European Round-Up: RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen both lose to hand Bayern Munich title initiative

RB Leipzig's title race suffered a shock setback on Saturday after they twice wasted a lead to slump to a 3-2 loss at strugglers Mainz 05 and fail to close the gap on leaders Bayern Munich. Second-placed Leipzig, who have now won just one of their last four league games, are on 35 points, four behind Bayern, who face Schalke 04 on Sunday and could further pull away. Leipzig next face Bayer Leverkusen. "The title is not in our minds at all," Leipzig defender Willi Orban said. "What we have to do is make sure we stay in touch with the top spots. That's hard enough. "This was the first match of the second part of the season. It is a small setback, definitely, and not that what we had imagined." In a rollercoaster first half, Tyler Adams struck on the rebound in the 15th minute when 'keeper Robin Zentner pushed a Marcel Sabitzer shot onto the crossbar only for the ball to fall to the American, who scored his maiden Bundesliga goal. Moussa Niakhate then equalised from close range after 'keeper Peter Gulacsi had saved a header from a free-kick. French defender Niakhate drew the home side level again in the 35th minute after Marcel Halstenberg's goal on the half-hour mark, as Leipzig's defence showed huge gaps once more. The hosts took the lead in the second half with Leandro Barreiro slipping into the box to flick in after Danny Da Costa's superb solo run and cross. Mainz' second win of the season was not enough to lift them out of 17th place, but they moved to within five points of the relegation play-off spot. Elsewhere, Ridle Baku's 35th-minute header was enough to give Wolfsburg at 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Luka Jovic scored his third goal in as many substitute appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt since returning from Real Madrid to seal a 5-1 win at Arminia Bielefeld. Also on Saturday, Freiburg beat Stuttgart 2-1 and Augsburg edged Union Berlin 2-1, while Werder Bremen were 4-1 winners at Hertha Berlin.

Serie A: Leaders AC Milan beaten by Atalanta

Atalanta consigned AC Milan to their second league defeat of the season with a 3-0 win at San Siro on Saturday, but Stefano Pioli's side were still named 'winter champions' in Serie A. Cristian Romero's header put the visitors ahead at half-time before a Josip Ilicic penalty and Duvan Zapata strike completed a dominant victory for the Bergamo side. Atalanta had the chances to win by an even wider margin as an out-of-sorts Milan put in one of their worst performances of the season. The home side failed to muster a shot on target until debutant Mario Mandzukic drew a good save from Pierluigi Gollini in the 71st minute with his first touch after coming off the bench. Milan nevertheless claim the title of winter champions as they top the standings at the halfway point of the season with 43 points, two ahead of Inter Milan after their 0-0 draw at Udinese. Atalanta moved into the top four on 36 points, returning to form in style after back-to-back draws against Genoa and Udinese. Meanwhile, Inter Milan missed out on the chance to go top in Serie A as coach Antonio Conte was sent off in a 0-0 draw at strugglers Udinese on Saturday. The visitors travelled to Udine on a high after beating title rivals Juventus 2-0 last weekend but they could not break down the determined hosts, who became the first team to keep a clean sheet against Inter in Serie A this season. Inter striker Lautaro Martinez came closest when his first-half shot drew a spectacular one-handed save from Juan Musso, but the visitors' frustration showed when Conte was dismissed for dissent in stoppage time. Conte's side remain second on 41 points, two behind AC Milan at the halfway stage of the season, while Udinese are 14th on 18 points but without a win in nine games. Finally, Fiorentina beat Crotone 2-1 in the final game of the day.

La Liga: Real bounce back from cup humiliation

Karim Benzema scored twice as Real Madrid bounced back after their cup humiliation with a 4-1 La Liga victory at Alaves. Three days on from the embarrassing Copa del Rey loss to third-tier Alcoyano, Real scored three times in the first half at Mendizorroza, with Casemiro heading in the opener in the 15th minute. Benzema added a fierce 41st-minute strike having been teed up by Eden Hazard, who then slotted in the third moments later. Joselu reduced the deficit with a header just prior to the hour mark before Benzema struck his second in the 70th minute. It was a first win in four games in all competitions for Real, whose boss Zinedine Zidane was absent from the contest after testing positive for coronavirus. The result leaves the second-placed defending champions - now unbeaten in nine league outings - four points behind Atletico Madrid, having played two games more. Atletico are in action on Sunday, hosting Valencia.

West Ham target fires Sevilla to victory

Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri scored a second hat-trick in four matches as his side demolished Cadiz 3-0 on Saturday to climb into third place in La Liga. The Morocco international tapped a loose ball into the net in the 35th minute on the rebound after team-mate Suso had struck the post. Moments later he headed home a free-kick from Suso to double his side's advantage. The striker showed his relentless hunger for goals to complete his treble in the second half, reacting quickly to a terrible clearance from Cadiz's Marc Baro and climbing above another defender to head home. En-Nesyri then had a fourth strike ruled out for a narrow offside but his haul took him to the top of La Liga's scoring charts with 12 goals, inching ahead of Atletico Madrid's Luis Suarez and Barcelona's Lionel Messi on 11 each. Sevilla are third on 36 points from 19 games, two points ahead of Barcelona, who visit Elche on Sunday, and Villarreal. Cadiz were left in ninth on 24 points.