Soccer-Talking points from European soccer

Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues: SPAIN XAVI CALLS IT QUITS AFTER ANOTHER BARCELONA DEBACLE Barcelona endured a traumatic 5-3 loss to visitors Villarreal on Saturday before their coach Xavi Hernandez sent shockwaves through Spanish football by announcing he was stepping down as manager at the end of the season. Despite being a club great and winning LaLiga last term, Barca's stuttering campaign has put Xavi under pressure.

Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues: SPAIN

XAVI CALLS IT QUITS AFTER ANOTHER BARCELONA DEBACLE Barcelona endured a traumatic 5-3 loss to visitors Villarreal on Saturday before their coach Xavi Hernandez sent shockwaves through Spanish football by announcing he was stepping down as manager at the end of the season.

Despite being a club great and winning LaLiga last term, Barca's stuttering campaign has put Xavi under pressure. After being thrashed by Real in the Spanish Super Cup final earlier this month and knocked out in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals by Athletic Bilbao, a third defeat in their last five games in all competitions was seemingly too much for him to handle.

"The moment requires maximum unity. The situation is not pleasant for anyone," Barca president Joan Laporta told reporters on Sunday, stressing that he had accepted that Xavi continued until the end of the season only because he is a club great. With Barca sitting fourth in the LaLiga standings, 11 points behind leaders Girona, Laporta said that the Champions League, where they face Napoli in last-16, is their last chance to salvage a catastrophic season. "We have to put everything we have into trying to win it," he said.

GERMANY LEVERKUSEN CHANCES

Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen set a league record with 69 touches in the Borussia Moenchengladbach box but they still somehow failed to score in their goalless draw. They had a staggering 28 efforts towards goal compared to their opponents' four and close to 70% possession but only managed a point, seeing second-placed Bayern Munich cut the gap at the top to two points.

"We were dominant but our last pass or last shot was not good enough. We deserved to win but did not do enough for it," said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. "The opponents sat deep and there was not too much space. We had enough shots on goal but we were just not clinical enough."

ITALY INTER BACK ON TOP

Inter Milan returned to the Serie A summit following their Super Cup break from league action, leapfrogging Juventus with a 1-0 win at Fiorentina on Sunday despite having played one game fewer than their title rivals. Lautaro Martinez gave Inter the lead in the 14th minute with his 19th league goal in as many games to leave Simone Inzaghi's men top of the standings on 54 points, one ahead of Juve who were held to a 1-1 draw at home by struggling Empoli on Saturday.

The two sides meet at the San Siro on Feb. 4 in a highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash after they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in November. FRANCE

BREST BREAKTHROUGH Brest are Ligue 1's surprise package this season and they strengthened their grip on third place in the table by overturning a two-goal deficit against leaders Paris St Germain in a 2-2 draw on Sunday.

They now have 35 points and closed the gap on second-placed Nice to three points. Brest, who returned to the top flight in 2019, have gone 10 games unbeaten in all competitions and are edging towards a maiden European competition berth.

They will also have their eyes on securing the club's best league finish, improving on the 1986-87 season when they finished eighth.