Robert Lewandowski’s 26-minute hat-trick steered La Liga leaders Barcelona three points clear of Real Madrid with an emphatic 3-0 win at Alaves on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid’s bid to bounce back from a heavy Champions League defeat fell short as Real Sociedad rescued a 1-1 draw thanks to Luka Sucic’s brilliant late strike.

Lewandowski reached 10 goals for the season in nine league games, stretching his lead as the division’s top goalscorer with a first-half treble.

Champions Madrid beat Villarreal on Saturday to pull level with Barcelona but the Catalans strolled to a comfortable triumph at Alaves’ Mendizorroza stadium to continue a strong start to the campaign under new coach Hansi Flick.

“I get a lot of good passes and so it’s easier for me to score goals,” Lewandowski told DAZN.

“Today in the first half we played well from the first minute, we wanted to attack and score goals.

“If you score three goals in the first half then in the second you can play with everything under control.”

Barca secured their eighth victory in nine La Liga matches by taking control from the start.

Lewandowski and winger Raphinha, in superb form this season, were Barcelona’s key players in a match they largely dominated.

The Brazil international had a goal disallowed for offside before setting up Lewandowski for the opener with an inviting free-kick, which the striker headed home.

Raphinha burst down the left wing for Barcelona’s second, crossing for the veteran Polish forward to knock in.

Lewandowski completed his hat-trick with a clinical finish across Sivera after collecting Eric Garcia’s pass.

The 36-year-old hitman looks far sharper than last season and has 12 goals in 11 games across all competitions.

“In front of goal (Lewandowski) is the best player, for me,” Flick told reporters.

“It’s amazing to score so many goals over such a period… I’m really happy with him and you can see he’s 100 percent fit, it’s perfect at the moment.

“I’m happy for Lewy but also the other team-mates are really supporting him very (well).”

Alaves had goals from Toni Martinez and Santiago Mourino ruled out for offside as they battled well in the second half but Barca held firm.

Atletico denied

Diego Simeone’s Atletico were thrashed 4-0 by Benfica on Wednesday but took a first-minute lead in San Sebastian against Real Sociedad.

Former Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez drilled home after Antoine Griezmann’s cute backheel into his path.

The Rojiblancos battled hard defensively to keep their advantage but Sucic looped a long-range effort over Jan Oblak in the 84th minute to secure the home side a point.

Atletico’s point took them third, level with Villarreal, but they trail leaders Barcelona by seven, while Real Sociedad are 15th.

“We scored the goal, the team worked well defensively, we didn’t allow a team that plays well (to create) much danger,” Simeone told DAZN.

“Look at their goal, a great strike, and that’s about it, I think a draw was fair.”

Sevilla shaded a derby clash against Real Betis 1-0 while Girona snatched a late 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Dodi Lukebakio’s penalty was enough to pull Sevilla up to 12th, level on points with derby rivals Betis.

The winger converted from the spot in the 50th minute after a handball by Diego Llorente, who was furious with the decision.

“I just ask for respect, we work like mad every week and there are referees who lie to our faces,” said Llorente, who said the referee had claimed the defender’s arm was in a raised position.

Veteran Sevilla winger Jesus Navas, 38, played in his 28th and final Seville derby, becoming the player with the most appearances in the fixture – one more than Betis great Joaquin.

Earlier Girona snatched a late win over sixth-placed Athletic Bilbao in an entertaining clash.

Cristhian Stuani converted a late penalty to earn three points for last season’s surprise package, who are currently 11th after a difficult start this season.

Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saved two penalties, denying Alex Berenguer and then Ander Herrera.

Serie A: AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea’s penalty heroics

AC Milan slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina on Sunday after having two penalties saved by star man David De Gea, while Juventus fell further behind Serie A leaders Napoli on a day of spot-kick drama.

Albert Gudmundsson lashed home the decisive goal in the 73rd minute of a match in Florence which was packed with drama and featured three failed attempts from the penalty spot.

The 27-year-old’s winner was made possible by De Gea pulling off two incredible stops to deny Theo Hernandez and then Tammy Abraham from scoring penalties in a superb display from the former Spain goalkeeper.

Started in Spain, made in Manchester, loving it in Italy 💜 pic.twitter.com/kpvgMOygF7

— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) October 6, 2024

Those saves contributed to Milan missing the chance to move second above champions Inter Milan and Juventus, with the latter held 1-1 by Cagliari due to Razvan Marin’s late penalty.

“We need to work out why we played the way we did because at times we did well but we couldn’t keep it up over the course of the match,” said Milan defender Matteo Gabbia, who received his first Italy call-up on Friday.

Instead Milan, who did level Yacine Aldi’s first-half opener for Fiorentina when Christian Pulisic deftly guided home Hernandez’s cross on the hour, sit sixth and five points behind Napoli.

Adli’s opener came in the 35th minute, after Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan made the first penalty save of the evening, easily keeping out Moise Kean’s weak effort after Hernandez was penalised for kicking Dodo.

Italy international Kean had a tough night, missing a series of chances, having two goals rightly ruled out for offside and thumping the crossbar with a rocket in stoppage time, but he did provide the knockdown from which Gudmundsson won a thrilling contest.

Juve slip up

Marin lashed home the 88th-minute penalty which gave Cagliari a point at the Allianz Stadium after Roberto Piccoli was clumsily brought down by Douglas Luiz.

Romania midfielder Marin’s arrowed penalty levelled Dusan Vlahovic’s 15th-minute spot-kick and moved Cagliari a point above the relegation zone.

It was the first goal conceded by Juve in Serie A this season and left Thiago Motta’s third-placed side three points behind Napoli.

“We created a few opportunities but there was always the feeling that Cagliari could get back into the game,” said Motta.

