The footballing world observed a minute of silence before every game to remember the late great Diego Maradona. And as if to celebrate his life, all three of his European clubs won this weekend -- Napoli and Barcelona swatted away AS Roma and Osasuna 4-0 each, while Sevilla FC eased past Huesca 1-0. And yes, Lionel Messi scored.
Meanwhile, Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton, Juventus sans Cristiano Ronaldo drew 1-1 at Benevento and Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home to Alaves. Borussia Dortmund were beaten 2-1 by FC Cologne, and Bayern Munich beat Stoke City VfB Stuttgart 3-1. Manchester United beat Southampton FC in a five-goal thriller, Manchester City smashed five past Burnley at home, and Wolves beat Arsenal 2-1. AC Milan beat Fiorentina 2-0 and Inter beat Sassuolo 3-0 to remain 1-2 atop Serie A.
Oh, and in an impromptu homage to mid-2000s PL high-tension, low-drama top-of-the-table clashes, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur played out an uneventful 0-0.
Here are the best stats from these matches:
Premier League
1
Neal Maupay is the first player to start a PL game, miss a penalty, and be subbed off before halftime since Dennis Bergkamp against Derby County in April 1998.
2
The hat-trick by Riyad Mahrez is his second hat-trick in the PL and first with Man City (the previous one was for Leicester in a 3-0 win over Swansea in Dec. 2015). Mahrez is only the second African to score a Premier League hat-trick for Man City after Yaya Toure against Fulham in March 2014.
2
Manchester City are only the second side in Football League history to win four successive home games by 5+ goals against a single opponent in all competitions, after Notts County vs. Port Vale between October 1893 and February 1907.
3
Edinson Cavani is only the second player to be directly involved in 3+ goals in a PL game after coming on as a substitute for Manchester United (2 goals, 1 assist). Who was the first? Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, when he scored four against Nottingham Forest in February 1999.
4, 8
Manchester United are the first side in PL history to win four consecutive away games despite trailing in each tie. This is also the first time they have ever had eight straight away top-flight victories.
5
Edouard Mendy has kept five clean sheets in the PL this season, the most of any goalkeeper.
6
Liverpool have dropped more points from winning positions this season (6) than they did in all of last season (5).
9
Only eight players in PL history have scored more direct freekick goals than James Ward Prowse, who now has nine. He ties Jamie Redknapp, Nolberto Solano and Frank Lampard. Among English players, only David Beckham (18) has ever scored more direct freekicks in the PL.
13
Tottenham have won 13 points away from home in the PL this season (W4 D1). Converting to three-points-per-win all-time, the last time they earned more points from their first five games on the road in the top-flight was in 1960-61 (15).
13
Arsenal's tally of 13 points is their lowest after their opening 10 matches of a league campaign since the 1981-82 season (12).
40%
Okay, this one is a rather out-there stat. Forty percent of the Brazilian players (35 of 88) to play in the PL have scored at least once from outside the box. That is the highest ratio for any nation to have had 50+ players appear in the competition. The latest entrant to that list? Leeds United's Raphinha, who scored the winner at Everton.
117
Pep Guardiola has won his 117th PL game (from 161 played). With the win, Guardiola surpasses the number of La Liga wins he recorded while in charge of Barcelona (116 from 152 games).
La Liga
3
Real Madrid have lost three of their last five home games in all competitions (won the other 2). That is as many defeats as in their previous 31 matches at home (W22 D6 L3).
7
Mikel Oyarzabal leads the golden boot race in Spain with seven goals. Sure it's way too early in the season for this, but.. a Real Sociedad player has never been the leading scorer in Spain's top-flight history. Sociedad, meanwhile, lead Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga (although they have played two more than Atleti).
25
Speaking of, Atletico Madrid have extended their club-record unbeaten streak in La Liga to 25 games (16-0-9). This is the longest active streak in Europe's top 5 leagues.
Serie A
5
Juventus have drawn at least five of the first nine league games of the season for the first time since 2001/02 (3 wins, 5 draws and 1 defeat that season).
10
Napoli and their special number. 10.
For Maradona ��
Lorenzo Insigne scores this beautiful free kick and has a special celebration. pic.twitter.com/g7RQ59U2uX
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 29, 2020
23
AC Milan have picked up 23 points in the first nine games played this season, their record at this point of the season in the three-points-per-win era.
24
Franck Kessie is one of three players born from 1996 onwards (24 years of age and younger) to have reached 25 Serie A goals, after Lautaro Martínez and Federico Chiesa.
29
AC Milan have equalled their record streak of consecutive Serie A scoring games (29): the previous was between 1972 and 1973.
48%
Alvaro Morata has been involved in 48% of the goals scored by Juventus this season (8 goals and 3 assists -- 11 out of 23 total goals by Juve in all competitions).
108
Ciro Immobile has now scored 108 goals for Lazio in Serie A. He has now passed Giuseppe Signori, and is clear at second behind Silvio Piola (143) among the team's top scorers.
Messi-Ronaldo watch
No Ronaldo, no party for Juventus. No, seriously. They have not won any of the three Serie A games they have played without Ronaldo (Benevento, Hellas Verona, Crotone, all 1-1).
Meanwhile, Messi scored, and then pulled out a special celebration:
Lionel Messi celebrating his goal for Barcelona in a Newell's Old Boys kit with the No. 10 on the back.
Beautiful tribute to Diego Maradona ❤ pic.twitter.com/lhAnCvXfhT
- ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 29, 2020
27
Messi has scored or assisted in each of the last 27 games where Barca have scored four or more goals in all competitions (50 goals and 19 assists).
(Stats courtesy ESPN's Stats & Information Group)