Talking points from European soccer
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues:
ITALY
NAPOLI'S GARCIA UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Napoli manager Rudi Garcia is under pressure after a disappointing start to the season.
The 59-year-old Frenchman's team suffered a 1-0 loss at home to lowly Empoli on Sunday, leaving the reigning champions 10 points adrift of Serie A leaders Inter Milan and it was no surprise that their fans were booing at the end of the match.
Starting with crowd favourite Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the bench and bringing him on just before the hour did not help.
The defeat came after a 1-1 draw at home tot Union Berlin in Wednesday's Champions League group fixture, which marked the German side's first ever point in the competition.
Napoli get a welcome break for the international fixtures and return to action at Atalanta on Nov. 25 when they will be expected to put in a much better performance than on Sunday.
GERMANY
LONG WAY TO GO BUT LEVERKUSEN ON FIRE
Bayer Leverkusen have matched the best ever start to a Bundesliga season with 31 out of 33 points in their first 11 matches after their 4-0 win over Union Berlin on Sunday.
That equals Bayern's Munich record from 2015/16.
Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen team have won 16 of their 17 matches in all competitions and lead the Bundesliga by two points from the Bavarians going into the international break.
They have also won their last 12 games in a row in Germany and internationally.
"We are very satisfied with what we have done in this period since the previous international break," Alonso said.
"We have played with a lot of focus and concentration all the way until this match today. But there are still a lot of matches and a lot can happen in football and suddenly all expectations are gone."
SPAIN
FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT FOR REAL MADRID
Real Madrid may trail surprise LaLiga leaders Girona by two points after 13 games but the Spanish giants have enough reasons to be optimistic about the present and future after a weekend in which their young stars shone under the spotlight.
First it was Brazilian wonderkids Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo who put on a show at the Bernabeu as they both scored twice to lead Real to a 5-1 thrashing of Valencia in LaLiga on Saturday.
Another highlight was the performance of 21-year-old Eduardo Camavinga, who was possessed running Real's midfield, winning every challenge to delight fans who gave him a standing ovation.
A few hours later in Brazil teenage sensation Endrick, still wearing Palmeiras colours as he only can join Real when he turns 18, scored his fourth goal in two games to help his side grab top spot in Serie A with a 3-0 win against Internacional.
The 17-year-old, who Real signed at 16 to a deal that could reach 60 million euros ($64.12 million), this week got his first call-up from Brazil and will join his future club mates Rodrygo and Vini. They are preparing to face Argentina at the Maracana.
($1 = 0.9358 euros) (Reporting by Tommy Lund, Karolos Grohmann and Fernando Kallas; Editing by Ken Ferris)
