Bayern Munich moved ever closer to winning yet another German Bundesliga title, following a 3-1 win over Hannover 96 at the Allianz Arena this past Saturday.
The Bavariens who have won all of the last six League titles, took the lead on 27 minutes through top scorer Robert Lewandowski. 5 minutes before the break, Leon Goretzka doubled their tally to ensure a comfortable lead at halftime. Jonathas de Jesus pulled one back for the visitors before Frank Ribery sealed the three points for Nico Kovac’s side late in the game.
The win, Bayern’s 23rd for the season, takes them to 74 points this season, four ahead of second placed Borussia Dortmund with only two games to play.
For Dortmund, they were held to a 2-2 draw away to Werder Bremen on the same day.
Tomas Tuchel’s side raced into a 2-0 lead by halftime thanks to Christian Pulisic and Paco Alcacer. However, they conceded twice in the second to draw their 7th game of the season. Bremen’s goals were scored by Kevin Mohwald and 40 year old Claudio Pizzaro.
Dortmund move onto 70 points from 32 games and will now lose the title to Bayern if they fail to win in their next game and the Bavariens don’t lose in theirs.
Third placed Leipzig saw their six game winning run brought to an end as they drew 3-3 away to Mainz 05. However, they are still 3rd on the standings with 65 points.
In the battle for the other remaining Champions League position, Bayer Leverkusen (5th) defeated Eintracht Frankfurt (4th) 6-1 on Sunday, Borussia Monchengladbach (6th) drew 2-2 at home to Hoffenheim (8th) while Wolfsburg powered past Nuremberg 2-0.
Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin defeated relegation threatened Stuttgart 3-1 on Saturday.
In the Spanish La Liga, Real Madrid returned to winning ways on Sunday afternoon, defeating Villarreal 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Mariano Diaz *2 and Jesus Vallero scored the goals for Zinedin Zidane’s side while Jaume Costa and Gerard Moreno struck for the visitors.
Real who had not won in their last two, remain third on the standings with 68 points from 36 games.
On the same weekend, the top two of Barcelona (1st) and Atletico Madrid (2nd) both lost their respective fixtures. Barca lost 2-0 away to Celta Vigo while Atletico were downed 3-0 away to Espanyol.
Despite the loses, Barcelona remain top of the standings with 83 points from 36 games while Atletico are still second, 9 points adrift of Ernesto Valverde’s side.
In the battle for the other remaining Champions League spot, Getafe (4th) defeated Girona 2-0, Valencia (5th) humiliated relegated Huesca 6-2 away from home while Sevilla (6th) were shocked 3-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, by Leganes.
Elsewhere, Real Sociedad defeated Deportivo Alaves 1-0 away from home, Eibar were 1-0 winners at home to Real Betis, Levante registered a 4-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano and Real Valladolid scrapped to a 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
In the Italian Serie A, Juventus were held to a 5th draw of the season as they shared spoils at home to city rivals Torino.
The two Turin sides drew 1-1 at the Allienz Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Saa Luki put Torino ahead after just 17 minutes but his side were denied all three points by Christiano Ronaldo’s second half equalizer.
The result meas Juve’s lead at the top of the standings is cut to 16 points while Torino climb into 6th with 57 points.
The following day, second placed Napoli scrapped to a 2-1 win at home to Cagliari. Luca Pavoletti put the visitors ahead on 63 minutes but a late double by Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne saw Napoli register a 22nd victory of the season.
Napoli now have 73 points, 16 behind leader Juventus with just two games to play in the season.
In the battle for the remaining two other Champions League spots, Inter Milan (3rd) were held to a 0-0 draw away to Udinese, Atalanta (4th) were 3-1 winners over Lazio (8th) while Milan (7th) will be in action on Monday at home to Bologna.
Elsewhere, only SPAL and Empoli were the other winners this past weekend. SPAL triumphed 4-0 away to Cheivo while Empoli defeated Fiorentina 1-0.
In the French Ligue One, none of the top three registered victories this past weekend.
Leaders PSG drew 1-1 at home to Nice with star player Neymar Jr saving the day for the Parisians, poking home the equalizer from the spot in the second half after Ignatius Ganago had given the visitors a first half lead.
Despite the draw, PSG maintained their 16 point lead at the top of the standings with 85 points from 36 points.
For second placed Lille, they drew 2-2 away to third placed Lyon on Sunday night. Martin Terrier gave the visitors the lead on 11 minutes, one they held till halftime. After the break, Lille scored two quick goals to overturn the game by the 68th minute but Leo Dubios equalized with 16 minutes to play for Lyon.
Lille have now gathered 69 points from their first 36 games of the season while Lyon have 63 points.
Fourth placed Saint Etienne moved a point off Lyon, thanks to a 3-2 comeback victory over Monaco earlier in the day.
Elsewhere, Nimes, Nantes and Angers were all victorious this past weekend. Nimes defeated Reims 3-0, Nantes were 3-0 winners Dijon while Angers overcame Bordeaux.
All Results from the German Bundesliga
-Mainz 3-3 Leipzig
-Bayern 3-1 Hannover
-Hertha Berlin 3-1 Stuttgart
-Gladbach 2-2 Hoffenheim
-Wolfsburg 2-0 Nuremberg
-Bremen 2-2 Dortmund
-Schalke 0-0 Augsburg
-Freigburg 1-1 Dusseldorf
-Leverkusen 6-1 Frankfurt
All Results from the Spanish La Liga
-Sevilla 0-3 Leganes
-Levante 4-1 Rayo Vallecano
-Espanyol 3-0 Atletico Madrid
-Deportivo Alaves 0-1 Real Sociedad
-Celta Vigo 2-0 Barcelona
-Getafe 2-0 Girona
-Eibar 1-0 Real Betis
-Real Madrid 3-2 Villarreal
-Real Valladolid 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
-Huesca 2-6 Valencia
All Results from the Italian Serie A
-Juventus 1-1 Torino
-Chievo 0-4 SPAL
-Udinese 0-0 Inter Milan
-Empoli 1-0 Fiorentina
-Lazio 1-3 Atalanta
-Sassuolo 2-2 Frosinone
-Parma 3-3 Sampdoria
-Genoa 1-1 Roma
-Napoli 2-1 Cagliari
*AC Milan vs Bologna
All Results from the French Ligue One
-Starsbourg 1-1 Marseille
-PSG 1-1 Nice
-Bordeaux 0-1 Angers
-Guingamp 0-0 Caen
-Reims 0-3 Nimes
-Montpellier 1-1 Amiens
-Nantes 3-0 Dijon
-Toulouse 2-2 Rennes
-Monaco 2-3 St. Etienne
-Lyon 2-2 Lille