“What happened today is all our own fault.”

Cagliari could have even snatched a last-gasp win as Adam Obert thumped the post in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with Juve down to 10 men following Francisco Conceicao’s sending off almost immediately after Marin’s equaliser for trying to win a penalty by simulating a foul.

Juventus would have almost certainly had the full three points had Vlahovic not wasted a huge chance in the 78th minute in front of Paul Pogba, who was in the stands after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided on Friday to cut his doping ban from four years to 18 months.

France midfielder Pogba can return to action in March but sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli gave the impression that the 31-year-old has no future at Juve.

“We’ll make our decision once the CAS decision has been made official. He was a great footballer but he hasn’t played for a long time,” Giuntoli said pre-match.

Roma demand ‘respect’

Juve have been joined on 13 points by their next opponents Lazio, who are fourth after winning their fourth straight match in all competitions, 2-1 over Empoli.

Roma’s sporting director Florent Ghisolfi meanwhile demanded “respect” for his team after the capital club were denied a late penalty during their 1-1 draw at Monza.

Georgios Kyriakopoulos’ 87th-minute challenge on Tommaso Baldanzi, which was if anything worse than Douglas Luiz’s on Piccoli, sparked a furious reaction from Roma’s players on the pitch and Ghisolfi later vented his frustration to Sky.

“What happened today was unacceptable, it was a clear penalty. Why did VAR not intervene?” said the Frenchman.

“There is a huge amount of frustration in the dressing room. We demand respect.”

Bologna’s difficult start to life under Vincenzo Italiano continued with a goalless draw against 10-man Parma.

Bundesliga: Marmoush double denies Bayern outright top spot

Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush scored twice, including an injury-time equaliser to secure a 3-3 draw for Eintracht Frankfurt and deny Bayern Munich a two-point cushion at the top of the Bundesliga on Sunday.

Marmoush’s strike sparked wild scenes in Frankfurt, who ensure Bayern go into the international break ahead of RB Leipzig only on goal difference after the Red Bull outfit won 1-0 at Heidenheim earlier.

Bayern had been closing out a 3-2 win but Marmoush raced clear in the fourth of six additional minutes and the 25-year-old punished slack Bayern defending to settle a thriller.

The marvellous Marmoush!✨#MD6 sees @Eintracht_Eng take on league leaders @FCBayernEN , @awscloud‘s #BundesligaMatchFacts puts in-form @OmarMarmoush under the microscope!🔥🔬 pic.twitter.com/yyv9tbSZu3

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) October 2, 2024

Frankfurt are now on 13 points, only a point behind the joint leaders, and stretch their unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions under coach Dino Toppmoeller.

Bayern central defender Min-Jae Kim scored the opener after Thomas Mueller showed great awareness to roll the ball back to the Korean from a corner, allowing the defender to fire into the roof of the net.

It was only Kim’s second goal as a Bayern player, but Bayern were undone by Frankfurt’s first meaningful attack of the game, coming on the counter-attack and completely against the run of play.

Ansgar Knauff made it, sliding the ball through Aleksandar Pavlovic’s legs to find Marmoush, whose first touch got him away from the chasing Joshua Kimmich and he shot past Manuel Neuer with his second.

Thirteen minutes later, Frankfurt had flipped the game on its head to take a 2-1 lead. Marmoush turned provider, picking out Hugo Ekitike, with the Frenchman doing the rest with a clinical finish.

Marmoush is the Bundesliga’s top scorer this season with eight goals in six games, three more than Bayern’s Harry Kane.

Olise’s strong start

But Frankfurt’s lead lasted only three minutes. Dayot Upamecano stabbed the ball in after Serge Gnabry had stretched the Frankfurt defence.

This absorbing contest lurched back Bayern’s way in the 53rd minute when Michael Olise continued his fine start to life in Germany.

The London-born Frenchman found the bottom corner from the edge of the box after Kane had flicked Raphael Guerreiro’s pass into Olise’s path, before Marmoush ensured a share of the points.

Mueller said Bayern should have won.

“We would probably win 13 out of 15 such games,” he said. “It was a pleasure to see how we tied down the opponent, because we had a lot of chances to score.”

Earlier, Leipzig had out their noses in front at the top of the table with victory in Heidenheim. Ikoma Openda scored the only goal and the Belgian spoke of the team’s togetherness after a fourth straight clean sheet in the league.

“We are really strong together. Our objective is to be strong, to be like a family, like a team, and to show it on the pitch. That’s what we’ve shown since the start of the season,” Openda told DAZN.

Heidenheim came into the game eighth place and frustrated Leipzig for long periods.

It was only at the end of the half that Heidenheim goalkeeper Kevin Mueller was called into action to deny Xavi Simons, who breached the hosts’ defence but failed to make a proper connection, with the on-rushing Mueller smothering.

But Leipzig found another gear just before the hour mark, slicing through the Heidenheim defence.

The 19-year-old Norwegian Antonio Nusa was the architect, spotting Openda’s run with a perfect pass which Openda took in his stride before firing in at the near post.

Openda, who also scored the winner when these teams met in April, struck the post a couple of minutes from time and Leipzig had to survive some late Heidenheim pressure to secure the points.

In the final Bundesliga game before the international break, lowly Stuttgart substitute Ermedin Demirovic scored a 100th minute equaliser to deny Hoffenheim – but the dropped points keep Stuttgart out of the top six.

French defender Valentin Gendrey had given Hoffenheim the lead in the final minute of the first half but the visitors couldn’t hang on for a much-needed three points, with Demirovic’s late penalty saved but the Bosnian scored on the rebound.

Reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Holstein Kiel on Saturday and lie fifth.