* Norwich City boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation from the Premier League after a spirited performance saw them hold high-flying Leicester City to a pulsating 1-1 draw on Saturday.
* A long-awaited goal by close-season signing Sebastien Haller earned West Ham United a crucial 1-0 win in a Premier League basement battle at Southampton to ease the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini on Saturday.
* Bayern Munich's Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick and Robert Lewandowski added two more goals as the champions demolished Werder Bremen 6-1 on Saturday (Dec 14) to impressively bounce back from two straight league defeats.
* Borussia Dortmund eased past Mainz 05 4-0 on Saturday to notch their third straight league win and tighten their hold on third place in the Bundesliga.
* Barcelona lashed out at the referee after their six-game winning streak in all competitions came to a halt on Saturday with a 2-2 La Liga draw at Real Sociedad in which they conceded a penalty and had an appeal for a spot-kick turned down in added time.
* Atletico Madrid moved back into the top four by earning a commanding 2-0 win at home to Osasuna on Saturday for their first victory in four La Liga games.
* Olympique de Marseille substitute Nemanja Radonjic struck again to salvage a 1-1 Ligue 1 draw at Metz on Saturday but even his late intervention failed to prevent the end of his side's six-game winning streak.
* Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso suffered a disappointing debut as Gervinho's stoppage-time goal earned Parma a 2-1 win at the Stadio San Paolo to extend the home side's winless run in Serie A to eight games.