The Euro Roundup: Barcelona, Juventus take big steps toward league titles

Barcelona and Juventus took big steps to their league titles, while Real Madrid found a way to win without some of their stars with a 2-1 win over Malaga.

Serie A

After the heroics of last weekend kept Napoli’s dwindling title hopes alive, they suffered a major blow in the San Siro this weekend with a 0-0 draw against AC Milan opening up a six points gap between them and league leaders Juventus.

Napoli had a massive chance to win the game late on, but Arkadiusz Milik had his shot saved by Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who became the youngest ever player to reach 100 Serie A games at just 19 years old.

Juventus played later on against Sampadoria and struggled to break down the visitors before Douglas Costa came on for the injured Miralem Panjic and set up Mario Mandzukic for the opener. A second assist followed for the Brazilian before he grabbed a goal himself to make it 3-0 and inch Juve closer to a seventh scudetto in a row.

Both Napoli and Juventus still have to face each other, but if Maurizio Sarri’s side can’t find another gear soon the title might have eluded Napoli’s grasp before they visit the Juventus Stadium.

Elsewhere, the race for European race froze collectively, with a record-equalling five 0-0 draws in the Italian top flight this week. Among those draws, Inter drew a blank against Atalanta and the big derby between Roma and Lazio also finished scoreless. The results mean that no side could take advantage of the other and it’s as you were in the race for Champions League and Europa League in Italy.

Bundesliga

Bayern Munich have already wrapped up the title in Germany, but made headlines when they announced Frankfurt boss Niko Kovac will take over as manager next season. It was a rather odd move, with Frankfurt still battling for Europe this season, and although Kovac did well to avoid questions about his new job in the pre-match press conference, perhaps it affected the dressing room as his team fell 4-1 to Bayer Leverkusen.

The big game of the weekend was Rivier Derby between Dortmund and Schalke. The winner would lay claim to the runners-up spot in the Bundesliga, with Schalke occupying second before kickoff. After dominating the first half with nothing to show for it, Schalke opened the scoring in the second and rarely looked troubled as they came away 2-0 winners and now look certain to finish second. It was a disappointing day for Dortmund, who not only drop to fourth, but also have to worry about their star loanee, Michy Batshuayi, with the Belgian going off with a suspected broken leg.

Leipzig suffered their own setback with a 1-1 draw against Werder Bremen. Schalke now need just two more wins to secure Champions League qualification.

La Liga

Barcelona bounced back from Champions League disappointment to beat third place Valencia 2-1 at the Camp Nou and set a record for league games unbeaten. The win meant the Catalans haven’t been beaten since April of last year, a run spanning 39 games.

Real Madrid, who had dropped down to fourth last weekend, reclaimed third spot from Valencia with a 2-1 win over Malaga. It was the seventh game Los Blancos have played without Ronaldo or Gareth Bale and won. Isco opened the scoring with a brilliant free-kick before Casemiro wrapped up the three points shortly after. Malaga scored a consolation, but it was too little, too late for La Liga’s bottom dweller.

Isco’s free-kick wasn’t the only golazo we saw in Spain this week, as Damian Suarez scored a ridiculous set-piece goal of his own in Getafe’s 1-0 win over Espanyol.

As in Europe’s other major leagues, the race for European qualification remains the most interesting storyline in Spain. The race took an interesting turn this week as Real Betis secured a crucial 1-0 win over Girona to jump into fifth place. The win opened up the door briefly for Celta Vigo, but a 1-0 defeat to Leganes meant they couldn’t take advantage. Villarreal had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Sevilla, giving Betis a three-point cushion in fifth place. Deportivo won again to keep their faint survival hopes alive.

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Champions watch

As the domestic leagues come to a close, teams are beginning to be crowned champions. PSV wrapped up a 24th Erdivisie title with a 3-0 win over arch Ajax. PSV have now won three championships in four years and are nine away from matching Ajax’s record haul of 33. It’s been four years since Ajax won the league and the postmortem will last long into the summer for the Amsterdam club.

In France, PSG won their fifth league title in six seasons in emphatic fashion, beating rivals and last season’s champions Monaco 7-1. It’s Unai Emery’s first ever league title, although he’ll likely leave Paris after his side’s disappointing Champions League campaign.