Robert Lewandowski scored two more goals to extend his league-leading tally to 12 and Barcelona routed Sevilla 5-1 to open a three-point gap on Real Madrid ahead of next weekend’s “clasico.”
Pedri and Pablo Torre also scored Sunday for the Catalan club, which restored its lead of La Liga a day after second-place Madrid won 2-1 at Celta Vigo.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi came off the bench to replace Pedri in the 83rd minute, making his return to action nearly a year after a serious knee injury.
“I had been dreaming about this moment for several months,” Gavi said. “It’s tough to watch from the outside. I have to enjoy every moment. I feel very lucky to be here today.”

Barcelona will play Madrid on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Both teams have Champions League matches midweek – Madrid hosts Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday and Barcelona hosts Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
“This was an important win considering the matches that we have ahead,” Pedri said. “We had to leave with a good feeling and the three points.”
Lewandowski scored twice in the first half against the visitors, first by converting a 24th-minute penalty kick and then by finding the net from close range in the 39th.
The Poland striker was coming off a hat trick at Alaves in the previous league round, and had scored twice in the team’s win over Young Boys in the Champions League. He has 14 goals in 11 matches in all competitions this season.
Lewandowski, who received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 65th, nearly got his hat track against Sevilla in a one-on-one situation in the first half.

Pedri scored with a curling shot from outside the area in the 28th and Torre added to the lead from inside the area in the 82nd and with a free kick in the 88th. Raphinha had a 49th-minute goal disallowed for offside.
Barcelona has outscored its league opponents 33-10 this season.
Sevilla, which had no attempts on target in the first half, scored its lone goal in the 87th with 19-year-old substitute Stanis Idumbo.
Barcelona also saw Lamine Yamal return from a muscle strain that saw him leave Spain’s squad during the international break.
Barcelona defender Eric Garcia hurt a muscle in the team’s warmup and did not play.
Atletico’s stadium partially closed Fewer fans than normal watched Atletico Madrid beat Leganes 3-1 in a match played in a partially closed stadium because of recent fan trouble.

Alexander Sorloth scored twice and Antoine Griezmann once after the visitors took the lead in the first half at the Metropolitano stadium, which had an empty fan section behind one of the goals as punishment after Atletico fans threw objects on the field during a city derby against Real Madrid last month.
The section is where the club’s more radical supporters usually gather.
Atletico had been originally ordered to close the section for three matches but appealed the decision and the punishment was reduced to a single match. The derby was interrupted for more than 15 minutes after fans threw the objects near Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in a game that ended 1-1.
Sunday’s victory, which ended Atletico’s three match winless streak in all competitions, moved Diego Simeone’s team to third place in the league. It trails Barcelona by seven points.
Atletico midfielder Pablo Barrios and defender Clement Lenglet both got injured.
Griezmann was sent off late in the game after he slid into an opponent, but the red card was changed to a yellow after video review.
Other results Villarreal is in fourth place after conceding an 87th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 draw against Getafe. Santiago Comesana had put the hosts ahead in the 44th.
Mallorca defeated visiting Rayo Vallecano 1-0 with a goal by Vedat Muriqi in the 75th. It was the fourth win in five matches for Mallorca, which moved to sixth place in the standings. Rayo stayed ninth.
Serie A: Lautaro Martinez keeps Inter on Napoli’s tail with Roma winner

