediately punished both clubs by ordering them to play with empty stands in the next five matches. Governor Raquel Lyra justified the decision on the need to register fans during this period. According to her, the government will require both groups to use facial recognition technology. "Such cases can no longer be tolerated in this state," the official said.
Interestingly, both clubs reacted differently to the ban. Representatives of Sport Club do Recife said that clubs cannot be penalised for the antics of fans and called on the services to be more responsible. Rivals Santa Cruz Futebol Clube were more humble, condemning all acts of fan violence and placing themselves at the disposal of the authorities to find solutions and eradicate football-related violence in Pernambuco once and for all. Everyone is rooting for them to succeed.