Rivals watch: Roma top Juventus, Real Madrid roll in rout

We take a look at how Barça's UEFA Champions League Group E rivals, as well as the top teams in La Liga, fared over the weekend

Following last Thursday's 2015/16 UEFA Champions League draw in Monaco, the list of FC Barcelona's direct rivals has now grown beyond that of the usual suspects in La Liga. Of the three teams that will be joining defending champs Barça in Group E of the prestigious continental tournament, two had domestic league fixtures this weekend.

On Saturday in Bundesliga action, Bayer Leverkusen — which will visit Camp Nou on 29 September for both teams' second Group E fixture —  were shutout on the road at Bayern Munich by a score of 3–0. The Bavarians, now in their third year under ex-blaugrana manager Pep Guardiola, demonstrated just how tough they are to beat at home. The loss was Leverkusen's first of the season after having opened with a pair of victories. They currently sit sixth in the Bundesliga table.

And on Sunday, it was AS Roma successfully defending their home turf, the Stadio Olimpico, by toppling reigning Serie A champs and UCL runners-up Juventus, 2–1. FC Barcelona open group play on the very same pitch in the Italian capital on 16 September and have now been served a fair warning that the Romans are no pushovers when battling on the banks of the Tiber River. The Gialorossi are now in second place in Serie A with a win and a draw in their first two games. Shockingly, Juventus have now dropped their first two and are mired in 19th place out of 20 teams in Italy's top league. There is, however, plenty of time to shake things up.

The fourth and final team drawn into Group E, BATE Borisov from Belarus, have not played since eking past Partizan Belgrade on away goals (2–2 on aggregate) in the Champions League preliminary playoffs on 26 August. BATE's next action comes on Monday 31 August in match day 18 of the Belarusian Premier League at the Borisov Arena versus FC Belshina Bobruisk. BATE are the defending champs and are currently atop the table with nine games to play. Their domestic season ends in November.

La Liga

FC Barcelona's eternal rivals Real Madrid broke into the win column in the late game on Saturday night, rolling over newly promoted Real Betis 5–0. Madrid used their home opener to put last week's lacklustre scoreless draw with Sporting Gijón behind them. The All-Whites are now in fifth place in La Liga.

An unprecedented five Spanish First Division teams — Atlético Madrid, Valencia and Sevilla, in addition to Barça and Madrid — have qualified for this year's Champions League. The familiar names all carry a hefty degree of prestige and promise to be Barça's toughest rivals domestically. Here's how they fared in La Liga play this weekend:

Sevilla 0, Atlético Madrid 3

Valencia 1, Deportivo 1

Source: http://ift.tt/1JuXEj0