The developments in European national leagues last night are the highlight of this morning's news update.

La Liga: Real Madrid overwhelmingly defeated Barcelona in El Clásico.

The "El Clásico" match in round 9 of La Liga between Real Madrid and Barcelona was not as exciting as expected.

Barca had a perfect start when Neymar opened the scoring for the visitors in the 4th minute. However, after that, Barca's defenders made many mistakes in defense and allowed Real to come back and win.

In the 35th minute, Pique handled the ball after a pass from Marcelo. Real were awarded a penalty, and as usual, Cristiano Ronaldo didn't miss the opportunity from the spot. That was the Portuguese striker's 16th goal in La Liga this season.

Video clip of the match between Real and Barca.

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In the 50th minute, center-back Pepe joined the attack and headed in a goal to give Real Madrid a 2-1 lead. Twelve minutes later, Iniesta lost the ball, and Rodriguez took advantage of the opportunity with an accurate pass to Benzema, who sealed a 3-1 victory for Real Madrid. This was Barca's first defeat in La Liga this season. Barca still leads the league with 22 points, but Real Madrid are closing in with just one point less.

In another match in round 9, Valencia defeated Elche 3-1. Valencia's three goals were scored by Mustafi, Parejo, and an own goal by Lomban. With this victory, Valencia has 20 points and is temporarily ranked 3rd.

Premier League: Man City fall to West Ham, Alexis Sanchez helps Arsenal win the match.

A surprise occurred in the early match of the ninth round of the English Premier League when Man City lost to West Ham. The defending champions had a poor performance, allowing West Ham to create numerous dangerous opportunities.

In the 21st minute, Amalfitano opened the scoring for the home team after a cross from Valencia. Following this goal, Man City pressed forward, but after missing several opportunities, they paid the price when Sakho extended their lead to 2-0 in the 75th minute. Although Silva scored a consolation goal for the visitors shortly afterwards, Man City were unable to equalize in the remaining minutes and accepted their second defeat of the season. They now have 17 points and are still 5 points behind Chelsea, having played one more game.

In another match, Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0. Both goals for the Gunners were scored by Alexis Sanchez, and both came from mistakes by the home team's defense. With this victory, Arsenal have 14 points and climbed to fifth place.

Meanwhile, Liverpool only managed a 0-0 draw against Hull City. Despite dominating possession and creating numerous dangerous opportunities, Liverpool's strikers failed to score. After 9 matches, Liverpool have only 14 points and have dropped to 7th place.

Serie A: Roma miss the chance to take the top spot.

Following their humiliating 1-7 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, AS Roma continued to disappoint with a 0-0 draw against Sampdoria.

Roma dominated possession with 60% and had a total of 19 shots throughout the match, but due to a lack of clinical finishing and bad luck, they failed to score and had to settle for just one point. Roma now have 19 points, the same as Juventus, but have played one more game.

Ligue 1: PSG beat Bordeaux to climb to second place.

In France, Paris Saint Germain demonstrated their strength against surprise package Bordeaux with a resounding 3-0 victory.

Lucas Moura scored a brace from the penalty spot for the defending champions, before Lavezzi sealed the 3-0 victory for the home side in the 81st minute. With 21 points, PSG now climbed to second place, four points behind Marseille.

Bundesliga: Dortmund suffers fourth consecutive defeat.

In the ninth round of the Bundesliga, Dortmund continued to sink deeper into crisis with a home defeat against Hanover. This was the fourth consecutive loss for Juergen Klopp's team in the domestic league.

Despite dominating the game completely, Dortmund couldn't score. In the 62nd minute, they conceded a goal after a shot from Kiyotake. With their sixth defeat of the season, Dortmund dropped to 15th place with only 7 points from 9 matches.

In another match, Bayer Leverkusen defeated Schalke 1-0 with the only goal scored by Calhanoglu. With 16 points, Leverkusen climbed to fourth place.

Pique admits the penalty for Real was correct.

Defender Gerard Pique admitted that the penalty awarded to Real Madrid in the recent El Clásico match was correct after he handled the ball in the penalty area.

Cristiano Ronaldo equalized for Real Madrid from the penalty spot, making it 1-1, after referee Jesus Gil Manzano ruled that Pique had handled the ball in the penalty area following a cross from the left wing by Marcelo.

“I fell and couldn’t avoid my hand touching the ball. Clearly, the ball touched my hand, so it was a correct penalty,” Pique said after Barca were defeated 3-1 by Real Madrid.

Regarding the match's overall picture, Pique assessed: "In the first half, we didn't have to endure much because Barca controlled the game and took the lead thanks to Neymar's goal. But after Madrid took a 2-1 lead, we were forced to attack and were caught out by their counter-attacks. The Madrid players are really fast and can make you pay the price."

Diego Costa could start against Man United.

Striker Diego Costa is expected to start when Chelsea visit Old Trafford to face Manchester United in the Premier League's ninth-round "Super Sunday," despite still struggling with a hamstring injury and having spent the night in hospital with a viral fever.

Costa reportedly trained on Saturday and is ready to be selected for the big match against Man United. This is great news for Chelsea, who have lost striker Loic Remy and only have one truly fit striker left in Didier Drogba.

Meanwhile, manager Louis Van Gaal is facing a headache as striker Radamel Falcao's participation in the match against Chelsea is uncertain after he sustained an injury in training on Friday. In addition, Angel Di Maria is also experiencing problems with his thigh, although the Argentinian midfielder is confident he will recover in time.

The rare good news for Van Gaal is that Wayne Rooney has served his suspension and is available to play.

Liverpool are considering signing Berahino to solve their attacking problems.

Once again this season, Liverpool showed their attacking weakness as they were held to a goalless draw at home by Hull City.

Balotelli's signing has yet to live up to expectations, and this is the main reason for Liverpool's poor attacking performance. Therefore, the Merseyside club is considering recruiting West Brom's rising young talent, Saido Berahino, in the upcoming winter transfer window to improve their attacking options.

However, West Brom have set a price tag of £25 million for Berahino, and Liverpool face fierce competition from Spurs. Besides Berahino, Wilfried Bony of Swansea, who scored a brace against Leicester last night, is another target for Liverpool.

WTA Finals: Serena Williams advances to the final to face Halep.

In the semi-finals of the WTA Finals, Serena Williams staged a spectacular comeback to defeat Wozniacki. Serena lost the first set 2-6, but won the second set 6-3. In the third set, Wozniacki led 5-4 and was serving in the deciding game, but Serena leveled the score. In the tie-break, the American player won narrowly 8-6 to advance to the final.

In the final match, Serena will face Simona Halep again, after the Romanian player easily defeated Radwanska with scores of 6-2, 6-2. In the group stage, Halep had previously beaten Serena 6-0, 6-2.

Meanwhile, in the semi-finals of the Basel Open, Federer narrowly defeated Karlovic 7-6, 3-6, and 6-3. In the final, Federer will face David Goffin, who beat the surprise team Coric 6-4, 3-6, and 6-3.

Meanwhile, in the semi-finals of the Valencia Open, Murray defeated Ferrer for the second consecutive week. The Scottish player advanced to the final with a 6-4, 7-5 victory. In the final, Murray will face Robredo, who beat J. Chardy 7-6 and 7-6.

According to TT&VH