Winners and losers from European football leagues: January 19-20

PSG’s front three clicked in devastating fashion and Real Madrid jumped up in La Liga standings, but it was misery for Monaco and RB Leipzig. Here are the Winners and Losers from European football this weekend.

Winners

PSG’s attack

Paris Saint-Germain demolished Guingamp 9-0 at Parc des Princes on Saturday in a result that saw them move 13 points clear of second-placed side Lille. Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani both scored hat-tricks, while Neymar got himself a brace in the process. Thomas Tuchel will have been happy with the performance of his forwards who showed a great deal of understanding during the match. PSG’s appetite for goals was not helped by a Guingamp side that did not put up much of a fight in the second half as the hosts ran riot. This was arguably their best-attacking display since the beginning of last season and they can only get better in the coming months.

Roma

Roma managed a hard-fought win at home when they hosted Torino in Serie A over the weekend. The result saw them move up to fourth place on 33 points as Lazio was dropped from the Champions League places after they were defeated at Napoli. This was not what you would call a flawless performance but Eusebio Di Francesco will be happy that his side had the character to withstand Torino’s initiative. The top four in Serie A will be where the contest is as we have five teams separated by three points, with Roma ahead of the pack that includes Lazio, AC Milan, Atalanta, and Sampdoria.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid beat Sevilla by a 2-0 scoreline at the Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon to move into third place in the La Liga table. Midfielders Casemiro and Luka Modric got themselves on the scoresheet in the second half after a difficult first 45 minutes. Santiago Solari will be happy with a clean sheet and an improved defensive performance from his side. Clearly, the team is responding to his methods and the fact that both goals came from midfield will be particularly welcome given all the injuries they have in attack.

Losers

Ousmane Dembele

Barcelona beat Leganes 3-1 at Camp Nou on Sunday to restore their five-point lead at the top of the La Liga table. However, Ousman Dembele was forced off with an ankle injury after a very influential performance. He opened the scoring for the Catalans before the break in addition to being their best player on the pitch for huge parts of the game. His pace was too much for Leganes time and again and he will be disappointed that he was not able to finish the match due to injury.

RB Leipzig

RB Leipzig suffered a narrow loss at home to Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund when they met over the weekend. The result was not enough to remove them out of the top four but it gave a chance to the teams behind to close in on them. Leipzig are five points behind third-placed Borussia Monchengladbach but they are only one point above Eintracht Frankfurt and three points above Wolfsburg. They might still be occupying the Champions League places but if they are not careful, they could soon find themselves out of them soon enough.

Monaco

Monaco’s season continued to plummet following their 5-1 loss to Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Thierry Henry led side found themselves chasing the game at the hour mark and a controversial decision not to award them a penalty changed the game entirely. The result left Monaco second from bottom of the league on 15 points from 21 games and still without a Ligue 1 victory at their Stade Louis II home this season.