*Brighton Continue Good Run, Now Second On EPL Table
*Liverpool Pound Palace
*Como Beaten By Inter
Barcelona will head into the final international break of 2026 with a three-point lead at the top of the La Liga table thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 comeback victory away to Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano on Sunday night.
Neither Atletico nor Real Madrid will be happy that Barcelona head back to Catalunya with the three points, as both were breathing down the coat tails of the Catalans ahead of the big match and had hoped to overtake them with a Barcelona loss.
But with previously third-placed Madrid having trounced Valencia on Saturday, Los Blancos now leapfrog Atletico on the table, topped only by the Blaugrana.
After a very poor first half, the Blaugrana came to life in the final period thanks to a few key changes by Hansi Flick, and Fermín López scored both goals to lead the comeback and secure a massive result in the Spanish capital.
Barça were quite simply terrible for 99% of the first half: the Blaugrana were sloppy on the ball and wide open at the back, and despite Lamine Yamal’s best attempts to create danger in the final third, the Catalans struggled to deliver any quality in the final third with the exception of a Pedri shot that hit the crossbar.
Atleti, on the other hand, were poised, composed, intense and knew exactly what to do with the ball, and had several big chances: Julián Álvarez missed the first when he was played through one-on-one with Joan Garcia but couldn’t get past the Barça keeper, but the Argentine took advantage of a bad mistake by João Cancelo and assisted Giuliano Simeone’s opener less than 10 minutes into the action.
Álvarez missed another big chance generated by yet another Cancelo mistake, and Atlético came close at least three other times and could have been out of sight midway through the first half.
Hansi Flick’s side finally had at least some control in the final five minutes of the period, and found a goal against the run of play just before halftime as Marc Pubill couldn’t clear the ball inside the box and Fermín López fired it home to score a crucial equalizer for the visitors.
First Half Ends In Draw
The game was somehow all square at the break despite a very poor display from Barça, who needed plenty of improvement in all areas to escape the capital with a win.
Hansi Flick went to work at halftime and made some key adjustments by replacing Brian Fariñas with Frenkie de Jong at right-back and making other minor tactical changes that improved Barça’s positioning and defensive solidity.
Second Half Different
De Jong was excellent as a full-back who tucked in to help dominate possession, and he was also very good in his individual duels defensively.
Pedri also improved after a poor first half and stopped making silly mistakes on the ball, and Fermín played a lot closer to Yamal to make combinations in the right channel.
Atlético were forced to defend deeper but still offered a threat on the counter, and Pau Cubarsí needed to make a crucial intervention to stop Alexander Sorloth from heading the ball home.
Álvarez had a third massive chance and missed again, and the game remained open at the hour mark.
Barça were the better side halfway through the final period, and took a deserved lead thanks to a wonderful assist by Yamal and a fantastic finish from Fermín to complete the Blaugrana comeback.
Flick continued to make the right calls after the goal and made defensive-minded substitutions to add even more control in midfield, and Barça did a great job of running out the clock without conceding a single chance.
Yamal missed a huge chance to score a third and seal the win, but the final whistle came to give Barça three huge points on the road.
Barça flirted with a bad loss in the first half, but the second half response was very strong and Flick’s changes along with some big individual displays helped turn things around and secure a crucial win.
Sunderland Shoot Down Chelsea In First Win Since August
Sunderland held on to their first Premier League win since August as Enzo le Fee’s penalty helped the hosts sink Chelsea at the Stadium of Light,on Sunday.
Le Fee sent Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders the wrong way from the spot in the 36th minute.
But the awarding of Sunderland’s penalty was controversial, with referee Jarred Gillett adjudging Levi Colwill to have pulled Brian Brobbey to the floor – despite both players grappling one another as Brobbey was driving towards goal.
Sunderland’s win, just their second in the league this season but sixth in all competitions, will ease pressure on manager Regis le Bris – although his side remain in the Premier League’s bottom three.
Chelsea, meanwhile, lost their second league match in three and stayed fifth, missing out on a chance to break into the top four.
Sunderland had been booed off by their own supporters at full-time in their last fixture – a 2-0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.
Last week, with pressure mounting, club sources told BBC Sport Frenchman Le Bris would be given more time to turn around his side’s form – having led Sunderland to an impressive seventh-placed finish last season.
Sunderland Perform Well
And the Black Cats produced a fine performance on Sunday, recording their first league win since beating Fulham 1-0 at home in the second game of the season.
That said, Le Bris will be concerned about two of his star players – Granit Xhaka and Brobbey – hobbling off with muscle injuries.
Brobbey put in a particularly impressive performance against Chelsea and almost scored early on when he headed Chemsdine Talbi’s cross narrowly wide.
After Brobbey’s substitution in the 77th minute Sunderland switched to a defensive-first approach but were rarely threatened by their opponents.
The win meant they climbed from 20th to 18th in the table, one point off safety.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Fermin Lopez leaps in joy after scoring … Sunday.
RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED IN MAJOR EUROPEAN LEAGUES SUNDAY,8 NOVEMBER:
ENGLAND: Premier League
*Brighton – Brentford 2-0
*Crystal Palace – Liverpool 1-3
*Ipswich – Bournemouth 1-2
*Sunderland – Chelsea 1-0
*Manchester Utd – Aston Villa 4-4
FRANCE: Ligue 1
*Rennes – Lille 1-2
*Angers – Nice 0-2
*Brest – Lyon 2-0
*Le Havre – Lorient 0-2
*Le Mans – Monaco 1-1
*Lens – Marseille 1-2
GERMANY: Bundesliga
*FC Koln – Bayer Leverkusen 1-2
*Freiburg – Union Berlin 2-0
*Hoffenheim – Schalke 2-1
ITALY: Serie A
*Napoli – Lazio 1-1
*Genoa – AC Milan 1-2
*Monza – Atalanta 0-1
*Inter – Como 2-0
*Fiorentina – Juventus 2-2
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
*Heerenveen – Feyenoord 5-3
*Twente – Ajax 2-2
*AZ Alkmaar – Groningen 4-3
*Cambuur – PSV 2-5
*Utrecht – Nijmegen 2-3
SPAIN: LaLiga
*Elche – Betis 0-2
*Real Sociedad – Rayo Vallecano 1-0
*Celta Vigo – Levante 0-0
*Villarreal – Getafe 2-0
*Atl. Madrid – Barcelona 1-2
