22nd February, 2016
Luis Suarez became the first player to reach 25 goals in Europe’s top five leagues on a weekend when Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed penalty proved costly for Real Madrid.
Suarez’s goal helped Barcelona beat Las Palmas to extend their lead at the top of La Liga to nine points, as both Atletico Madrid and Real could only draw.
Fortunately for Ronaldo, his spot-kick was not the miss of the weekend. Elsewhere, Juventus ended a 15-match winning streak in Serie A while Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain continued to steamroll their way towards domestic titles.
But what else happened in Europe this weekend? Here we look at the stories you may have missed.
Miss of the season?
It’s already being labelled ‘miss of the season’ by stunned viewers of Roma’s 5-0 win over Palermo in Serie A.
Step forward Edin Dzeko, whose inability to locate an open goal from no more than three yards out has to be seen to be believed.
The former Manchester City striker, 29, has not found life easy in Italy, scoring just four league goals before Sunday’s game.
He had managed just one since November and the Bosnia-Herzegovina international must have thought he would never score again when he managed to meet Maicon’s low cross with his heel and direct the ball back across goal and wide of the post.
But to Dzeko’s credit, he got straight back on the horse and buried a far more difficult chance two minutes later before heading Roma’s final goal to further banish what could have been an horrific memory.
“You’re off, ref”. “No you’re off”
You may recall an episode in the mid 1990s where former England international Paul Gascoigne was playing for Rangers and spotted that the referee had dropped his yellow card, and before handing it back held it up to the official.
The referee, Dougie Smith, had a humour bypass and booked Gazza for his efforts.
On Sunday in a controversial game at Galatasaray, Trabzonspor substitute Salih Dursan went a step further.
With Trabzonspor already down to nine men and hanging on to a 1-1 draw, the referee awarded a 86th-minute penalty to Galatasaray which infuriated Trabzonspor defender Cavanda so much that he charged into the official. Cue another red card.
That was enough for Dursan to literally see red. As the much-used card fell to the floor amid protests, Dursan held it up to the referee and quickly became the fourth Trabzonspor player to be dismissed. He had only been in the pitch for 25 minutes.
Just to rub salt in the wounds, Selcuk Inan kept his cool for Galatasaray and slotted in the penalty for a 2-1 win.
Pep was never our thing anyway
Outgoing Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola might have guided his side closer to a third straight Bundesliga title on Saturday but there are signs the relationship with fans is already over.
During the 3-1 home win over Darmstadt, supporters held up a banner which said: “Pep was never our thing anyway” following the announcement that he will join Manchester City next season.
It was another one-sided affair as Bayern had 36 shots and 81% possession, extending their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 11 points.
But should they win the Bundesliga or the Champions League, will Guardiola be given the credit he maybe deserves?
Guardiola has already delivered five trophies during his time at Munich but with the break-up now looking rocky, maybe he needs to have words with Chris Martin and Gywneth Paltrow for tips on conscious uncoupling?
Speaking of tiffs, did you see the referee Felix Zwayer suspend the Bundesliga game between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund after not getting his way?
Totti’s tantrum
No-one can stop the onset of age, but many people have a hard time dealing with it, including Roma striker Francesco Totti.
At the age of 39, Totti’s powers are fading, and he is struggling to cope. Having been a part of Roma’s first-team picture since his debut way back in March 1993, he finds himself being cast to the sidelines. And it hurts him.
The striker – a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006 – has made just two starts this season, having been a regular during the last campaign. Even the return to Roma last month of boss Luciano Spalletti, who transformed Totti into a false nine during his first spell in charge at the club, has not brought the veteran more game time.
Totti has had enough. “I can’t stay at Roma like this,” said a man who has been with Roma since before Justin Bieber was born. The striker’s contract expires in June; he turns 40 in September. Is a great era about to come to an end?
But Spalletti has offered some hope. He said: “Totti is the best player in the post-war era and deserves respect, but so do all the other lads.
“There are rules in place for managing the group and I had to deal with Totti’s reaction. The situation is in the past. and he’ll train with us on Monday.”
Do you want to know how young Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe is? He is so young that he was not even born when The Corrs released ‘So Young’ in October 1998.
Mbappe, born in December that year, secured a place in the record books on Saturday by becoming the youngest goalscorer in Monaco’s history – displacing Thierry Henry in the process.
At the age of 17 years and 62 days, the forward scored a stoppage-time goal as his team beat bottom club Troyes 3-1. He will be all right if he goes on to have a career anywhere near as good as that of Henry, who was 17 years and 254 days when he struck his first goal for the club against Lens in April 1995.
Henry went on to win the World Cup with France in 1998. Not that Mbappe is old enough to remember.