The Euro Roundup: Napoli re-enter Serie A title race as Juve stumble

Although most of the title races in Europe are wrapped up, the race for Champions League and Europa League qualification is far from over.

As we head into April, the title races in most major European leagues are slowly coming to a conclusion. Though there’s still a long way to go before any sliverware is handed out, both Germany and Spain have champions-elect that should wrap up their respective titles with little difficulty. The race for Champions and Europa League qualification, however, is far from decided, with leagues throughout Europe this week hosting key games as teams fight for position in a bid to qualify for next season’s continental competitions.

Serie A

In Italy, an increasingly interesting title race took yet another turn. After a loss to Roma and a draw to Inter Milan in their last two games, Napoli to have missed out on their chance to end a 28-year scuddetto drought.

However, a spirited SPAL side were able to hold the defending champions to a 0-0 draw on Saturday, meaning Napoli could close the gap to two points with a win over 13th-place Genoa. They made hard work of it, but eventually grabbed the winner with 18 minutes left to play.

Former Real Madrid defender Raul Albiol rose highest to head home the decider and help Napoli close the gap on Juventus. It’s the first time in Serie A history that two teams have had at least 72 points after 29 matchdays and with Juventus facing some difficult challenges after the international break before hosting Napoli at the end of April, there’s still very much a title race in Italy.

Outside of the title challenge, Mauro Icardi was one of three players to score four goals this weekend with his poker against Sampadoria meaning the Inter captain has now scored 100 goals for the club. The San Siro side are in a fierce battle for European soccer with Lazio and local rivals AC Milan. The Rosseneri came back from a 2-1 deficit against Chievo to win 3-2, while Lazio drew 1-1 with Bologna.

Just five points separate fourth-place Inter Milan and sixth-place AC Milan, and the Milan sides still have to face each other.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich came into this weekend knowing that should Schalke and Dortmund fail to win, a victory away to Red Bull Leipzig would secure a sixth consecutive Bundesliga title. None of the above transpired, as both Dortmund and Schalke ensured the celebrations were postponed for another week and Leipzig earned a shock win over the Bavarians. 

The visitors had gotten off to a perfect start when Sandro Wagner’s header put them in the lead in the 12th minute, but goals from Liverpool-bound midfielder Naby Keita and Timo Werner ensured Leipzig earned a deserved victory.

Over in Dortmund, Michy Batshuayi scored a fabulous heel flick to earn Dortmund a 1-0 win over Hannover and keep Dortmund in the hunt for the Champions League. It was Batshuayi’s sixth goal in seven Bundesliga games and helped stretch Dortmund’s unbeaten run to 12 games. 

Bayern remain runaway leaders and could wrap up the title with a win over Dortmund at the Allianz Arena after the international break, provided Schalke drop points to Freiburg. Below Bayern, however, the race for the Champions League has heated up. Bayer Leverkusen’s loss to relegation-battling Cologne means there are just six points separating second-place Schalke and sixth-place Leipzig.

La Liga

Barcelona continued their march to another La Liga title with a 2-0 win over Athletic Club Bilbao at the Camp Nou. Paco Alacer opened the scoring, before Lionel Messi scored his 25th goal of the season. The win turned out to be crucial as second-place Atletico Madrid dropped 11 points behind the Blaugrana with a 2-1 defeat against Villarreal. Antoine Griezmann had put the visitors ahead after 20 minutes, but two late goals from Enes Unal gave the Yellow Submarine a suprise victory over Los Rojiblancos.

After their win over Manchester United in midweek, Sevilla slumped to a 2-0 home loss to mid-table Leganes. The result means Sevilla drop out of the European spots and opened the door for Girona to leap into sixth place. The Catalan newcomers tried their hardest to get a result at the Bernabeu, but Cristiano Ronaldo proved too much for the visitors, scoring four in a 6-3 win to bring his league tally to 22, just three behind Messi.

In terms of qualifying for Europe, this week’s results changed little. Four teams remain in with a chance of qualifying for the Europa League this season. Only four points separate Villarreal in fifth and Real Betis in eighth.

League in focus: Swiss Super League

Basel entered the season seeking an unprecedented ninth consecutive Super League title. They seemed poised to accomplish the feat until the turn of the year, after which BSC Young Boys have taken advantage of some slip ups from the defending champions and are now in fantastic position win the league.

Young Boys have been perennial runners-up to Basel, but they’ve been near unstoppable in 2018 and now sit a comfortable 16 points ahead of Basel, who have a game in hand. Should they win the league, which from their current position seems likely, it will be their first title since 1985-86, a similar length to Napoli’s title drought in Italy.

It will be interesting to see if the Young Boys squad can deal with the pressure of such a long title drought come the business end of the season, but so far they’ve really shaken things up in Switzerland and they should finish the job in the coming fixtures.