In an entertaining weekend across Europe, there were great results for Borussia Dortmund and Celta Vigo and Atalanta as the German, Spanish and Italian leagues all moved a step closer to completion with some big sides in contention and others looking on with envy.
German Bundelsliga
With Bayern Munich sealing their 8th straight title in midweek with a 1-0 win against Werder Bremen, the Bavarians enjoyed a 3-1 triumph at the Allianz Arena over Freiburg, with all the goals coming in the first half.
Robert Lewandowski extended his ridiculous scoring record in the German Bundesliga this season with his 32nd and 33rd goals in just 33 games. The Polish striker has scored a goal every 81 minutes in the league, with a 60% shots on target ratio.
Elsewhere in the same division, Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at RB Leipzig to confirm their status as runners-up, with Erling Braut Haaland scoring his 12th and 13th league goals since his arrival in January. With an insanely good 80% shots on target ratio and a goal every 75 minutes, it will be interesting to see the pre-season betting markets for next seasons Bundesliga.
While Dortmund and Leipzig will both be in Champions League action next season, Borussia Monchegladbach will have to wait until the final day of the season next week to confirm their place, ahead of Bayer Leverkusen by just two points. Fortuna Dusseldorf are the same number of points ahead of Werder Bremen at the bottom, the latter needing to win convincingly and hope that Dusseldorf don’t on the final day of the Bundesliga season.
La Liga
Barcelona once again played first, giving the Catalans the opportunity to extend their lead from two points to five points at the top of La Liga. However, instead of that happening, they drew a blank against Sevilla in a game where Barce enjoyed just four shots on target in the 90 minutes.
Messi was unnaturally quiet in the dangerous areas of the pitch and apart from landing a free-kick onto the crossbar, the Argentine got nowhere near what would be his 700th career goal. If anything, Sevilla were the bigger threat late on as they troubled Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen between the sticks.
Real Madrid took full advantage of the slip-up from their La Liga rivals, drawing level at the top with a hard-fought 2-1 win away to Europe-chasing Real Sociedad. A Sergio Ramos penalty just a few minutes after half-time was followed by a sweet strike from Karim Benzema in the 70th minute. Sociedad fought back, however, and a goal from Mikel Merino which bounced in off the crossbar gave the home side hope.
Madrid clung on, though, and now top due to their superior record in El Clasico games against Barcelona, they know that eight more victories will guarantee them only their second La Liga title since 2012.
Elsewhere in La Liga, Celta Vigo humiliated Alavés 6-0 in an absolute drubbing in Galicia, with two goals from Rafinha and even a penalty from former Liverpool player Iago Aspas contributing to a thumping victory that will raise for Vigo in avoiding relegation. Valencia got the job done in their game, winning 2-0 against Osasuna, leaving their own European ambitions in the balance, Los Murcelagos now just two points behind 5th placed Getafe.
Serie A
Two Champions League chasing teams were in action in Serie on Sunday evening as Atalanta and Inter Milan both hosted games which they were expected to win. Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan.
Inter Milan got three points in convincing fashion as Romelu Lukaku scored then took a knee in the 10th minute. His goal was followed by another before half-time byLautaro Martinez, and despite the visitors pulling a goal back in the second half throughMorten Thorsby, Inter hung on for the win.
Antonio Conte’s side are on 57 points after this victory over Sampdoria, darlings of the 1990’s period of Italian football. Juventus (63) and Lazio (62) will take some catching. Atalanta more than managed to get the three points, racking up some goals too in a 4-1 win which included two goals from Colombian striker Duván Zapata, leaving them six points ahead of Roma in the fight for the final Champions League berth with a dozen games to play.