Arsenal continued to prosper in the Premier League, holding on to the top spot in the points table to be well on course for a title win. Manchester City is still hot on its heels, though.
Premier League
Manchester United has been a force to reckon with this season under the tutelage of Erik Ten Hag, but the past fortnight hasn’t been memorable for the club and its fans. After being thrashed 7-0 by Liverpool at Anfield – its heaviest loss in 91 years – the Red Devils were held to a goalless draw by bottom-placed Southampton. They were hampered in that match by controversial decisions through VAR and a red card and a four-match ban for Casemiro. The Brazilian will thus miss the FA Cup quarterfinal against Fulham and matches against Newcastle United, Brentford and Everton.
League leader Arsenal, on the other hand, continues to prosper. It won 3-2 against Bournemouth courtesy of a 97th-minute winner by Reiss Nelson before beating Fulham 3-0 away from home to maintain its five-point lead at the top of the table.
Manchester City is the only team with a realistic chance of preventing Arsenal from winning the title. City’s bid would have suffered a setback if it had dropped points against Crystal Palace over the weekend. But in front of a packed and hostile crowd at Selhurst Park, City scraped through to a 1-0 win, thanks to a successful penalty by Erling Haaland – the 28th league goal of this campaign.
Graham Potter’s resurgent Chelsea side won three matches on the trot - a run that included 1-0 and 3-1 wins against Leeds United and Leicester City, respectively. Along with them came the midweek Champions League success against Borussia Dortmund, where it qualified for the quarterfinals on aggregate.
It was a fortnight of contrasting emotions for Liverpool as it fell to a 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Bournemouth after its annihilation of United.
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It hasn’t been the best of times for Tottenham Hotspur. While it currently occupies the fourth spot, it is just two points ahead of fifth-placed Newcastle United, which has played two games less. After matchday 27, Arsenal tops the table with 66 points, followed by Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur with 61, 50 and 48 points, respectively.
La Liga
Barcelona was embroiled in a refereeing scandal but managed to keep its league form intact after a 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao, keeping its nine-point lead at the top of the table intact.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, lost points. It was held to a goalless draw by Real Betis. Against Espanyol, it trailed 1-0 before goals from Vinicius Jr, Eder Militao and Marco Asensia propelled the club to a 3-1 win.
Diego Simeone made his 613th appearance as Atletico Madrid manager, breaking Luis Aragones’ record during the club’s 6-1 win over Sevilla. While the chances of him winning a trophy in his last season with Atletico are bleak, the Argentine would want to finish the season as strongly as possible and secure Champions League football for his club next season.
Tripping up: Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez (right) faces a tackle by Spezia’s Ethan Ampadu in a Serie A contest at the Alberto Picco Stadium in Italy. Inter did indeed trip up in this game, losing 2-1. | Photo Credit: AP
After matchday 25, Barcelona tops the standings with 65 points, followed by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid with 56 and 45 points, respectively. Fourth-placed Real Sociedad also has 45 points, but is placed below Atletico due to an inferior goal-difference.
Bundesliga
Defending champion Bayern Munich beat Augsburg 5-3 to open up a two-point lead at the top of the table. The Bavarian side has not been at its clinical best this season, winning 15 of its 24 matches. It has played seven draws and suffered two losses.
The Revierderby between Schalke and Borussia Dortmund ended in a 2-2 draw after a 79th-minute goal by Kenan Karaman ensured a point for Schalke, which 17th in the standings and faces the threat of relegation. RB Leipzig beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-0 to maintain its third spot.
Union Berlin made history by becoming the Bundesliga table topper on matchday six of the season but has lost momentum since then. This fortnight, it was held to a 1-1 draw by VfL Wolfsburg.
After matchday 24, Bayern leads the table with 52 points, two more than second-placed Dortmund. Leipzig and Berlin occupy the third and fourth place with 45 points each.
Serie A
Napoli seems well on its way to winning the Scudetto, a title that has eluded the club since 1990, when Diego Maradona was still playing. It clinched a 2-0 win over Atlanta - a win that keeps Luciano Spalletti’s team at the top of the points table with an 18-point gap. The 2-0 win included goals by Amir Rrahmani and an incredible solo effort by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Inter Milan suffered a 2-1 shock loss to Spezia which put it further behind in a title race that it seems to have already dropped out of. Lazio played out a goalless draw with Bologna, while Milan suffered a 2-1 loss against Fiorentina in its matchday 25 fixture. It would look to bounce back when it plays Salernitana.
AS Roma did well to beat Juventus 1-0 but followed it up with a disappointing 4-3 loss to Sassuolo. Juventus looked set to lose its second match on the trot, but notched a 4-2 comeback win against Sampdoria.
After matchday 26, Napoli is on top with 68 points, followed by Inter, Lazio and Milan with 50, 49 and 47 points respectively. Roma is fifth with 47 points, followed by Atlanta and Juventus with 42 and 38 points.
Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain was on the verge of being held to a draw by Brest after its Champions League round-of-16 match against Bayern Munich. But Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe combined to conjure a 91st-minute winner. Brazilian forward Neymar could not play as his ankle surgery ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Marseille played out a 2-2 draw with Strasbourg, while Lens beat Clermont Foot 4-0. Monaco lost 1-0 to Reims.
After matchday 27, PSG leads the table with 66 points and Marseille is second with 56 points, followed by Lens and Monaco with 54 and 51 points respectively.
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