What You Might Have Missed: Ze Roberto breaks Brazilian duck, Pogba makes Eredivisie bow

Barcelona lost ground to Real Madrid in the LaLiga title chase, while Manchester City had to come from behind against Burnley to keep pace with Chelsea and Liverpool at the Premier League summit.

Juventus’ 3-1 defeat at Genoa allowed Roma and AC Milan to close the gap to four points at the top of Serie A, and Borussia Dortmund’s defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt was especially costly as the top four all won.

But there are plenty of headlines being made beyond Europe’s bigger leagues. Here are some things you might have missed over the weekend in world football.

ZE ROBERTO WINS MAIDEN BRAZILIAN CROWN

Former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich winger Ze Roberto – remember him? – won his maiden Campeonato Brasileiro at the grand old age of 42 on Sunday.

Ze Roberto won one LaLiga and four Bundesliga crowns during his time in Europe, but has had to wait until his fifth decade to sample league glory on home soil.

Having won his first Copa do Brasil title with Palmeiras in 2015, Ze Roberto played the full 90 minutes before collecting the trophy after a 1-0 victory over Chapecoense.

42 – At the age of 42 years, @Zeoficial10 (@SEPalmeiras) celebrates his first championship in Brazil. Accomplished. pic.twitter.com/vTC0nfOGNA

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) November 28, 2016

POGBA (NOT THAT ONE) MAKES EREDIVISIE DEBUT

While Paul Pogba was busy finalising a world-record move to Manchester United during the close-season, brother Mathias was attempting to find a club following his release by Partick Thistle.

Sparta Rotterdam decided to take a chance on Mathias, one of Paul’s twin older siblings, and the forward finally made his bow in a 2-2 draw with Roda JC on Sunday.

Pogba was introduced as a replacement for Zakaria El Azzouzi a minute before Sparta scored the first of their two goals in response to falling 2-0 down.

THE NEW NAME IN TURKISH FOOTBALL?

If asked who currently sits top of the Turkish Super Lig, you would be forgiven for hazarding a guess at Galatasaray, Besiktas or Fenerbahce.

The league title has been won by one of those traditional giants of Turkish football for the last 31 years, with the exception of Bursaspor’s triumph in 2009-10.

However, a new name has risen to the summit this season, with Istanbul Basaksehir currently leading the way, having only won promotion to the top flight in 2007 following their foundation in 1990.

What’s more, the unexpected leaders – captained by 36-year-old Emre Belozoglu – consolidated their position with a 1-1 draw at second-placed Besiktas on Saturday.

DE ROSSI REACHES MILSETONE APPEARANCE

Daniele De Rossi brought up his 400th Serie A appearance for Roma in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Pescara.

The midfielder ranks second behind Francesco Totti on Roma’s all-time appearance list in all competitions and has finished as league runner-up on seven occasions.

With Roma four points adrift of defending champions Juventus, De Rossi will hope this is the season he finally ends his wait for a Scudetto.

Edin Dzeko scored his 12th goal in 14 league appearances during the win against Pescara.

DUTCH DUO FIND THEIR SCORING BOOTS

Luuk de Jong – a prolific goalscorer in the Eredivisie – has been having trouble finding the net for PSV of late.

The striker, who scored 46 goals in 65 league appearances over the last two seasons in the Dutch top flight, was on an eight-match barren streak in all competitions before finally scoring in Saturday’s 3-1 win over ADO Den Haag.

And it was a good weekend for Dutch attackers, as Wesley Sneijder also scored his first Galatasaray goal since February.

Source: soccerway.com