Domestic Leagues

European Football Roundup: Borussia Dortmund Triumphs in Der Klassiker, Paris Saint-Germain Conquers Le Classique; Liverpool Surges to Premier League Summit

By Odd Yellah

Posted on April 1, 2024

Borussia Dortmund emerged victorious in Der Klassiker, while Paris Saint-Germain claimed victory in Le Classique.
Liverpool capitalized on the pivotal top-table clash to ascend to the summit of the Premier League standings.
Bayer Leverkusen extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga.
Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid retained position and lead at the top of their respective league standings with victories, whereas PSV Eindhoven suffered a setback, losing three points from their lead.
Bayer Leverkusen maintains their unbeaten status, standing as the sole undefeated team in Europe.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 PREMIER LEAGUE

Newcastle United ( 4 ) – ( 3 ) West Ham United
Bournemouth ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Everton
Chelsea ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Burnley
Nottingham Forest ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Crystal Palace
Sheffield United ( 3 ) – ( 3 ) Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Luton Town
Aston Villa ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Wolverhampton Wanderers
Brentford ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Manchester United
Liverpool ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester City ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Arsenal

Liverpool climbed to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-point lead in the title race over Arsenal and a three-point lead over the defending champions, Manchester City.

Aston Villa and Tottenham added three points to their tally to maintain their respective positions of 4th and 5th, while Manchester United dropped points in a draw, remaining in 6th place. There was no pressure from 7th place West Ham, as they were defeated by Newcastle United.

Newcastle United’s win placed them two positions up to 8th, pushing Brighton and Wolverhampton down to 9th and 10th respectively.

Luton Town dropped into the relegation zone with their defeat against Tottenham, while Nottingham Forest secured a point from a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace to climb out of the relegation zone.

The bottom two teams, Sheffield United and Burnley, avoided defeat this round.

🇩🇪 BUNDESLIGA

Bayer Leverkusen ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Hoffenheim
Borussia Mönchengladbach ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Union Berlin
RB Leipzig ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Mainz
Werder Bremen ( 0 ) – ( 2 ) Wolfsburg
Bayern Munich ( 0 ) – ( 2 ) Borussia Dortmund
Augsburg ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) FC Köln
Stuttgart ( 3 ) – ( 3 ) Heidenheim
Bochum ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) Darmstadt

Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Freiburg, and Leverkusen emerged victorious in this round.
Leverkusen continued their march towards the Bundesliga title with another win, extending their lead in the title race to 13 points, as Bayern Munich fell on the wrong end of a 2-0 score at home against Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker.

The only positional change in the top half of the table saw Freiburg move up a position to 8th, while Hoffenheim dropped to 9th.

The five teams at the bottom of the league table were unbeaten this round, with the bottom four securing a point each from draws.

🇫🇷 LIGUE 1

Lille ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Lens
Metz ( 2 ) – ( 5 ) Monaco
Lyon ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Reims
Lorient ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Brest
Clermont ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Toulouse
Le Havre ( 0 ) – ( 2 ) Montpellier
Nice ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Nantes
Strasbourg ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Rennes
Marseille ( 0 ) – ( 2 ) Paris Saint-Germain

Paris St. Germain’s lead remained at 12 points as Brest maintained pace with a win against Lorient. The top four teams at the start of the round all secured victories, preserving the gaps between them.

🇮🇹 SERIE A

Napoli ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Atalanta
Genoa ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Frosinone
Torino ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Monza
Lazio ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Juventus
Fiorentina ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) AC Milan
Bologna ( 3 ) – ( 0 ) Salernitana
Cagliari ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Hellas Verona
Sassuolo ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Udinese
Lecce ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Roma
Inter Milan ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Empoli

Inter Milan maintained their 14-point lead in the Serie A title race with another victory, a 2-0 triumph against relegation-threatened Empoli.
AC Milan continued their pursuit in second place with a win over Fiorentina, which also widened their lead over third-placed Juventus, who were defeated by Lazio in Rome.
Lazio climbed two positions to 7th with their victory.
Napoli slipped to 8th place following their defeat to Atalanta.
There were no changes in the top six positions, but Atalanta and Bologna closed the gap on Roma and Juventus.
Roma dropped points in a goalless draw with Lecce, allowing Atalanta to narrow the gap between them to two points.
Juventus also dropped points in a loss to Lazio, allowing Bologna to reduce the gap between them to two points.

