European football: Inter thrash Verona as Leverkusen hammer Heidenheim

Inter hammered lowly Verona 5-0 away from home to move top of Serie A overnight, with all five goals coming in the first half.

Joaquín Correa opened the scoring after 17 minutes, before Marcus Thuram added a quick-fire double and Stefan de Vrij and Yann Bisseck also found the net. “We managed to win a very important match,” Inter’s coach, Simone Inzaghi, told DAZN.

Inter, who were held to a 1-1 home draw by Napoli before the international break, moved on to 28 points from 13 games, two points ahead of second-placed Napoli who host Roma on Sunday. Milan are hosting Juventus in Saturday’s late game.

The Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick bagged a hat-trick on Saturday to help the German champions battle back from a two-goal deficit and crush Heidenheim 5-2 in the Bundesliga.

The Czech forward got the nod after Victor Boniface was ruled out with a muscle injury and he made the most of his chance as Leverkusen won their first match after three consecutive league draws.

It was only the second league win in their last seven games for Xabi Alonso’s team, who won the domestic double last season undefeated. With the champions contesting eight matches in four weeks, including their German Cup clash against Bayern Munich on 3 December, they have to contend with a crammed schedule.

Leverkusen, who first take on RB Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday, are on 20 points in fourth place, nine behind Bayern, the leaders, who were 3-0 winners over Augsburg on Friday, and one point behind second-placed RB Leipzig, who lost 4-3 against Hoffenheim. Borussia Dortmund are a point behind Leverkusen after beating Freiburg 4-0.

In Spain, Diego Simeone’s 700th game in charge of Atlético Madrid ended in a late 2-1 win over Alavés after Alexander Sørloth saved the home side with an 86th-minute winner at the Metropolitano Stadium. The sides had earlier traded penalties, Jon Guridi giving the visitors the lead and Antoine Griezmann equalising.

With a draw on the cards, Rodrigo De Paul found Sørloth making a run in behind and the Norwegian’s strike squeezed in at the near post to move Atlético up to second, four points behind the leaders, Barcelona, who will visit Celta Vigo in Saturday’s late game.