This past weekend, Barcelona became the first side to win four consecutive games away to Real Madrid in history, sealing a double over their sworn enemies in three days. The 1-0 win on Saturday came exactly three days after the Bulgrena had defeated Real 3-0 at the same venue in the second leg of the Copa del Rey, all but ending Santiago Soloari’s men’s hopes of winning the Spanish La Liga.
Ivan Rakitic’s strike sees Barca move onto 60 points for the season, 12 ahead of Real with only 12 games to play in the season. For Real, this was their eight League loss of the current campaign and it leaves them 5 points behind city-rivals Atletico.
Atletico themselves were winners on Sunday, defeating Real Sociedad 2-0 at the Anoeta despite having Koke sent off in the 62 minute.
January signing Alvaro Morata’s first half brace did the damage for Diego Simone’s men who remain 7 points behind Barcelona in the race for the title.
In Seville, Gatafe maintained a strong grip onto 4th spot thanks to a hard fought 2-0 win away to Real Betis. Jose Bordalas’s side were 2-0 up by halftime thanks to goals from Leandro Cabrela and Jamie Mata. Betis Captain Joaquin pulled one back 15 minutes from time but Getafe held on for three vital points that see them remain two points ahead of Deportivo Alaves who also won by the same score-line away to Villareal.
Elsewhere, were subjected to a 9th loss of the season, going down 2-1 away to Huesca. In the game that was highlighted by a late VAR controversy, Ezequiel Avila scored the winner deep into stoppage time, moments after Sevilla had seen their would-be winner rightfully ruled out for off-side.
On the same weekend, Valencia, Real Sociedad, Espanyol and Girona were also winners.
In Italy, Juventus all but sealed an 8th consecutive Scudetto, defeating closest rivals Napoli 2-1 at the Stadio San Paolo. In a game that saw either side have a player sent off (Alex Meret for Napoli and Miralem Pjanic for Juve), Pjanic put Juventus in the lead on 28 minutes before Emre Can doubled the visitor’s lead before halftime. Jose Callejon pulled one back on the hour mark for Napoli but it was all they celebrated as Juventus walked home with all three points.
Victory sees the Old Lady move 16 points clear of Napoli in the race for the title with only 12 games to play.
Third place in the Serie A is now occupied by AC Milan who required a Poli Lirola’s own-goal to defeat Sassuolo at the Guiseppe Meazza on Saturday evening. Milan are now one point ahead of cross-city rivals Inter who lost 2-1 away to Cagliari in the opening game of the weekend.
The Rome Derby saw Lazio defeat Roma 3-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. Felipe Caicedo, Ciro Immobile and Danilo Cataldi scored the goals for Simone Inziagi’s side who remain in contention for a Champions League spot, six points behind fourth placed Inter and three adrift of Roma who currently occupy 5th.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Torino, Atalanta, Sampdoria and Udinese. Torino required three late goals to take care of Chievo 3-0. Atalanta came from a goal down to defeat Fiorentina, Sampdoria were 2-1 winners away to SPAL while Udinese powered past Bologna 2-0.
In France, PSG maintained their 17 point lead at the top of the Ligue One table, coming from a goal down to overcome stubborn Caen 2-1 away from home. Teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe continued his scoring form, netting twice in the second half to cancel out Casmir Ninga’s opener.
Second placed Lille continued their magnificent season, overcoming Dijon 1-0 on Sunday afternoon. On a frustrating afternoon that saw Lille fail to operate in full gear, Wesley Lautoa’s own goal on 72 minutes handed the home side victory, one that sees the go onto 54 points for the season, five ahead of third placed Lyon who dismantled Toulouse 5-1 on Sunday. Lyon’s magnificent quadruple of Nabik Fekir, Memphis Depay, Betrand Traore and Moussa Dembele *2, scored the goals for Bruno Genesio’s side.
On the same weekend, Marseille continued their resurgency, defeating Saint Etienne 2-0. In-form Mario Balloteli and Florian Thauvin scored the goals for Rudi Garcia’s side who have now won four of their last 5 League game, putting them comfortably 4th on the standings.
At the Stade Raymond Kopa, Monaco came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Angers. The home side raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to Flavien Tait’s first half double but Monaco Captain Radamel Falcao was equal to the task in the second, scoring his 10th and 11th goals of the season.
Elsewhere, only Nice were the other team to win in the French Ligue One. Patrick Viera’s side had Youcef Atal’ to thank for scoring the winner at home to Strasbourg on an afternoon that saw both sides have a player sent off.
In the Germany Bundesliga, Bayern Munich moved level on points with League leaders Borrusia Dortmund thanks to a 5-1 hummering of Monchengladbach at the Borrusia Park on Saturday afternoon. Robert Lewandowski struck twice with Javier Martinez, Serg Gnebry and Tomas Muller scoring the other three goals. Gladbach’s goal was scored by Captain Lars Stindl who temporarily made the score 2-1.
The win saw Bayern move level on points with Dortmund who had lost 2-1 away to Augsburg on Friday night. Ji Dong-Won’s double sunk Lucien Favre’s who scored their consolation through Paco Alcacer with only nine minutes to play.
Dortmund are still top of the standings due to a better goal difference (+31) on Bayern (+29) with 10 games to go in the season.
Third placed RB Leipzig were also winners on the weekend, defeating Nuremburg 1-0 away from home thanks to a Lucas Klostermann goal, 5 minutes before the break.
In the race for Europe, Frankfurt and Leverkusen continued their brilliant form, defeating Hoffenheim and Freiburg respectively. Frankfurt were required to come from 2-1 to seal a 3-2 victory over Julian Neggielsman’s side while Leverkusen ran out 2-0 comfortable winners at home to Freiburg.
Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Stuttgart also recorded victories last weekend. Hertha defeated Mainz 2-1 at home, Dusseldorf humiliated Schalke 4-0 at the Veltins Arena while Stuttgart put Hannover to the sward, powering past them in a 5-1 victory.
Results from the Spanish La Liga:
-Rayo Vallecano 0-2 Girona
-Espanyol 3-1 Real Valladolid
-Villareal 1-2 Deportivo Alaves
-Huesca 2-1 Sevilla
-Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona
-Eibar 1-0 Celta Vigo
-Real Betis 1-2 Getafe
-Real Sociedad 0-2 Atletico Madrid
-Valencia 2-0 Athletic Bilbao
-Leganes vs Levante
Results from the Italian Serie A:
-Cagliari 2-1 Inter Milan
-Empoli 3-3 Parma
-AC Milan 1-0 Sassuolo
–Lazio 3-0 Roma
-Torino 3-0 Chievo
-Udinese 1-0 Bologna
-Genoa 0-0 Frosinone
-SPAL 1-2 Sampdoria
-Atalanta 3-1 Fiorentina
-Napoli 1-2 Juventus
Results from the French Ligue One:
-Caen 1-2 PSG
-Angers 2-2 Monaco
-Reims PP Rennes
-Reims 2-2 Amiens
-Guingamp 0-0 Nantes
-Lille 1-0 Dijon
-Nice 1-0 Strasbourg
-Lyon 5-1 Toulouse
-Marseille 2-0 Saint Etienne
Results from the Germany Bundesliga:
-Augsburg 2-1 Dortmund
-Schalke 04 0-4 Dusseldorf
-Leverkusen 2-0 Freiburg
-Frankfurt 3-2 Hoffenheim
-Hertha Berlin 2-1 Mainz 05
-Nuremberg 0-1 Leipzig
-Gladbach 1-5 Bayern Munich
-Stuttgart 5-1 Hannover 96
-Wolfsburg 1-1 Werder Bremen
