LONDON, Nov 11: Buoyed by their midweek Champions League victories, Juventus and Bayern Munich returned to domestic action with aplomb on Saturday.
Fabio Quagliarella struck a hat-trick as Juve followed their 4-0 rout of Danish side Nordsjaelland on Wednesday with a 6-1 thrashing of Pescara to extend their lead at the top of Serie A.
Bayern thrashed Lille 6-1 on Wednesday and followed that up by maintaining their record-setting pace in the Bundesliga after overcoming Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to stay seven points clear at the top.
Lille turned the page after that humiliation at the hands of Bayern by beating Stade Brest 1-0 in Ligue 1 but Malaga suffered a hangover from their midweek qualification for the Champions League last 16 when they lost 2-1 to Real Sociedad in La Liga.
In Italy, champions Juve bounced back superbly from losing their unbeaten record to arch-rivals Inter Milan last week as they went to 31 points at the top, four ahead of Inter.Arturo Vidal and Quagliarella put Juve in front before Emmanuel Cascione pulled one back for Pescara. However, a sensational over-head kick from Kwadwo Asamoah and goals from Sebastian Giovinco and Quagliarella gave Juve a healthy half-time lead.
Quagliarella completed his hat-trick eight minutes into the second half with an over-head kick to give Pescara goalkeeper Mattia Perin a 20th birthday to forget.
“It’s the first hat-trick of my career, so I will treasure the match ball,” Quagliarella said. “But the important thing was to win, we won really well.”
In Germany, Bayern laboured against a dogged Eintracht defence before a goal from Franck Ribery and a penalty by Austria international David Alaba put the Bavarians on 30 points after their 10th win in 11 Bundesliga games.
“You cannot always win 6-1 and play great,” Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes told reporters. “It is sometimes difficult to switch over from Champions League mode to the Bundesliga but Eintracht also played very well.”
Schalke 04 are second after overcoming Werder Bremen 2-1 to stay seven points behind while Eintracht, without a win in three games, occupy third spot on 20.Defending champions Borussia Dortmund grafted for a 3-1 win at Augsburg to move to fourth on 19 points.
Schalke salvaged a 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday and secured victory over Weder through Julian Draxler’s 69th minute strike.
Dortmund appeared sluggish after their 2-2 draw at Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday but Robert Lewandowski netting twice and Marco Reus whipped in a curling free-kick from the tightest of angles before Sascha Moelder scored a late header for Augsburg.
In France, former Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou scored on the stroke of half-time as Lille moved to sixth in the Ligue 1 table with 20 points, two behind leaders Paris St Germain, following their third straight victory.
St Etienne beat Troyes 2-0 to move up to third, level on 21 points with Valenciennes who recovered from 2-1 down to triumph 3-2 at Bastia with midfielder Foued Kadir scoring twice.
In Spain, Malaga missed the chance to go third in La Liga as Sociedad recorded their first away win since Jan 14 of last season to escape the relegation zone.
Malaga drew 1-1 at AC Milan to progress to the knockout stages of Europe’s elite club competition but goals on the counter attack from Carlos Vela and Xavier Prieto put Manuel Pellegrini’s men, who did level through former Real Madrid striker Javier Saviola, 10 points behind leaders Barcelona.
Real Zaragoza and Rayo Vallecano showed their mettle by fighting back from two-goal deficits to record victories and move into the top half of the league. Zaragoza roared from behind to rout 10-man Deportivo La Coruna 5-3, while Rayo rallied to edge out 10-man Celta Vigo 3-2.—Agencies