There were plenty of appetising match-ups around Europe this weekend, with title race clashes in Germany and Spain.
Here’s a round-up from Europe’s top leagues…
Spain: The Madrid derby was the final match in an eventful Saturday evening in Spain, but failed to live up to its expectations, with a Ronaldo-inspired Real winning 2-0 to cut the gap to Atletico to five points. Barcelona are now six points clear at the top of the league, after a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, with Messi scoring a fifth consecutive brace to go within one goal of Gerd Muller’s record of 85 goals in a calendar year. Valencia sacked their manager Mauricio Pellegrino after they succumbed to a 5-2 thrashing at home to Real Sociedad. Malaga lost 1-0 at Getafe, with Real Betis moving into fourth after a 3-2 win at Deportivo la Coruna.
Germany: Bayern Munich were held 1-1 at home by Dortmund, but maintain their eight point lead over the chasing pack as a result. Toni Kroos smart finish was cancelled out by Mario Gotze’s fine strike, with the Dortmund keeper Weidenfeller making a hat trick of superb saves late on. Leverkusen are in second, having beaten Nurnberg 1-0 at home, with Schalke only managing a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Monchengladbach. Eintracht Frankfurt’s poor form continued as they lost 4-0 away at Dusseldorf.
Italy: A second half brace from Marchisio helped Juventus to a 3-0 win over Torino in the Turin derby. Their lead at the top of the table remains at two points, with Napoli thumping Pescara 5-1 at home. Inter are two points further back in third, having beaten Palermo 1-0 at the San Siro. AC Milan’s recent revival continued, with a 3-1 win at Catania lifting them to seventh. El Shaarawy incredible season continues, having picked up a brace and an assist in Milan’s win, taking the 20 year old’s goal tally to 15 this season.In the final game of the weekend, a Stefan Savic brace earned Fiorentina a 2-2 draw at home to Sampdoria.
France: Lyon’s excellent week was capped off with a 1-0 win at home to Montpellier that moved them 2 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, having beaten Marseilles 4-1 midweek. Joey Barton had an excellent game for Marseilles, picking up two assists as they won 2-1 at Brest to stay in second place. PSG are three points back in fourth, having lost 2-1 at Nice despite Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 13th league goal of the season. St Etienne are third after a 0-0 draw at Ajaccio.
image: © Jan S0L0
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
