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Real Madrid clinch yet another Club World Cup title
Real Madrid lifted the FIFA Club World Cup for a record fourth time on Saturday after thrashing local side Al Ain 4-1 in the final in Abu Dhabi with the help of impressive distance strikes in either half from midfielders Luka Modric and Marcos Llorente.
Recently crowned Ballon d'Or winner Modric took one touch before thumping the ball into the bottom corner from outside the box to break the deadlock in the 14th minute after Al Ain had missed two early chances to take a shock lead.
Madrid's home-grown midfielder Marcos Llorente doubled the European champions' lead on the hour-mark with a superbly struck volley from outside the area.
Real captain Sergio Ramos grabbed his side's third goal with a powerful header from a corner before Al Ain, who shocked South American champions River Plate in the semi-finals, got a late consolation goal through Japanese defender Tsukasa Shiotani.
Madrid substitute Vinicius Jr. burst through in stoppage time and fired in a shot which defender Yahia Nader diverted into his own net.
Real have won the last three editions of the tournament, also lifting the trophy in 2014, and moved ahead of Barcelona as the team to have won it the most times.
"We're very happy, these players deserve this," said Real coach Santiago Solari after winning his first piece of silverware since replacing Julen Lopetegui in the dugout in October.
"This is the icing on the cake of winning the Champions League three years in a row. It's a great feat for the club, this group and the other coaches, and we can't forget we're here thanks to the work of Zinedine Zidane. It's going to be difficult for any team to do what this side has done."
Al Ain coach Zoran Mamic said Real were far too good for his side despite creating those early chances which forward Hussein El Shahat squandered, missing the target with one effort and seeing Ramos clear his shot off the line moments later.
"We have to congratulate Real Madrid because they won this game deservedly, by playing good football, and we couldn't compete with them," said the Croatian.
"It's the fourth game we've played in only a few days and it has taken its toll on us, but we have had a great tournament. No-one expected us to get to this point."
Barca ease past Celta to end year top of La Liga
La Liga champions Barcelona ensured they will end the year sitting top of the table by strolling to a comfortable 2-0 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday, inspired by another superb display from Lionel Messi.
Messi played a pivotal role in Ousmane Dembele opening the scoring against the Galicians in the 10th minute, firing a shot at goal which Celta's Ruben Blanco could only parry at the feet of the French forward, who squeezed the rebound through the goalkeeper's legs.
The Argentine then scored a sixth goal in three La Liga games to stretch his side's advantage on the stroke of halftime, latching onto a pass from Jordi Alba and producing an irresistible finish beyond Blanco just as he entered the area.
Celta had conceded 18 goals in their previous four visits to the Nou Camp and although they fared better in defence this time, they struggled to cause Barca many problems, particularly after Spain international and top scorer Iago Aspas went off injured early in the second half.
Barca lead the standings on 37 points, three ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid and six clear of Sevilla who play against Leganes on Sunday.
Real Madrid, who were crowned Club World Cup champions on Saturday by beating Al Ain 4-1, are eight points back from Barca in fourth place but with a game in hand.
Mandzukic on target as relentless Juve beat Roma
Juventus maintained their record-breaking start to the Serie A season with a 1-0 win over AS Roma that ensured they will go into the winter break on top of the table.
Mario Mandzukic struck a first-half winner to hand Juve their 16th win in 17 games, restoring their eight-point advantage over second-placed Napoli with two rounds to go before the halfway point of the season.
A 1-1 draw with Genoa in October is the only blot on Juventus's otherwise perfect record, which is the best start that has ever been made to a Serie A season and one that has only been matched in Europe's top five leagues byBarcelona in 2012-13 and Manchester City in 2017-18.
A trademark back-post header from Mandzukic opened the scoring on 35 minutes, as the Croatia international rose above Davide Santon to power the ball into the net.
Roma goalkeeper Robin Olsen made a string of saves to keep his side in the game, twice denying Cristiano Ronaldo in quick succession in the second half.
However, the capital club rarely threatened to find an equaliser and substitute Douglas Costa thought he had sealed the points for Juventus with his close-range finish in stoppage time, only for the goal to be disallowed for a foul in the build-up following a pitch-side VAR review.
Juventus sit on the summit of the table with 49 points from a possible 51, eight points clear of Napoli on 41, while the defeat sees Roma drop to 10th place and continues a poor run of form for Eusebio Di Francesco's side.
Roma have won just one of their last seven games and Saturday's defeat marked their eighth consecutive loss at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.
Athletic Bilbao's Aduriz scores jaw-dropping penalty
Struggling Athletic Bilbao's veteran striker Aritz Aduriz took the art of the audacious penalty to another level as he gave his side the lead against Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday.