🇪🇸 LA LIGA

Cádiz ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Granada
Getafe ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Sevilla
Almería ( 0 ) – ( 3 ) Osasuna
Valencia ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Mallorca
Barcelona ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Las Palmas
Celta Vigo ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Rayo Vallecano
Girona ( 3 ) – ( 2 ) Real Betis
Alavés ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) Real Sociedad
Real Madrid ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Athletic Club
Villarreal ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Atlético Madrid

The top three teams in the standings maintained their positions with victories in this round. Real Madrid secured a win against Athletic Club, causing them to drop out of the ‘top four’ after Atletico Madrid climbed to fourth place with a victory against Villarreal in the round’s final match.
Osasuna’s win against bottom-ranked Almeria propelled them three positions up to 9th, since Villarreal, Getafe, and Las Palmas suffered defeats to Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Barcelona, respectively.

🇳🇱 EREDIVISIE

NEC Nijmegen ( 3 ) – ( 1 ) PSV Eindhoven
Sparta Rotterdam ( 4 ) – ( 0 ) Fortuna Sittard
Go Ahead Eagles ( 3 ) – ( 0 ) Excelsior
RKC Waalwijk ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) SC Heerenveen
AZ Alkmaar ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) Vitesse
PEC Zwolle ( 1 ) – ( 3 ) Ajax
Twente ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Heracles Almelo
Feyenoord ( 4 ) – ( 2 ) Utrecht
Almere City ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Volendam

PSV Eindhoven’s lead took a three-point hit after their first league defeat of the season was matched with a Feyenoord win. PSV Eindhoven’s lead is now 7 points, with 7 rounds left in the Eredivisie season.
Volendam earned a point in a draw with Almere City, but they are likely to be relegated alongside Vitesse unless something unimaginable occurs.

🇵🇹 PRIMEIRA LIGA

Gil Vicente ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Famalicão
Benfica ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Chaves
Estrela da Amadora ( 1 ) – ( 2 ) Sporting CP
Arouca ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) Farense
Vitória de Guimarães ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Moreirense
Boavista ( 0 ) – ( 0 ) Rio Ave
Estoril ( 1 ) – ( 0 ) Porto
Vizela ( 0 ) – ( 4 ) Casa Pia
Portimonense ( 3 ) – ( 5 ) Braga

Sporting CP and Benfica maintain a narrow gap in the Primeira Liga title race, with just one point separating them, as both secured victories by a one-goal margin in their respective matches. Sporting CP still retains the advantage of having a game in hand, offering the opportunity to potentially extend the lead to four points if both teams maintain their current form and results.

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THE SHOTS WE PICKED UP FROM THIS WEEKEND

Friday, March 29, 2024

🇵🇹 BENFICA 1-0 CHAVES
Benfica clinched a narrow 1-0 victory against Chaves, with Joao Neves securing the solitary goal, earning the home team three crucial points. The decisive moment arrived after Benfica endured missed penalty opportunities in both halves. Di Maria faltered from the spot in the 26th minute, followed by Arthur Cabral’s miss in the 66th minute. Nonetheless, Neves’ goal ensured Benfica’s triumph amidst a tense encounter.

🇵🇹 ESTRELA DA AMADORA 1-2 SPORTING CP
Sporting CP rallied from a one-goal deficit to seize a 2-1 advantage by halftime, a lead they maintained until the end, securing a valuable away victory against Estrela da Amadora.

🇫🇷 LILLE 2-1 LENS
Lille clinched a 2-1 victory over Lens, with Edon Zhegrova finding the net twice, once in each half (9th and 62nd minute). The result allowed Lille to put a 4-point gap between themselves and Lens in the Ligue 1 standings.

