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Football, Futbol, Fußball, Calcio: The Weekend Review

Jason Cairnduff / Reuters

Every Monday, we'll take a stroll through Europe to review the best - and worst - the top leagues on the continent had to offer over the weekend. As always, there is plenty to discuss after a full slate of action.

The Storylines

Leicester City can't stop, won't stop

This isn't a joke anymore. The Foxes' Premier League title challenge is very real, and has been nothing short of spectacular thus far.

Claudio Ranieri's men strolled into the Etihad and tore Manchester City apart on Saturday, getting contributions from the most likely source - Riyad Mahrez, who put a nail in the coffin of Martin Demichelis' eroding career - and the most unlikely; Robert Huth netted a brace in a 3-1 win.

Related: Is Leicester next? Top 5 underdogs who shocked the football world

The victory, stunning despite the fact that it was, technically speaking, simply a case of the league leader crushing an onlooking title hopeful, saw Leicester City open up five-point gap at the top of the table, exactly one year after being stuck in the Premier League's basement.

There's still room on the bandwagon. Hurry though. If Leicester comes away from next weekend's trip to Arsenal with a positive result, you'll need to hang on by the bumper to enjoy the party. - Gianluca Nesci

Juventus, Napoli set up tantalizing encounter

The Scudetto race is, as the kids say, lit.

Serie A leader Napoli, courtesy of scoring machine Gonzalo Higuain netting his 24th league goal in as many contests, maintained its two-point advantage over Juventus this weekend, with a slim 1-0 win over Carpi matching the Bianconeri's equally laborious triumph over Frosinone.

Related: Juventus sets club record with 14th-straight Serie A win, sets up showdown with Napoli

The wins, the 14th straight for Juventus and 8th consecutive for the Partenopei, perfectly tees up Saturday's momentous tilt between the two clubs at the former's eponymous stadium. - Gianluca Nesci

The Highlights

Konstantinos Stafylidis: Great name, better goal

Augsburg defender Konstantinos Stafylidis' rocket bested Ingolstadt 'keeper Ramazan Ozcan, giving the visitors a first half advantage. That they squandered it doesn't take any of the shine off this brilliant strike.

0:1 Stafylidis - Streamable

Christophe Jallet channels his inner striker

Lyon's Christophe Jallet found himself out of position Saturday at Angers, and the defender toed the penalty area before unleashing the first of three for Les Gones in a 3-0 victory. - Michael J. Chandler

Streamable - simple video sharing

The Lowlight

Napoli, Ajax fans lose the plot

The hideous side of the beautiful game reared its ugly head twice this weekend in Italy and the Netherlands, with two sets of supporters taking their fandom to unsightly levels.

Feyenoord shot-stopper Kenneth Vermeer returned to Ajax after spending 15 years with the Dutch giants only to be greeted by a lynched effigy of himself hanging at one end reminiscent of a similar one that greeted Mathieu Valbuena at Marseille in September.

In Italy, a heartfelt show of solitude was sullied by a handful of fans whose crass display was the latest example of racism in Europe's top leagues.

Full credit to the majority of Napoli supporters who backed defender Kalidou Koulibaly after he was serenaded with monkey noises during a midweek victory at Lazio with masks and photos of the Senegalese international during Sunday's win over Carpi.

Related - PHOTO: Napoli supporters back racially abused Kalidou Koulibaly

That demonstration was besmirched by a handful of supporters who arrived at the Stadio San Paolo in blackface. Whether their intentions were racist or not, the optics of the display leave little room for argument. - Michael J. Chandler

The Shocker

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund both held off the scoresheet

Bayern Munich failed to win a Bundesliga match for just the third time this season, and Borussia Dortmund dropped crucial points in the race to catch the defending champion. A rare weekend saw both rivals lay eggs, neither side scoring in 0-0 draws.

It was the first time since April - in a 1-0 loss to Bayern, no less - that Dortmund failed to hit the back of the net in a Bundesliga fixture. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who only trails Gonzalo Higuain and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in domestic goals scored this season among the top five leagues, had one of his quietest performances of the campaign.

Bayern, meanwhile, couldn't impose itself on Bayer Leverkusen. A series of injuries forced a player like Joshua Kimmich to make just his fifth start of the season, and Thomas Muller only appeared in the 60th minute as a substitute. That the Bavarians emerged from the match unscathed is a small consolation. - Anthony Lopopolo

Stray Thoughts

  • Barcelona hasn't tasted defeat in 28 matches. That is all.
  • By the same token, Paris Saint-Germain boasts an even more impressive mark, extending its unbeaten streak in Ligue 1 to 34 games with a win over Marseille on Sunday. With 13 matches left on the campaign, we need to seriously start discussing the possibility of an undefeated season at the Parc des Princes.
  • Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is letting his star-laden squad play attacking, open football. What a concept.
  • Chelsea and Manchester United put everyone to sleep in the opening half of Sunday's contest, but an enthralling second stanza - particularly in the waning minutes - more than made up for that.

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