With Bilbao mired in what looks like being a battle against relegation the 37-year-old showed no nerves as he took a one-step run-up and held his non-kicking foot still as he passed the ball from the spot into the corner on the stroke of halftime.
The goal was not enough to give Bilbao the win though, as Oscar Plano levelled for the visitors in stoppage time, leaving the Basque side hovering one point above the drop zone.
"Aduriz's penalty is something unprecedented, I have never seen anything like it in all my years in football," said former Spain and Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea on radio station Onda Cero.
Aduriz, the oldest player to have scored for the Spanish national team, is no stranger to cheeky penalties.
Earlier this month, when Athletic had not won a game since the opening day of the season and were drawing 0-0 with Girona in stoppage time, the striker converted a penalty in the style of former Czech player Antonin Panenka, calmly chipping the ball down the middle of the goal to snatch victory.
PSG return to winning ways with 1-0 triumph over Nantes
Paris St-Germain got back to winning ways in Ligue 1 on Saturday when a Kylian Mbappe goal gave them a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Nantes and condemned the visitors to their 15th straight loss against the capital club.
Mbappe, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Thursday, got his 13th goal of the season midway through the second half when he turned home a deflected corner from Angel Di Maria.
The French champions won their first 14 league games but then drew their next two and the three points at home to Nantes enabled them to extend their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 table to 13 points.
Second-place Lille fell further behind when they let a first-half lead slip at home to Toulouse.
Rafael Leao put Lille ahead after 17 minutes but two second-half penalties from Max-Alain Gradel gave Toulouse only their second league win in 13 games stretching back to the first day of September.
The third and fourth-placed sides, Olympique Lyonnais and Montpellier, also fell back when they drew 1-1.
Captain Nabil Fekir put the visitors from Lyon ahead after 67 minutes but Ruben Aguilar, with his first Ligue 1 goal in 47 games, evened the score for Montpellier nine minutes from the final whistle.
PSG now lead Ligue 1 with 47 points, 13 clear of Lille, 15 ahead of Lyon and 17 in front of Montpellier. The capital club have played 17 games, two fewer than Lille, one fewer than Lyon and the same as Montpellier.
At the other end of the table, Guingamp boosted their survival chances when they won 2-0 at fellow strugglers AS Monaco.
Two goals in seven minutes midway through the second half from Marcus Thuram and Nolan Roux gave Guingamp their first league win in 10 games.
It was not enough to lift them out of last place but they moved on to 11 points, two behind Thierry Henry's side.
Elsewhere, a brace from Jordan Siebatcheu helped Stade Rennais to a 4-0 win over Nimes, St-Etienne beat Dijon 3-0, and Strasbourg triumphed 2-0 at home to Nice.
Reims shared the points with Caen in a 2-2 draw and Olympique de Marseille drew 1-1 at Angers.
Bayern beat Eintracht with Ribery double, move into second spot
Franck Ribery scored twice for champions Bayern Munich to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 on Saturday and climb to second place, six points behind Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund at the start of the winter break.
The 35-year-old Frenchman tapped in his first goal in the 35th minute and added another in the 79th to take his tally to four goals in four league matches, with club bosses recently saying this was his last season at Bayern.
The Bavarians, who had half a dozen injured absentees, including Arjen Robben, James Rodriguez, Serge Gnabry and Mats Hummels, added a third goal with Rafinha in the 89th and are now on 36 points following their fifth straight league win.
Leaders Dortmund are top on 42 after beating Borussia Moenchengladbach, in third on 33, 2-1 on Friday. After Sunday's matches the season will resume on Jan. 18.
"We had a tough time earlier in the season but now you can see that we have improved a lot," Ribery told reporters. Bayern, who have won the last six league titles, had dropped to sixth a few weeks ago after a dip in form.
"I am very happy for my team. I have been here 12 years and that has always been the case. I work hard and will try to keep playing like that and then we will see what will happen next season."
Ribery has not confirmed he will be leaving at the end of the season and has hinted recently that he may try to stay on.
Frankfurt enjoyed a strong start with Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer coming to the rescue on several occasions before his Frankfurt counterpart Kevin Trapp made three superb saves to deny David Alaba, Javi Martinez and Thomas Mueller.
But Trapp was beaten when Mueller and Robert Lewandowski combined superbly outside the box to set up Ribery for the lead.
Mueller came close to a second goal a minute before the break but his header bounced off the crossbar.
Bayern tried to slow down the game but Frankfurt kept at it and Danny Da Costa should have levelled for the hosts from two metres out but instead fluffed his back-heel effort.
Ribery, however, played a fine one-two with Lewandowski a little later and despite mis-hitting his shot the ball went in off the post.
Another miskick from Rafinha sent the ball high over Trapp and into the net as Bayern sealed their win in Frankfurt with a lucky third goal and ended the Bundesliga year on a high.
