LONDON, Oct 21: Juventus, Bayern Munich and Barcelona continued their domestic dominance on Saturday as they tuned up perfectly for their midweek Champions League assignments.

Juve pulled three points clear of title rivals Napoli at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win, Bayern became the first side to start the Bundesliga with eight wins after they crushed Fortuna Duesseldorf 5-0 while Lionel Messi’s 15th La Liga hat-trick helped Barca edge Deportivo La Coruna in a wild 5-4 shootout to go three points clear at the top.

Italian champions Juve scored twice in as many minutes late in the second-half through Martin Caceres and Paul Pogba to win a hotly-contested match in Turin that saw Antonio Conte’s side go to 22 points from eight games.

Caceres was left unmarked to score from a header following a corner kick from Andrea Pirlo after 80 minutes and Pogba wrapped up the victory over second-placed Napoli with a stunning volley two minutes later to set his side up perfectly for their trip to Danish side FC Nordsjaelland in the Champions League on Tuesday.

In the late game, AC Milan’s problems continued when they slumped to a fifth defeat of the season, 3-2 at third-placed Lazio, who are four points behind Juve.

Lazio were 3-0 ahead by the 50th minute thanks to goals from Hernanes, Antonio Candreva and Miroslav Klose. Dutchman Nigel De Jong and Stephan El Shaarawy hit back for Milan but it was too little, too late.

Milan’s form, which sees them trail Juve by 15 points, would give Spanish side Malaga a reason to cheer ahead of their Champions League clash with the Rossoneri on Wednesday.

Malaga came from behind to beat Real Valladolid with a hard earned 2-1 home victory to stay third in La Liga after Joaquin made amends for fluffing a penalty by grabbing the winner two minutes from time.

Valencia scored twice in the final three minutes to beat 10-man Athletic Bilbao 3-2 ahead of their Champions League trip to Minsk to face BATE Borisov on Tuesday.

But it was Messi’s treble that made headlines across Spain.

Jordi Alba and Cristian Tello got the other goals for Barca, who had Javier Mascherano sent-off on 48 minutes, while a Pizzi double, a Alex Bergantinos strike and an Alba own goal kept Depor in the game.

Messi’s latest masterclass took him to 11 league goals and Barca to 22 points whilst also providing them with an ideal warm-up ahead of their Champions League tie against Celtic on Tuesday.

Barca are also eight points ahead of arch-rivals Real Madrid after Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 15th goal in all competitions to help the defending champions labour to a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo.

Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot in the 67th after Gonzalo Higuain had given Real and 11th-minute lead with a lofted shot from well outside the area.

Jose Mourinho’s side can now focus on their highly-anticipated Champions League visit to German titleholders Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

Dortmund slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to bitter rivals Schalke in the 141st Ruhr derby in the Bundesliga on Saturday as they fell 12 points behind leaders Bayern.

Ibrahim Afellay opened the scoring in the 14th minute at a sell-out Signal Iduna Park stadium and Schalke, who visit Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, went 2-0 up in the 48th when Marco Hoeger scored.

Robert Lewandowski cut the deficit in the 55th with a header but the hosts soon ran out of ideas as they saw their title defence take a further hit this season. Schalke are third on 17 points.

Bayern’s victory came courtesy a Mario Mandzukic goal, Luiz Gustavo’s close-range effort, a second-half Thomas Mueller double and one from Rafinha as they bred confidence ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League game at France’s Lille.

In France, Paris St Germain went to the top of Ligue 1 with 19 points after a Kevin Gameiro header clinched a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over Stade Reims.

While PSG look determined to win their first crown since 1984 and punch their weight in the Champions League, champions Montpellier, who host Olympiakos Piraeus in the Champions League on Wednesday, are down in 16th place after losing 2-1 at Stade Rennes.—Agencies