European Round Up: Everything You Might Have Missed from This Weekend’s Football Action

European Round Up: Everything You Might Have Missed from This Weekend’s Football Action

Rene Otinga
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:57 PM
In this article:
Bundesliga logo
GER Bundesliga
Germany
English Premier League logo
ENG Premier League
England
French Ligue 1 logo
FRA Ligue 1
France
Italian Serie A logo
ITA Serie A
Italy
Spanish La Liga logo
SPA La Liga
Spain
  • There were some notable events that took place in the world of football across Europe over the weekend
  • The Serie A has new leaders after the Milan clubs drew their respective matches, while Bayern continued their dominance in the German Bundesliga
  • In Spain, Barcelona continued their revival with yet another comprehensive win thanks to Xavi’s January signings

Napoli went top of the Serie A thanks to a last-gasp winner from Fabián Ruiz, which earned them a 2-1 win over Lazio in a thrilling encounter.

With yet another weekend flying by, there were some notable plot twists across the various leagues in Europe.

In England, giants including Chelsea and Liverpool were out of league action as they clashed in the Carabao Cup final, with Jurgen Klopp’s side winning a thriller via a penalty shootout.

It was Chelsea’s goalkeeper Kepa Arizabalaga who missed the decisive kick after all outfield players from both teams scored their respective spot-kicks.

Sports Brief takes a look at some of the events you might have missed over the weekend:

Premier League: Man City in control of their title ambitions

Manchester City established a six-point lead over nearest rivals Liverpool, albeit in controversial circumstances, after claiming a crucial 1-0 win over Frank Lampard’s Everton, who felt they should have had a penalty in the game.

West Ham kept their hopes for a top-four finish alive with a 1-0 win over Europe-chasing Wolves, while Manchester United were wasteful on Saturday as they played out a 0-0 draw against Watford.

Tottenham bounced back to victory as they thrashed Leeds 4-0 in what was Marcelo Bielsa’s last game in charge of the Peacocks.

La Liga: Barca continue revival as Real Madrid close in on title

Second-placed Sevilla defeated bitter rivals Real Betis 2-1 in the derby on Sunday to close the gap on leaders Real Madrid to six points.

Real Madrid also had to dig deep to secure a win of their own a day earlier as Benzema’s 83rd-minute strike helped Carlo Ancelotti’s men see off Rayo Vallecano.

Meanwhile, Barcelona continued their revival under Xavi as they recorded yet another comprehensive victory, beating Athletic Bilbao 4-0, with Aubameyang scoring for the third game in a row for the Catalan giants.

Yéremy Pino
Yéremy Pino became the first Villarreal player to score four times in a Spanish league game. Photo by Manuel Queimadelos.
Source: Getty Images

Villareal moved to fifth place thanks to a 5-1 victory over Espanyol as Yéremy Pino became the first Villarreal player to score four times in a Spanish league game. Unai Emery’s side is now only three points behind Atletico Madrid, who beat Celta Vigo 2-0 on Saturday.

Bundesliga: Dortmund slip up as Bayern go 8 points clear

Borussia Dortmund’s hopes of catching up to runaway leaders Bayern Munich took a hit as they slipped to a 1-1 draw against Augsburg on Sunday.

Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund were forced to a 1-1 draw by Augsburg on Sunday. Photo by MICHAELA REHLE/AFP
Source: Getty Images

Thorgan Hazard gave Dortmund the lead in the first half, but Noah Sarenren Bazee equalized with 12 minutes to go with a header, to leave the Ruhr valley club eight points behind Bayern, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 a day earlier.

Serie A: Milan clubs slip up as Napoli go top

Things were very interesting in Serie A this weekend.

As mentioned earlier, Napoli are now top of the table, level on points with AC Milan, who missed the chance to establish a lead at the top after a frustrating 1-1 draw against Udinese on Friday.

Inter did not fare too well either, as their game on Friday against Genoa ended in a 0-0 stalemate.

Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho’s Roma claimed all three points against 10-man Spezia, but the only goal came late in the game via a 99th-minute penalty by Tammy Abraham.

Ligue 1: Messi Mbappe take PSG 15 points clear as Monaco, Marseille slip

Paris Saint Germain came from behind to stun Saint Etienne 3-1 on Saturday as Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe linked up brilliantly once more.

The Parisians are almost certain of winning another Ligue 1 title, especially after slip ups from Monaco, Nice and Marseille this weekend.

Messi PSG
PSG went 15 points clear thanks to a 3-1 win over Saint Etienne on Friday. Photo by John Berry.
Source: Getty Images

Stade de Reims came from behind to stun Monaco 2-1 on Sunday, while Marseille had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Troyes, who found a late equaliser after Dimitri Payet gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot in the first half.

Nice also drew 0-0 against Strasbourg on Saturday, meaning PSG now have a 15-point lead at the summit after 26 games.

Authors
Rene Otinga photo
Rene Otinga
Rene Otinga is a sports journalist with over eight years of working experience in digital media. Rene's experience includes working as a Copywriter at X News Kenya and TUKO.co.ke.