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RB Leipzig’s Xavi Simons scored twice on his comeback from injury to help his team to a 4-2 Bundesliga victory over visitors Werder Bremen on Sunday as the new Red Bull Head of global soccer Jürgen Klopp watched from the stands.
Klopp, who ended a successful nine-year stint at Liverpool last season and has coached Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, started his new role this month and will act as advisor for the Red Bull-owned clubs in Germany, the United States, Brazil and Austria.
Dutch international Xavi had been out of action since a ligament injury in October but he looked in top form as he fired Leipzig into a 24th-minute lead in his first start since.
Werder, who had won their last three league games before the winter break, levelled two minutes later through Mitchell Weiser but Xavi bagged his second goal of the afternoon with a superb solo effort and a slightly deflected effort that went in off the crossbar. Benjamin Sesko put the game to bed two minutes after the restart with a stunning strike.
The hosts went close to a fourth goal in the 81st after a sensational solo run by Antonio Nusa but his low shot bounced off the post. Christoph Baumgartner did better in stoppage time to make it 4-1 before Werder pulled a goal back through Oliver Burke.
Leipzig are in fourth spot on 30 points, level with third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt. Bayern Munich lead the title race on 39 points following their 1-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday. Werder dropped to eighth on 25.
Atletico Madrid claimed a 1-0 home win over Osasuna on Sunday to move top of the LaLiga standings thanks to a second-half goal from Julian Alvarez.
Atlético Madrid secured their 14th consecutive victory across all competitions – a club record – to reach 44 points and go top of La Liga.
The hosts dominated the match but the game was goalless at half-time before the former Manchester City striker Alvarez broke the deadlock in the 55th minute from close range.
Atlético had around 60% possession in the first half but struggled to convert that to goals after going close through Antoine Griezmann and Alvarez.
In Serie A, Internazionale secured a 1-0 win at lowly Venezia on Sunday thanks to an early goal from Matteo Darmian that lifted them to second place in the table. The visitors took the lead after 16 minutes when Lautaro Martinez unleashed a low volley, forcing the Venezia keeper Filip Stankovic into a one-handed reflex save, but the rebound fell perfectly for Darmian who slotted it home.
Inter moved on to 43 points, one ahead of Atalanta, who were held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday. Napoli are top with 44 points but have played one game more than Inter. Venezia are second bottom with 14 points.