Lautaro Martinez made sure that Inter Milan kept pace with Serie A leaders Napoli by netting the Italian champions’ only goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Roma.
Argentina striker Martinez lashed home his fourth goal of the season in all competitions on the hour mark after a poor clearance from Zeki Celik to give Inter a hard-fought win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Inter remain two points behind Napoli, 1-0 winners at Empoli, as Italy’s top four all won this weekend, with a huge match against Juventus at the San Siro coming up in a week’s time.
Before that Inter will try to continue their positive start to their Champions League campaign in Bern, where Simone Inzaghi’s side will take on Young Boys potentially without Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi who both forced off with injuries in the first half.
Inter will however be buoyed by a solid performance in the Italian capital which could have easily ended with a bigger win as Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar did well to charge off his line and keep out Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries.
“The boys played well… once we broke the deadlock we had chances to score again and should have,” said Inzaghi to DAZN.
“I’m very happy with what the boys showed me today.”
Roma meanwhile are lagging behind in 10th following a second league defeat of a what is already a troubled season for the capital club.
The match began in a strange atmosphere as Roma’s hardcore fans stayed outside the ground for the first 15 minutes in protest at the direction of the club under billionaire American owner Dan Friedkin.
Fans are still unhappy about idol Daniele De Rossi being sacked last month and frustrated by the management of Roma, who last qualified for the Champions League in 2018.
“We created chances but didn’t take advantage of them… to give away a goal the way we did in a match like this is a real shame because the team played well,” said Roma coach Ivan Juric.
Napoli hold lead
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck the only goal, and his fourth of the season, from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute to give Napoli their fourth straight win in all competitions.
Empoli beat Napoli home and away last season and their victory in Naples last November cost Rudi Garcia his job as coach, as a disastrous league title defence ended with southern Italy’s biggest club in 10th.
And the hosts were the better team for large portions of the match, with Kvaratskhelia’s winning spot-kick Napoli’s only shot on target in front of thousands of enthusiastic travelling supporters.
Napoli don’t have European football as a result of their collapse following a first Scudetto since 1990 and the days of Diego Maradona.
And under Antonio Conte Napoli have quickly re-established themselves as title challengers, with the advantage of not having the expanded Champions League jamming up their schedule.
“We’re trying to build something here, something that isn’t just a flash in the pan but lasts long-term,” said Conte to DAZN.
Lecce hit for six
Fiorentina hammered 10-man Lecce 6-0 to move up to fifth and six points behind Napoli with their best performance since Raffaele Palladino took over in the summer.
Braces from both Danilo Cataldi and Andrea Colpani, the latter’s first goals since following Palladino from Monza, drove Fiorentina to a thumping away win which also featured strikes from Lucas Beltran and Fabiano Parisi.
Fiorentina were helped by Antonino Gallo being harshly sent off for fouling Dodo with the score 2-0, the offence considered the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity despite the presence of other defenders.
Level on points with Fiorentina in sixth place are Atalanta who eased to a 2-0 win at bottom side Venezia thanks in large part to in-form striker Mateo Retegui.
Italy attacker Retegui helped Mario Pasalic open the scoring early on and then sealed the points two minutes after the break with a delightful chipped finish.
Retegui, who only signed for Atalanta after Gianluca Scamacca suffered a serious knee injury before the start of the season, leads the Serie A scoring charts with eight goals.
Young talent leads Union Berlin in Bundesliga
Young players made their mark as Union Berlin’s resurgence in the Bundesliga continued with a 2-0 win over struggling Holstein Kiel on Sunday.
Nineteen-year-old wing back Tom Rothe crossed for 20-year-old midfielder Aljoscha Kemlein to score his first senior goal with a header in the 18th minute. Rothe — who played a key role in Kiel earning promotion last season — made sure of the win when he headed in Union’s second goal at a corner in the 85th.
The win lifts Union to fifth in the Bundesliga, three points off leader Bayern Munich. Union recorded back-to-back wins in the league for the first time since February.
Union stunned German soccer by finishing fourth in the Bundesliga to qualify for the Champions League in 2023 but last season was a failure. Union was winless on its Champions League debut and finished 15th in the Bundesliga.
Promoted Kiel is in the relegation zone and is the only team yet to earn a point at home this season in the Bundesliga after losing its fourth home game in a row.
Also Sunday, Werder Bremen recovered from 1-0 down to beat Wolfsburg 4-2 and rise to eighth.
Tiago Tomas gave Wolfsburg the lead with his heel as the ball ricocheted around a packed penalty area, but Mitchell Weiser’s volley deep into first-half added time got Bremen back into the game. Second-half goals from Bremen’s Felix Agu, Marvin Ducksch and Marco Grüll secured the win.
Wolfsburg coach Ralph Hasenhüttl will also have to do without attacking midfielder Patrick Wimmer, who faces a suspension after being sent off for a desperate lunging tackle on Grüll.
Wolfsburg is 13th and has scored the opening goal in each of its last four Bundesliga games but won only one of them. It also has only one point in its four home games.
Ligue 1: Marseille return to form with Montpellier thrashing
Marseille got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thumping of Montpellier on Sunday to move within three points of Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
A fast start to the season had raised hopes of Marseille challenging for a first title since 2010 under Roberto De Zerbi before they dropped off with a defeat by Strasbourg and draw with Angers.
But OM were at their best at bottom club Montpellier, cutting the gap to PSG and Monaco who are separated by goal difference at the top of the table.
Marseille will have the chance to draw level on points with PSG when they host their rivals next Sunday.
“We know who we are, what our path is and what we still need to improve to reach their (PSG’s) level. But we will prepare to win, like in every match,” said De Zerbi, who took over at the Stade Velodrome in the close season after leaving Premier League club Brighton.
The visitors got off to a flying start in Montpellier, as Elye Wahi nodded home Jonathan Rowe’s header across goal in the first minute.
Amine Harit added a second in the 36th minute, before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg effectively wrapped up the points before half-time.
Mason Greenwood collected Wahi’s through ball and drove forward before picking out the bottom corner to score his first goal since August.
Luis Henrique completed the scoring with 17 minutes left after Montpellier youngster Stefan Dzodic had been sent off.
Montpellier sacked coach Michel Der Zakarian just a few minutes after the final whistle, with the team only on four points after eight matches.
“He is no longer the coach of the first team. Given the performance and the attitudes of this evening, I felt obliged to intervene,” said club president Laurent Nicollin.
Earlier Sunday, Lyon notched a third straight win with a 4-0 thrashing of Le Havre.
Reims missed a chance to climb into the top four as they lost 2-1 at Auxerre.