We have barely passed the middle of March and already the title races in Spain, England, Italy and Germany are all over. The only major league in Europe that still has a competitive title race is in France where Paris Saint-Germain only have a five point gap.
Here is a look at this weekend’s action across Europe:
France
PSG increased their Ligue 1 cushion by one point to five, but it should be seven as PSG let a two-goal lead slip against Saint-Étienne and ended up drawing 2-2 with the side in fourth. PSG lead increased because second-placed Olympique Lyonnais suffered a shock 4-1 loss to Bastia, while Olympique de Marseille, two points further back than Lyon, were held to a goalless draw at home against Ajaccio.
England
Wayne Rooney’s first-half strike saw Man United beat Reading 1-0 at Old Trafford. The win allowed United to stretch their lead to 15 points following Manchester City’s 2-0 loss at Everton earlier in the day. As for Chelsea, they moved third with a 2-0 triumph against West Ham United, Frank Lampard plundering his 200th goal for the Blues, while Tottenham Hotspur slipped to fourth following a 1-0 home loss to Fulham.
Germany
Bayern maintained their near-unassailable 20-point lead atop the Bundesliga standings with a 2-1 win at third-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund bounced back from last week’s Revierderby loss to Schalke, meanwhile, by sweeping aside Freiburg 5-1 thanks in part to a pair of goals from prolific striker Robert Lewandowski.
Italy
Juventus beat Bologna 2-0 to maintain their nine points lead over Napoli at the Serie A summit. As for Napoli, they downed Atalanta BC 3-2 courtesy of a late Goran Pandev strike, while Mario Balotelli scored twice as third-placed AC Milan beat bottom club Palermo 2-0, and Fiorentina edged Genoa 3-2.
Spain
There was no change among the top three as Barcelona swept aside Rayo Vallecano 3-1 to remain 13 points ahead of Real Madrid and 14 clear of Atlético Madrid. José Mourinho’s men twice came from behind to defeat Mallorca 5-2, before Diego Costa’s double helped Atlético win 2-0 at Osasuna on Sunday. The fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualifying berth is now occupied by Real Sociedad, meanwhile, after they made it ten games unbeaten by overcoming Real Valladolid 4-1.