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Saturday, March 30, 2024

🇪🇸 GETAFE 0-1 SEVILLA
Sergio Ramos scored a goal in the 5th minute, which ended up being the game’s only goal for Sevilla, allowing them to secure three points with a ‘1-0’ victory over Getafe.

🇪🇸 ALMERIA 0-3 OSASUNA
Almeria found themselves two goals down within the opening 10 minutes, reverting to their usual form this season after securing their first league win in the previous round. They suffered a ‘3-0’ home defeat to Osasuna.

🇪🇸 BARCELONA 1-0 LAS PALMAS
Barcelona’s plan was to secure a home win against Las Palmas to maintain pressure on Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, and that is what they did with a 1-0 win.
Barcelona defeated 10-man Las Palmas by a single goal. Las Palmas had a player sent off and was forced to make an early substitution after their goalkeeper Alvaro Valles received a red card for a reckless tackle outside of the box in the 24th minute.

🇮🇹 NAPOLI 0-3 ATALANTA
Despite having played one more game, Napoli now trails Atalanta by five points.
Atalanta carried a ‘2-0′ lead into halftime and extended it with another goal in the second half, leaving Napoli unable to respond in Naples.

🇮🇹 LAZIO 1-0 JUVENTUS
Juventus couldn’t get the win in Rome to keep up with the Milan clubs at the top end of the league standings. Adam Marusic scored the only goal of the match in the third minute of added time (90+3) to secure a win for Lazio over Juventus.

🇮🇹 FIORENTINA 1-2 AC MILAN
AC Milan had to beat Fiorentina to keep up the chase with Inter Milan in the Serie A title race, and they did that through a ‘2-1’ win.
The goals came in quick succession. AC Milan took the lead in the 47th minute, Fiorentina equalized three minutes later in the 50th, and Milan regained the lead just three minutes after that in the 53rd minute. AC Milan secured a 2-1 victory against Fiorentina, who were mourning the passing of their CEO Joe Barone.

🇩🇪 BAYER LEVERKUSEN 2-1 HOFFENHEIM
Leverkusen is close to becoming Bundesliga champions for the first time in their history, and they can still do it with an unbeaten record.
Bayer Leverkusen fell behind by a goal in the 33rd minute but managed to stay unbeaten with a comeback victory, scoring two late goals in the 88th and 90+1’ minutes. Robert Andrich scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute, preserving Leverkusen’s unbeaten status, before Patrik Schick secured the late winning goal.
The result marked a third league defeat in a row for Hoffenheim

🇩🇪 RB LEIPZIG 0-0 MAINZ
Mainz, fighting their way out of relegation got a point from a goalless draw in Leipzig against an RB Leipzig side that is also looking for the points to make a push for a top four finish.

🇩🇪 BAYERN MUNICH 0-2 BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Dortmund secured a rare victory in Munich with goals in each half, marking their first win at the venue in some time and their first league victory in the der Klassiker in a while. Karim Adeumi opened the scoring in the 10th minute, and Julian Ryerson sealed the victory by doubling the lead with a goal in the 83rd minute.
Losing their grip on the league title is one thing, but Bayern Munich has now added a Der Klassiker defeat to their woes. The last time Dortmund secured a league victory against Bayern Munich was a ‘3-2’ win at home during the 2018/19 season (November 10, 2018). Since then, in the ten Der Klassiker matches played in the league, Bayern Munich had remained unbeaten and emerged victorious nine times.
Before this victory, the last time Dortmund won a Der Klassiker in Munich in the league was on April 12, 2014.

🇫🇷 METZ 2-5 MONACO
Although the second half ended in a 2-2 draw, Monaco had established a comfortable lead by taking a 3-0 advantage within the first 16 minutes of the match. This allowed them to secure three points against Metz with a 5-2 victory.
Metz was more desperate for the win, but Monaco cannot afford to leave without points either. Metz is embroiled in a relegation battle, Monaco finds themselves in a tight battle for second place, contending with at least seven other teams in the league.

