La Liga
Who needs Cristiano Ronaldo eh? Gareth stepped up for Real Madrid this week to score his first hat-trick for the club against 18th place Real Valladolid.
The Welshman had a hand in all four goals during the 4 - 0 win, swinging in a cross for Karim Benzema which bore similarities to the ball Mesut Ozil played in for Wales colleague Aaron Ramsey in the Gunners win over Cardiff on Saturday.
All of Bale's goals consisted of tap ins but either way the doubters are melting away as he gets into his stride.
That's nine goals in 13 games since moving to the Santiago Bernabeu.
But Atletico Madrid's 2 - 0 win at Elche keeps Real in third place for now.
However both Madrid teams will be smelling blood after Barcelona's were downed by Athletic Bilbao in the Basque country last night.
Messi-less and with Daniel Alves, Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes out injured, the Catalans lost a second game in the space of a week thanks to Iker Munian's goal.
That leaves Barca atop La Liga on goal difference but with problems to address, while the result was significant for Bilbao who climb into the Top 4.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich's fine form is continuing apace after a 2 - 0 win at home to bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig.
Arjen Robben was the hero for the Bavarians, scoring twice, with his second goal particularly impressive...
But his celebration was less dignified than the goal...
Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways after last week's setback against Bayern. Jurgen Klopp's side ran out 3 - 1 winners at his former club Mainz.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring with a well-struck free-kick...
But Dortmund stay third as Bayer Leverkusen shook off the midweek thrashing at the hands of Manchester United to record a 3 - 0 win at home to struggling Nurnberg.
While the top three won comfortably, the game of the weekend was between Hoffenheim and Werder Bremen as both lower mid-table sides played out a 4 - 4 draw.
Schalke kept up their fight for a Top 4 place and Jermaine Jones scored a real thunderbolt in their 3 - 0 win over Stuttgart.
Serie A
With Mario Balotelli and Kaka on the scoresheet, AC Milan put an end to a torrid run with a 3 - 1 win away at Catania.
The result lifts them up to 9th and shows an upturn in form following the midweek win at Celtic Park.
Juventus are now three points clear at the top. But as their match against Udinese trundled into injury time it looked as if they would have to make do with a one point advantage.
But up stepped the in-form Fernando Llorente to stab in a winner and break the deadlock.
Meanwhile Roma seem to have run out of steam in recent weeks - not helped by injuries - as they recorded another draw, this time at Atalanta.
Inter Milan, who were featured on Euro Footy Focus this weekend, drew 1 - 1 for the second week in succession to dent their Champions League qualification hopes.
Both Friday night matches ended 1 - 1 as Parma and Bologna (make sure you see the superb goals from Antonio Cassano and Panagiotis Kone in that game) and Genoa and Torino played out draws.
Genoa 1-1 Torino (Highlights) 30.11 ourmatch.net by ourmatch
Parma vs Bologna 30.11.2013 Serie A by video4all
Ligue 1
PSG maintained their four-point stranglehold at the top of Ligue 1 after a facile 4 - 0 win over Lyon.
PSG were unimpressive early on as Lyon passed the ball around tidily but poor marking at a corner allowed Edinson Cavani to head in his 10th goal of the season at the near post, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic's cheeky panenka penalty put the Parisians clear as half-time approached.
The rout was completed by Thiago Silva and another Zlatan penalty.
Eredivisie
PSV Eindhoven are in stuck in a rut. The 1988 European Cup winners are down in 10th after a 3 - 1 defeat at Feyenoord, while the Dutch top flight has a surprise leader in Vitesse Arnhem.
Feyenoord's 19-year-old winger Jan-Paul Boetius struck well to equalize after Adam Maher had put PSV ahead.
While Graziano Pellè finished PSV off, Eindhoven centre-back Jeffrey Bruma put an end to a torrid week on a personal level with a second sending off within the space of a week.
Primeria Liga
Third in their Champions League group with a single game to go, FC Porto were offered no respite in the Portuguese league this weekend as they slumped to a 1 - 0 defeat at Academica Coimbra.
That put an end to a 53-game run without defeat for Porto and allowed Sporting Lisbon and Benfica to leapfrog them into first and second.
Super Lig
The Istanbul derby between Besiktas and Fenerbahce turned out to be a thriller. Ending 3 - 3, two ex-Liverpool men played key roles.
While Dirk Kuyt handed Fener a late equalizer to preserve their seven point lead at the top of the table, his team-mate Raul Meireles was sent off for a nasty challenge, although Besiktas also had a man sent off.
