Italy

In the year 2021, Lionel Messi will turn 34 while Cristiano Ronaldo turns 36 in just one month’s time. Playing in their first matches of the New Year on Sunday, the duo showed just how important they remain to their respective clubs by providing match-winning moments.

Over in Spain, Messi returned from his extended winter break to appear in his 500th LaLiga match for Barcelona. He’s the first non-Spanish player to reach the milestone, and among active players, only Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos (505) and Real Betis’ Joaquín (565) have more.  

Lautaro Martínez's first hat-trick for Inter Milan helped his side crush Crotone 6-2, earning their eighth successive Serie A win on Sunday and sending Antonio Conte's team top of the standings above AC Milan.

The mercurial Mario Balotelli needed just four minutes to get off the mark for new club Monza against Salernitana on Wednesday in Italy's Serie B. 

Balotelli had been without a club since the summer, when his contract with Brescia was terminated as a result of several missed training sessions. Serie B side Monza swept in to offer the forward a deal until the end of the season in early December. Monza is owned by Silvio Berlusconi, who previously owned AC Milan where Balotelli enjoyed some of the strongest spells of his up-and-down career. 

Fiorentina handed Juventus its first defeat of the season on Tuesday by entering Turin — where they previously hadn’t won in over 12 years — and walking out with a comfortable 3-0 victory.

Napoli has won its appeal against the decision to hand it a 3-0 defeat and deduct one point for failing to play its Serie A match at Juventus in October amid confusion over Italian soccer's COVID-19 rules.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) confirmed on its official website that its Guarantee Board, the highest tribunal in Italian sport, had accepted Napoli's appeal and ordered that the match be played.

Clocking in at just 6.2 seconds, AC Milan’s Rafael Leão has recorded the fastest goal in Serie A’s 122-year history.

Traveling to Sassuolo’s Mapei Stadium on Sunday, Milan went straight at the home side after kickoff with Hakan Çalhanoğlu carrying the ball forward. The Rossoneri No. 10 delivered a perfectly weighted pass for Leão, and the 21-year-old Portuguese forward put his name in the history books.  

WILD!

PARMA, Italy — Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, taking his Serie A tally for the season to 12, as defending champions Juventus cruised to a 4-0 win at Parma on Saturday.

Juve's 42-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon prevented Parma from taking an early lead when he saved with his legs from Juraj Kucka's close-range effort before the Turin side took complete control.

Dejan Kulusevski, who played for Parma last season, fired Juventus in front in the 23rd minute and Ronaldo headed the second three minutes later.

Weston McKennie’s incredible form for Juventus — two goals and an assist in his last three games — should’ve continued (statistically speaking) on Wednesday in the 11th minute of his club’s Serie A encounter with Atalanta.

The 22-year-old American won the ball in midfield and carried it at the heart of the defense before playing through Álvaro Morata. Before watching the video, know that the Spanish striker was onside.