🇳🇱 NEC NIJMEGEN 3-1 PSV EINDHOVEN
PSV Eindhoven had eight more rounds to complete a full season unbeaten. They still have a hand on the Eredivisie title but it won’t be done as an invincible season.
Despite taking the lead in the 20th minute, PSV Eindhoven’s unbeaten season in the Eredivisie came to an end with a 3-1 loss to NEC Nijmegen. Lasse Schone leveled the score for NEC Nijmegen just before halftime with a penalty kick goal in the 43rd minute. NEC Nijmegen then added two more goals in the second half. In the 81st minute, Luuk de Jong missed a penalty kick for PSV Eindhoven, which could have sparked a comeback.

🇵🇹 ESTORIL 1-0 PORTO
Porto slipped further away from the top two after suffering a ‘1-0′ defeat against Estoril. Considering their form and league position, this was a match Porto should have won. However, they ended up losing and had three players sent off.
Diogo Costa, Porto’s goalkeeper, committed a foul outside of his box in an attempt to clear the ball. This infraction led to a red card for Costa and forced Porto to make a substitution for a new goalkeeper. From the resulting free kick, the only goal of the match was scored.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 NEWCASTLE UNITED 4-3 WEST HAM UNITED
Newcastle United took an early lead with a goal in the 6th minute, only to find themselves trailing 3-1 at home to West Ham by the 48th minute. Alexander Isak netted the opener for Newcastle in the 6th minute, but by the 48th minute, they were down by two goals to West Ham. However, the tables turned when Isak converted a penalty in the 77th minute for his second goal of the game. He then assisted Harvey Barnes for the equalizer in the 83rd minute. Barnes scored a stunning goal from outside the box in the 90th minute, assisted by Anthony Gordon. Gordon was subsequently sent off after receiving a second yellow card four minutes later.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 CHELSEA 2-2 BURNLEY
Cole Palmer scored twice for Chelsea against a Burnley side reduced to 10 men following a red card. However, Burnley managed to find an equalizing goal each time Palmer put Chelsea in the lead.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 SHEFFIELD UNITED 3-3 FULHAM
Six goals were evenly shared in the second half, with Fulham rallying from a goal down, and then from two goals down to get a draw against Sheffield United.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 BOURNEMOUTH 2-1 EVERTON
Everton managed to grab a late equalizer in the 87th minute, only to concede a goal in the first minute of added time and ultimately lose to Bournemouth.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 TOTTENHAM 2-1 LUTON TOWN
Luton Town took the lead with a goal in the 3rd minute, which they maintained until the 51st minute when they conceded an own goal. Heung-Min Son then scored the game-winning goal for Tottenham in the 86th minute, securing a 2-1 victory at home.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 BRENTFORD 1-1 MANCHESTER UNITED
Manchester United came close to securing all three points. Mason Mount scored the game’s opening goal in the 6th minute of added time (90+6’), putting Manchester United in the lead. However, Kristoffer Ajer equalized for Brentford just three minutes later, allowing them to avoid what could have been considered an undeserved defeat.

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Sunday, March 31, 2024

🇪🇸 GIRONA 3-2 REAL BETIS
It was a narrow win, but Girona made amends for their last round’s league defeat to Getafe with a victory against Real Betis.
With each goal Aetem Dovbyk scored to put Girona in the lead, Willian Jose managed to equalize for Real Betis. However, in the end, Cristhian Stuani sealed the game for Girona with a late goal in the second minute of added time.

🇪🇸 REAL MADRID 2-0 ATHLETIC CLUB
With Barcelona picking up a win, Real Madrid had to do the same. Rodrygo scored a goal in each half to secure the win for Real Madrid, maintaining their lead in the La Liga standings.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 LIVERPOOL 2-1 BRIGHTON
Danny Welbeck opened the scoring in the second minute to give Brighton the lead, but Liverpool did as expected and came back into the game. Luiz Diaz scored the equalizing goal in the 27th minute, and Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of the second half in the 65th minute to seal a 2-1 win for Liverpool
Only an Arsenal win would have stopped Liverpool from climbing to the top of the league standings with a win this weekend. Liverpool secured the win at home against Brighton to capitalize on the Manchester City and Arsenal clash.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 MANCHESTER CITY 0-0 ARSENAL
It was a goalless draw between the defending champions, Manchester City, and an Arsenal side desperate to become champions after 20 years.
Arsenal were the winners in the reverse fixture ‘1-0’, and they also picked up the Community Shield title at Manchester City’s expense at the start of the season. So getting a point at the Etihad Stadium isn’t a bad result against the defending champions.

