Euro weekend round-up: Barcelona form, Ronaldo hat-trick, Napoli bounce back

Plenty has happened this weekend across Europe as Ronaldo got back to his best against Spurs, Barcelona extended their unbeaten run and Napoli are keeping the pressure on Milan in the Serie A.

As we reflect on another busy footballing weekend across Europe, we’ve also got one eye on the midweek European fixtures that are coming up. 

Barcelona's unbeaten run 

In November, Xavi inherited a dysfunctional Barcelona side that were languishing ninth in La Liga and the turnaround since has been worth noting.  

Barcelona are now unbeaten in their last 12 league matches and they made light work of dispatching Osasuna this weekend. Ferran Torres scored a brace as Barcelona swept Osasuna aside by four goals and they now sit third in the table with a game in hand. 

Ousmane Dembele also had a starring performance as he grabbed two assists from the five key passes he produced. With his contract running out in the summer, Dembele is currently weighing up his options but he’ll no doubt be a miss for this Barcelona side.  

The Frenchman has averaged 2.1 key passes per 90 and he has produced seven assists from just 676 minutes of football this season.  

In midweek they face Galatasaray in the second leg of their Europa League tie, which is currently level on aggregate. Despite Barcelona accumulating an xG of 1.61 in the first leg, Galatasaray managed to keep a clean sheet and head into the second leg with everything to play for.  

Ronaldo hat-trick 

Up until the weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo had been having a somewhat frustrating 2022, having only scored one goal this calendar year. This weekend against Spurs was a return to form though as he hit a hattrick to get Man United back on track.  

Before this weekend, 88% of Ronaldo’s Premier League goals this season had been scored from inside the box, but his opening goal was a reminder of just how deadly he can be from outside the box.  

Ronaldo has underachieved his xG by 1.3 goals this season, but he’s gone a long way in rectifying that this weekend with a hattrick from an xG of just 0.85. His first strike was the most impressive as he managed to beat Hugo Lloris from an xG of just 0.3.  

The 37-year-old might have returned to form at just the right time for United as they head into their Champions League second leg against Atletico Madrid tomorrow. Ronaldo already has an exemplary record in the competition and his goalscoring record against Atletico speaks for itself.  

In 36 appearances against Atletico, Ronaldo has scored 25 goals and produced nine assists and so you wouldn’t put it past him being the deciding factor in tomorrow’s match-up.  

Napoli keeping the pressure on 

The title race in Serie A looks like it could go down to the wire this season as we saw another twist this weekend. AC Milan are currently leading the way on 63 points and they are unbeaten in their last seven league matches, but Napoli and Inter aren’t far behind.  

Inter managed to rescue a late point against Torino, thanks to Alexis Sanchez 93rd minute equaliser. Inter are four points off the top with a game in hand, but they have only won one of their last five league matches now. 

Napoli managed to bounce back from last week's defeat with a 2-1 away win at Hellas Verona to keep the pressure on Milan. Victor Osimhen proved to be the difference as he scored a brace and became Napoli's outright top goalscorer this season with nine goals. 

Osimhen has overperformed his xG by 0.8 goals this season and he will prove to be vital if Napoli are able to overtake Milan. If Milan continue on their current trajectory of 2.17 points per game, they will finish on 82 points. So far, Napoli have been averaging 2.07 points per game and so they will need to find an extra gear in their remaining nine matches if they want the title.