There was another bumper weekend of European football as Real Madrid moved within one point off top spot in LaLiga after completing the double in the El Clasico. Elsewhere, Eintracht Frankfurt remain fourth in the Bundesliga after coming out on top in a seven-goal thriller at home to Wolfsburg, while Lille moved one step closer to the Ligue 1 title.
LaLiga
Saturday night saw Real Madrid take on Barcelona in the biggest domestic game in the world.
This fixture had more than just bragging rights riding on it as both sides had caught up to table-toppers Atletico Madrid despite their breathtaking first half of the season.
Los Blancos raced to a 2-0 lead within the first 30 minutes of the game after a superb skilful finish by the ever-present Karim Benzema and a Toni Kroos free-kick, which took a big deflection to wrong-foot Andre ter Stegen in goal.
The Blaugrana had a lot of the possession but kept getting caught on the counter as Madrid could have made it three before half-time, but Fede Valverde’s effort came back off the post.
Midway through the second half Ronald Koeman’s side were able to pull one back through Oscar Mingueza but, despite a late red for Casemiro, Madrid held on to move up to second.
Barcelona moved down to third but still have to play Atletico Madrid on May 9th which could see the next twist in the LaLiga title race.
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga saw a lot of goals this weekend but no more in a single match than in the game at Deutsche Bank Park.
Frankfurt were able to solidify their seven-point gap between them and Borussia Dortmund as they look to qualify for the Champions League.
They hosted a high-flying Wolfsburg side who boast the second-best defence in the league but were able to come out 4-3 winners.
Adolf Hutter’s side were 2-1 up at the half after goals from Daichi Kamada and Luka Jovic saw them overturn Ridle Baku’s opener for the visitors.
However, one minute into the second half Wolfsburg levelled the scoring as Wout Weghorst netted his 17th goal of the season.
Despite the setback Frankfurt were able to take the lead again and then double it after Erik Durm made it 4-2 with his first goal of the season.
The away side were able to pull one back late on but were left with too much to do as they suffered their fourth defeat of the season.
Both sides remain in the position they started the day in but Frankfurt are now within one point of Wolfsburg who sit third.
Ligue 1
Lille travelled to Metz on Friday night as they looked to hold their three-point lead over Paris Saint-Germain.
Despite Metz taking 18 shots and having a more of the possession, Christophe Galtier’s side were able to remain composed and secure a 2-0 win.
Second-half goals from Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zaki Celik was enough to take the three points.
To win their first title in since 2011 Lille will likely have to win all of their last six games as Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG look to have found some form going into the business end of the season.
By Bryce Densham
