SPANISH LA LIGA:Lionel Messi rattled in a 17-minute hat-trick as Barcelona swept aside Real Mallorca 5-0 on Saturday while Real Madrid beat 1-0 Real Sociedad.
World Player of the Year Messi had failed to score in his previous three outings but quashed any debate over his form as he took his league tally this season to 13.
Barca youngster Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves wrapped up the scoring in the second half to leave the champions second with 24 points from 10 games, one behind leaders Real.
Gonzalo Higuain gave Jose Mourinho’s in-form Real Madrid a ninth-minute lead in San Sebastian and that goal proved enough to earn the points. Surprise early pacesetters Levante suffered their first defeat of the season with a 2-0 loss at Osasuna and relinquished their hold on top spot in La Liga on Sunday.
ITALIAN SERIE A:Leaders Juventus piled more misery on rivals Inter Milan after winning a frantic "Derby of Italy" 2-1 on Saturday.
With all the goals coming in the first half, Claudio Marchisio got the winner after Maicon’s 28th-minute piledriver had cancelled out Mirko Vucinic’s early strike.
Champions AC Milan went second after Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck twice in a 3-2 win at Roma, while Catania moved to sixth with a 2-1 defeat of 10-man Napoli.
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