Unexpected draws for the leaders

In the English Premier League, Tottenham and Liverpool, which shared the lead after the 11th round, unexpectedly lost points in matches with inferior teams in the lead up to the head-to-head confrontation.

The first to misfire were Jose Mourinho's charges.

As part of the London derby, they parted ways with Crystal Palace - 1: 1.

Moreover, most of the meeting, the favorite was in the account.

In the middle of the first half, the guests took the lead thanks to a mistake made by goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

The Spaniard did not cope with a long-range shot by Harry Kane almost in the center of the goal and allowed the ball to be in the net.

For the striker himself, this goal was already the ninth in the current Premier League season and 15th in all tournaments.

He also scored 19 points for performance in the national championship (9 + 10) and is the leader in this indicator. 

Crystal Palace managed to recoup only in the 81st minute thanks to the successful play of a set piece.

After a free kick, Jeffrey Schlupp struck an accurate shot from close range.

Tottenham could have snatched a victory in the end, but Guaita made a couple of amazing saves.

And after Ben Davis's funny serve from the flank, the crossbar took over the ball.

Liverpool played their 12th round match against underdog Fulham after the final whistle in London had sounded and had an excellent opportunity to break away from a competitor.

However, the favorite in this meeting was content with a draw - 1: 1.

Moreover, the game developed in a completely different scenario.

Jurgen Klopp's team did not play the first half in the best way and naturally missed in the 25th minute.

Fulham players won a rebound near someone else's penalty after a corner and brought Bobby Reed to the kick. 

The Londoners could well develop the advantage, but Alison Becker was rescued in several episodes.

Liverpool managed to escape only shortly before the final whistle.

After Mohammed Salah's shot from the set, the ball hit the hand of one of the opponents standing in the wall, and referee Andre Marriner pointed to the "dot".

The Egyptian himself took the penalty and almost made a mistake.

Alphonse Areola guessed the direction of the ball and even touched it, but still failed to block the path into the net. 

Liverpool's and Tottenham's failures were exploited by Leicester, who defeated Brighton & Hove Albion (3-0) on Sunday and narrowed the gap to one point from the leading duo.

The main character of the confrontation was James Maddison, who completed the double.

Jamie Vardy took part in all the goals of the team.

He scored the tenth goal of the current Premier League season and gave two assists.

Tough win for Barcelona over an outsider

The beginning of December turned out to be extremely unfortunate for Barcelona.

On the fifth, the Catalans sensationally lost to Cadiz in Example (1: 2), and then conceded three unanswered goals from Juventus in the Champions League.

After such a misfire in the national championship match with the outsider Levante, no one would have understood.

However, Ronald Koeman's charges were close to losing points again.

Throughout the meeting, they had an overwhelming advantage, but could not break through the goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez.

The Spaniard caught a real courage and rescued his team over and over again.

Only Lionel Messi managed to print it.

In the 76th minute, Barça made an interception in someone else's half of the field, and Frenkie de Jong found an Argentinean pass in someone else's penalty area.

The striker neatly sent the ball into the far corner with a rebound from the bar.

For him, this goal was the 600th, scored under the tenth number, in the blue garnet. 

That's 6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Leo #Messi goals with the Nº 🔟!

pic.twitter.com/QMvVtTfMZK

- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 13, 2020

Change of leader in Germany

And in the championship of Germany on Sunday there was a change of leader.

Bayer beat Hoffenheim at home (4-1) and beat Bayern Munich, which unexpectedly fell apart with Union on Saturday.

The intrigue in the reported confrontation died by the middle of the first half, when the guests conceded two curious goals in a row.

Both were scored by Leon Bailey.

In the fourth minute, he served in the penalty area after a free kick, and the ball suddenly flew into the net.

And on the 27th, he intercepted the extremely imprudent transfer of Andrey Kramarich to the goalkeeper from his half of the field.

At the beginning of the second half, Hoffenheim managed to close the gap to a minimum thanks to a beautiful goal from Christoph Baumgartner.

The midfielder from outside the penalty area sent the ball exactly to the far top corner.

However, five minutes later, 17-year-old Florian Wirtz upset his opponent for the third time.

