Saturday 7 January 2017 07:23, UK
With Europe's major leagues kicking off again after the winter break, we take a look at who's in title contention.
What's the situation in Spain and could there be surprises in France, Germany and Italy?
Here's a round-up of how things stand...
Last season's runners-up Real Madrid currently lead the pack as La Liga gets back underway. Zinedine Zidane's side are unbeaten in the league this season and welcome struggling Granada in Saturday's early kick-off, looking to further extend their three-point lead over Barcelona.
Los Blancos also hold a one-game advantage over their Catalan rivals, who have won their last two league games following three consecutive draws and return to action on Sunday as they travel to Villarreal - live on Sky Sports 2HD.
Meanwhile, Atletico have seemingly been pegged back this campaign after finding themselves as one of the 'top three' for the last four seasons. They face a tricky trip to Eibar, while Sevilla and Real Sociedad have both won four of their last six games hoping to build on last season's seventh and ninth place finishes, respectively.
Valencia, who saw coach Cesare Prandelli resign during the winter break, will hope to break out of the rut that has seen them go without a league win since 16 October; Osasuna, meanwhile, have lost six La Liga fixtures on the bounce, scoring just once.
Paris Saint-Germain's tight grip on the Ligue 1 title finally looks to be loosening. Champions for the past four seasons, PSG have already registered more defeats than in the previous three campaigns and sit in third place behind Monaco and this season's team to beat, Nice. Unai Emery's men face a resurgent Rennes next weekend.
Nice have lost just once thus far and have laid on some impressive displays since their recent takeover. Mario Balotelli is fulfilling his potential and eight goals in eight starts is some return. Les Aiglons take on Metz, unbeaten since early November and two points clear of Monaco.
Lyon and Marseille are both in rampant form and mounting an assault on the top four, Angers and Metz are in freefall, but at this stage of the campaign, do not underestimate the fact that there is everything to play for - just 15 points separate bottom club Lorient from fifth-placed Guingamp.
PSG's Edinson Cavani tops the scoring charts with 18, followed by Alexandre Lacazette's 13 for Lyon and Radamel Falcao - finally finding his goalscoring boots after ill-fated loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea - netting 11 for Monaco.
The much-discussed ascent of RB Leipzig saw the club achieve an unprecedented feat: starting the 2016/17 Bundesliga season unbeaten in 13 matches. But the run was ended earlier this month, first by lowly Ingolstadt, and then capped by a resounding 3-0 defeat at the hands of league leaders Bayern Munich on December 21.
Hoffenheim find themselves in a frustrating run of five defeats from six, while Borussia Dortmund have drawn six of their 16 games and are sitting in an unfamiliar sixth.
On paper, Mainz and Borussia Monchengladbach are the two most out-of-form teams in the division; the former face Cologne next, while the latter will be hoping to turn it around against Darmstadt - rooted to the foot of the standings, eight points adrift of safety already.
Despite the best efforts of a host of Italian sides, it's already hard to look past Juventus for the Serie A title. Four points clear with a game in hand and just 14 goals conceded, the Old Lady look good value for their lead.
But glance at the teams just below and Roma, Napoli, Lazio, both of the Milan sides and even 10th-placed Udinese are stringing together results that could see them challenge at the top. And with just 12 points separating the top seven sides as it stands, a tightly-contested second half of the season awaits; Udinese and Inter face off on Sunday.
Palermo, Crotone and Pescara each find themselves with the mountainous task of clambering out of the relegation zone, but with just two wins from their previous 18 games collectively, it looks tough.
On the goalscoring front, Mauro Icardi has netted 14 times for Inter, Andrea Belotti has 13 for Torino, while Edin Dzeko also has 13 for Roma. England goalkeeper Joe Hart meanwhile, suffered the ignominy of conceding five goals in a defeat to Napoli before Christmas as he continues his loan spell at Torino.