🇩🇪 STUTTGART 3-3 HEIDENHEIM
Stuttgart was seeking a victory against Heidenheim to capitalize on the results from Der Klassiker. In the end, they managed to avoid defeat despite squandering a lead.
Stuttgart blew a 2-goal lead to trail 3-2 by the 85th minute. Alex Nubel’s error in goal caused an own goal that cut their lead in half in the 62nd minute. Tim Kleindienst then scored in quick succession in the 84th and 85th minute to put Heidenheim in the lead. However, Deniz Undav scored a late equalizing goal (90+8’) after Heidenheim had been reduced to 10 men (90+6’), saving Stuttgart from a home defeat. Stuttgart’s goalkeeper

🇫🇷 MARSEILLE 0-2 PARIS ST. GERMAIN
Going a man down after Lucas Beraldo picked up a red card in the 40th minute didn’t stop Paris St. Germain from securing a win at Marseille. Vitinha opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, followed by Goncalo Ramos, who came off the bench for Kylian Mbappe in the 65th minute and scored the second goal 20 minutes later, securing a 2-0 win for Paris St. Germain.
While Paris St. Germain hasn’t been flawless in the title race, their rivals have failed to capitalize on their occasional shortcomings. PSG has now secured six league wins and a draw in Le Classique encounters since the last time Marseille won a league game against PSG (September 13, 2020).

🇳🇱 PEC ZWOLLE 3-1 AJAX
Ajax appears likely to finish the Eredivisie season outside the top four, but they boosted their chances of a better finish by securing a 3-1 victory against PEC Zwolle.

🇳🇱 FEYENOORD 4-2 UTRECHT
This weekend also saw PSV Eindhoven do something rare by dropping maximum points.
Feyenoord was 10 points adrift of defending their Eredivisie title at the start of the weekend. However, they now find themselves 7 points away after securing a 4-2 victory against Utrecht.

🇩🇪 BOCHUM 2-2 DARMSTADT
Philipp Hofmann scored a brace to put Bochum two goals up, but it wasn’t enough to secure a home win as Darmstadt managed to recover and earn a point with their goals.

🇫🇷 STRASBOURG 2-0 RENNES
Goals in quick succession in the 71st and 73rd minutes secured Strasbourg a home win over Rennes.

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Monday, April 1, 2024

🇪🇸 VILLARREAL 1-2 ATLÉTICO MADRID
Real Madrid did Atletico Madrid a favor by defeating Athletic Club. As a result, Atletico Madrid climbed to fourth place with a victory over Villarreal, thanks to a goal in the 87th minute from Saul Niguez, who had just entered the game three minutes earlier. Niguez’s goal restored Atletico Madrid’s lead after Alexander Sorloth leveled for Villarreal in the 50th minute, canceling out the early lead provided by Axel Witsel’s goal in the 9th minute for Atletico Madrid.

🇮🇹 INTER MILAN 2-0 EMPOLI
With a comfortable 14-point lead in the Serie A title race, Inter Milan had the luxury of some margin for error. However, they improved upon this by making none, securing a home victory against an Empoli side battling relegation.

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MGSVfutbol

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 PREMIER LEAGUE

🇩🇪 BUNDESLIGA

🇫🇷 LIGUE 1

🇮🇹 SERIE A

🇪🇸 LA LIGA

🇳🇱 EREDIVISIE

🇵🇹 PRIMEIRA LIGA

THE SHOTS WE PICKED UP FROM THIS WEEKEND

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