The guests were forced to finish the match with nine after Florian Grillich and Stefan Posh received the second yellow cards.

And in the end, the referee, in addition, appointed a penalty, which was converted by the striker of the Leverkusen team, Lucas Alario.

Saving Milan from defeat

And in Serie A, Milan misfired, which approached the 11th round match with Parma in the rank of a confident leader.

The beginning of the meeting was not very successful for the Rossoneri.

Already in the 13th minute, the former Zenit midfielder Ernani opened the scoring.

The hosts managed to win back quickly, but the referee canceled the goal of Samuel Castillejo due to a slight offside position after watching the replay.

Subsequently, the leader had many chances to upset the guests, but the team was not lucky.

In particular, the ball hit the opponent's goal posts three times. 

Parma, on the contrary, scored a goal that did not follow from the logic of the game at the beginning of the second half.

This time, Ernani made an effective serve from the right flank, which was closed by Yasmin Kurtić. 

The defender Theo Hernandez unexpectedly managed to save Milan from defeat.

The Spaniard scored the first double in his career.

First, he scored after a corner, and in the 91st minute he struck a strong blow from the penalty area.

Thus, the Milanese not only scored one point, but also extended their unbeaten run in the Italian championship to 23 matches.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who continues to recover from injury, was not included in the application for the match again.

Ronaldo's historic achievement

And the reigning champion of Italy, Juventus, almost lost points in the match with the outsider Genoa.

The first half of this meeting ended without goals scored, and only after the break, the Turin team managed to open an account.

The debut in Serie A this season was scored by Paulo Dybala.

It seemed that having scored, Andrea Pirlo's wards would calmly bring the matter to a victory on duty, but instead, after just four minutes, they allowed Stefano Sturaro to excel.

As a result, Cristiano Ronaldo, who played the hundredth match in the squad, brought Juve three points.

In the end, Turints earned two penalties, and both were converted by the Portuguese.

In the first case, Andrea Maziello knocked down Juan Cuadrado in a subcategory, and in the second, goalkeeper Mattia Perin hooked Alvaro Morata with his hands.

Ronaldo, having issued a double, brought the number of goals scored in the current championship in Italy to ten and caught up with the Ibrahimovic tournament scorers in the race.

Also, the Portuguese became the first footballer in the 21st century who managed to win 400 victories in five leading European championships.

For comparison, Messi has 365 wins, and Gianluigi Buffon has 350. 

PSG's fourth defeat in Ligue 1

The change of leadership on Sunday took place not only in the Bundesliga, but also in Ligue 1. The local hegemon PSG again lost points in the national championship match.

In the last four meetings, the team won only one victory, but lost to Monaco, broke up with Bordeaux, and now with a minimum score lost at home to Lyon.

The Parisians had more possession of the ball, but practically did not threaten the opponent's goal.

Antoni Lopes only had to make a couple of saves.

The guests' counterattacks looked much more dangerous.

And on the 35th minute, Rudy Garcia's team punished PSG for a gross mistake.

Presnel Kimpembe gave the ball to his opponent near his own penalty area, and a few seconds later Tino Cadevere struck an accurate shot from the penalty area. 

In the second half, the hosts began to possess the ball even more often, but Lyon defended calmly, not allowing Thomas Tuchel's charges to enter their own penalty area.

In the end, closer to the final whistle, Neymar began to lose his nerves.

In one episode, he pushed Mattia De Sciglio into Lopes at the risk of injuring the goalkeeper, but only earned a yellow card.

And in the time added by the referee, the Brazilian himself was injured.

Thiago Mendes, trying to knock the ball out from under the feet of the striker, hit him hard on the shin.

While the doctors were helping Neymar, he literally sobbed.

He was carried off the field on a stretcher.

The referee, realizing that the player was seriously injured, showed Mendes a red card, but this did not prevent Lyon from winning and rising to first place.

His team shares with Lille.

PSG in the first 14 rounds of Ligue 1 scored only 28 points and dropped to third place in the standings.

The Parisians repeated their own anti-record, dating back to the 2009/10 season.

Then, in a similar segment of the championship, the team also suffered four defeats and finished the national championship in 13th place.