In the final weekend before Christmas, there was a lot happening in the soccer world. Bayern Munich left it late to defeat their latest rival for the Bundesliga title, Bayer Leverkusen. Barcelona dropped more points, but Lionel Messi got even closer to yet another record. There were big wins for Real Madrid, Manchester United, Leicester and Milan, Liverpool putting up seven goals away from home, a controversy involving Marcus Thuram in Gladbach's latest stumble and business as usual for Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal, Arteta need to focus on results not stats, Bayern get lucky, Barca in limbo, Messi ties Pele
