What a weekend of football this was! Chelsea were crowned champions of the world, beating Palmeiras 2-1 (in extra time). Back in England, Liverpool just about made sure Manchester City's lead at the top remained at 9, while Manchester United stuttered to yet another tame draw.
In Spain, Real Madrid's 0-0 draw with Villarreal allowed Sevilla to close the gap at the top to 4 with crosstown rivals Real Betis still third. A draw for Barcelona in their derby with Espanyol and a last-gasp win for 10-men Atletico Madrid against Getafe mean those two are tied on points just below the top three.
VfL Bochum stunned Bundesliga with a 4-2 thrashing of champions Bayern Munich, whose lead now stands at six points from Borussia Dortmund.
Inter Milan drew at Napoli, while AC Milan beat Sampdoria 1-0. The latter therefore lead Inter by one point, who in turn lead Napoli by one. Juventus' 1-1 draw with Atalanta means the two remained fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe's 93rd minute winner against ensured PSG's lead atop Ligue remained 13 points.
By The Numbers has the best stats from the weekend's action across Europe's top 5 leagues. But first, a special dispatch from the FIFA Club World Cup:
CLUB WORLD CUP
1
This is Chelsea's first FIFA Club World Cup title. They join Manchester United and Liverpool as the only English teams to win it.
1
Raphael Veiga is the first player to score a goal in the Copa Libertadores and Club World Cup finals in the same season since Mauro Boselli, for Estudiantes de La Plata, in 2009.
2
Only two people have scored for a Premier League club in a UEFA Champions League and a Club World Cup final - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) and now, Kai Havertz. Interestingly, only two people have scored the match-winning goal in a UCL final and the CWC final that followed that one - Havertz and a certain Lionel Messi (2011).
14
European clubs are 14-3 in Club World Cup finals, with the only losses by Liverpool in 2005, Barcelona in 2006 and Chelsea in 2012 (all vs Brazilian teams)
PREMIER LEAGUE
2
For only the second time in their PL history, Manchester United have failed to win back-to-back matches despite being ahead at half-time in both. The last time it happened? December 1998. That season didn't end too shabbily, did it?
3
Newcastle United (Jonjo Shelvey, Kieran Trippier, Trippier) are the first PL side to score a direct free-kick in three consecutive top-flight matches since Liverpool did so in November-December 2013 (Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, Suarez).
336
An interesting one. Everton have scored 336 headed goals in the PL, a joint-high number along with Manchester United.
LALIGA
1
Raul de Tomas is the only player in LaLiga to score goals vs Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona this season. Santi Mina and Jorge Molina were the only players to do it last season
6
Atlético Madrid have scored the most goals in the 89th minute or later in LaLiga this season (6). Across Europe's top 5 leagues, only Atalanta and PSG have more (8)
10
How's this for a stat? Barcelona have scored more headed goals than any other team in LaLiga this season (10). This is their best such tally in a single league campaign since 2016/17 (also 10 but in 38 games).
33
Atletico Madrid have conceded 33 goals so far (in 23 matches). Quite incredibly, before this season, their worst ever tally in a single league campaign under Diego Simeone was 31 (in 12/13).
76
Just a reminder of the most goals by a LaLiga team in all comps this season - Real Betis (76) over Real Madrid (72) and Villarreal (67)
96
Luuk de Jong's goal at 90'+6 is the latest goal in the Barcelona Derby in LaLiga since Lionel Messi scored a game-winning penalty at 90'+13 on September 27, 2008.
100
This weekend saw Carlo Ancelotti's 100th LaLiga game for Real Madrid (73W-13L-14D). He's the 8th head coach in the club's history to reach that mark. Only Manuel Pellegrini (82%) and José Mourinho (76%) have won a higher percentage of their LaLiga matches than Ancelotti (73%) among the club's managers.
235
Diego Simeone has now won 235 LaLiga games as a manager, breaking a tie with Slovakian Ferdinand Daucík for the record by a non-Spanish LaLiga manager.
BAYERN MUNICH RECORD SCORING STREAK
...is now at 69 Bundesliga matches.
BUNDESLIGA
4
This is the first time Bayern have conceded 4 goals before halftime in a Bundesliga match since November 22, 1975 against Eintracht Frankfurt (0-5 HT, 0-6 FT). In fact, Bayern had conceded more than four goals against a promoted side only once before this, losing 6-1 to Saarbrucken on April 16, 1977.
26
Win or lose, Robert Lewan-goal-ski scores. He now has 26 league goals this season (22 games). That's the same amount of goals he scored in the first 22 games of last season.
150
Marco Reus is the 4th Borussia Dortmund player to reach 150+ goals in club history (151) after Alfred Preissler (175), Manfred Burgsmuller (158),and Michael Zorc (158).
SERIE A
0
This is a lovely stat. Jeremie Boga (of Atalanta, currently) is the first outfield player to have not received a single yellow card in his first 100 Serie A appearances in the three points-for-a-win era (since 1994/1995).
Messi Ronaldo watch
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played the full ninety over the weekend, and neither scored. Messi did get the assist for Kylian Mbappe's matchwinner, though.
6
This is the longest Ronaldo has gone without a goal at the start of a calendar year (6 games) since he went 26 games without a goal at the start of the calendar year in... 2003.
(Stats courtesy ESPN's Stats & Information Group)