Vinicius Junior runs riot with first-half hat trick; Real Madrid torch Barcelona in El Clasico, win Supercopa

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It was another big weekend in European soccer with Real Madrid smashing Barcelona in the first Clasico of 2024, a big win for Milan vs. AS Roma and a stirring comeback from Manchester City away at Newcastle United. This is Jonathan Johnson, let's get to it.

📺 Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, Jan. 15
🇮🇹 Serie A: Atalanta vs. Frosinone, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

Tuesday, Jan. 16
🏆 AFC Asian Cup: Saudia Arabia vs. Oman, 12:30 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 FA Cup: Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Brentford, 2:30 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Juventus vs. Sassuolo, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏆 Africa Cup of Nations: Mali vs. South Africa, 3 p.m. ➡️ beIN Sports USA

⚽ The Forward Line

🔥 Vibrant Vini Jr. bags first half hat trick in Real's first Clasico of 2024

Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior have started 2024 as they mean to continue after a merciless 4-1 mauling of bitter rivals Barcelona in the first edition of El Clasico for 2024. It might have "only" been the Spanish Supercopa, but a Clasico remains a Clasico and the Brazilian led the way for the Spanish giants in Saudi Arabia on Sunday with a hat trick in the first half at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh against defending champions Barca, who finished the encounter with 10 men. Real have needed Vini Jr. to be back to his best ahead of the challenges that will come in the second half of the season and the South American showed that he is up to the task here with a superb showing -- as detailed by Pardeep Cattry's recap of the 23-year-old's virtuoso display. Not only do Real need Vini Jr. to be back to similar levels to last season for the remainder of this term, Brazil also badly need him to be ready to take on a talismanic role at this summer's Copa America in the U.S. with Neymar expected to be missing through injury.

Cattry: "Vinicius Junior got started quickly in Saudi Arabia, giving his side the lead just seven minutes in. Near the halfway line, Jude Bellingham played a smart pass through traffic to Vinicius, who then dashed towards goal. Though his first touch was heavy, he was able to catch up to the ball with no one around him and outmaneuvered Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena to score from an angle. Three minutes later, he scored again. Dani Carvajal's long pass down the right flank found Rodrygo, and he went on a run for goal. Despite finding a nice opening for himself, he instead noticed Vinicius Junior's well-timed run to his left and sent the ball his way, allowing him to complete a brace from close range. Vinicius Junior's third came courtesy of a penalty in the 39th minute, when Ronald Araujo pulled him down in the box to concede the spotkick. The Real Madrid star sent the ball to his left and slipped into the goal before Pena had a chance to stop it, making the score 3-1 after Robert Lewandowski scored for the opposition. Things got worse for Barcelona in the 72nd minute when Araujo picked up a second yellow card for kicking Vinicius Junior's heels."

🔗 Midfield Link Play

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Man City back on track in Premier League title race

It was a busy weekend in the Premier League with a number of significant results in the top half of the table as Manchester City re-entered the title race while Tottenham Hotspur lost ground in the battle for a top four spot and Chelsea picked up important points to leapfrog a tumbling Newcastle United side. Combined with Aston Villa's goalless draw away at Everton, it was the Magpies who allowed City to move up to provisional second place in the EPL table with a dramatic 3-2 win which was inspired by rejuvenated Kevin de Bruyne's magnificent late cameo. Sent on with 21 minutes to play, the Belgian maestro needed just five minutes to pull Pep Guardiola's men back to 2-2 at St. James' Park before an assist to tee up another substitute Oscar Bobb for a late winner. Chuck Booth singled out the 32-year-old Belgian wizard for praise after his game changing introduction in Newcastle.

Booth: "With a 3-2 victory over Newcastle United, Manchester City have climbed into second place in the Premier League, but it means so much more than three points as Kevin De Bruyne marked his return with a goal and an assist. Dealing with a hamstring injury since the first match of the season, De Bruyne has been absent for all but four games of City's season in all competitions. In those games that he has appeared in, the Belgian now has one goal and three assists. Without both De Bruyne and Erling Haaland for the past four Premier League matches, it's impressive that City have been able to keep their strong levels of performance going. That confidence is flowing in City and will only grow now being able to lean on De Bruyne. With Haaland's return also on the horizon, it feels like City are still the team to beat in the title race."

Villa had the chance to retake second spot on the Sunday at Goodison Park, but Everton held on for a 0-0 which opened the door to Ange Postecoglou's Spurs side to close the gap. Despite out-shooting United and dominating possession at Old Trafford, Tottenham had to come from behind twice to salvage a point in an entertaining 2-2 draw which saw Richarlison peg back Rasmus Hojlund's opener and Rodrigo Bentancur cancel out Marcus Rashford's first Premier League goal of the season at Old Trafford. Despite Timo Werner going close with a header and Cristian Romero going ever closer and hitting the woodwork, United held on for a point which will feel like two dropped to the Londoners who also debuted Radu Dragusin towards the end of another game which saw them punished for shipping goals. Liverpool, City and Arsenal's games in hand will now have a very telling impact upon the current top five and the lay of the land in terms of the developing title race.

🔗 Top Stories

😳 Barca boss Xavi apologizes for Clasico blowout: The Catalan giants suffered a chastening 4-1 loss to their bitter rivals and the legendary former player and current tactician was moved to issue an apology for a below-par showing in Saudi Arabia.

🥡 United 2-2 Spurs takeaways: What we learned from Sunday's EPL draw as Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund were clinical for the Red Devils and Timo Werner enjoyed a solid Tottenham debut.

🇵🇸 Palestine's AFC Asian Cup history: Palestinians get their second-ever tournament goal in a 4-1 loss to Iran while the Israel-Hamas war continues.

🎯 Luis Suarez sets Inter Miami aims: The Uruguayan goal machine is dreaming of a trophy-laden season in Major League Soccer alongside former Barcelona partners in crime Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets: "Why wouldn't we dream of winning all four titles?"

🔝 NWSL Draft top pick: UNC midfielder Ally Sentnor was picked No. 1 overall by Utah Royals FC after the 19-year-old's 11-goal season with the Tar Heels.

💰 The Back Line

💵 Best bet

AFCON 2023: Mali vs. South Africa, Tuesday, 3 p.m.
💰THE PICK: South Africa win (+290) -- AFCON is now underway and already throwing up some interesting results with Ghana the biggest name to suffer a shock defeat so far at the hands of Cape Verde while Egypt needed a late, late equalizer from Mo Salah to save a point against Mozambique. Defending champions Senegal enter the tournament on Monday, so where else could the upsets happen? South Africa is an interesting one given the country's size and potential which it regularly fails to live up to. However, opening against a Mali side this Tuesday which is lacking an establish goal scoring presence despite some talented prospects, Bafana Bafana could sneak the strong start they need ina. group also featuring Tunisia. As long as Hugo Broos' men can break through the Malian midfield and defense, they could hold their own against the attack composed by Eric Chelle's side. The South Africans sneaking a narrow win against the odds would not surprise me.

📺 What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.

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👟 Kickin' It (Tuesday, 7 p.m.): CBS Sports Golazo Network's new unfiltered interview show returns Tuesday Hosted by Kate Abdo, Clint Dempsey, Mo Edu and Charlie Davies, the group chat candidly with the biggest names from the Beautiful Game and share their stories from on and off the pitch.

⚽ Call it What You Want (Monday night): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Jesse Marsch and Charlie Davies cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.