Bayern Munich moved closer than ever to reclaiming the Bundesliga crown after moving 20 points clear on a weekend where the Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 leaders all won.
Germany
It was business as usual for Bayern as their seemingly inevitable march to the title continued. Bayern, who play Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, moved 20 points out in front thanks to a 3-2 win against Düsseldorf.
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund failed to keep pace as they lost 2-1 to Schalke in the Ruhr derby. With the win Schalke moved into the fourth Champions League spot behind a Bayer Leverkusen side beaten 1-0 at FSV Mainz.
Italy
It all went Juventus’ way at the top of Serie A as a 1-0 victory against Catania and defeat for second-placed Napoli stretched the Bianconeri’s lead to nine points. Emanuele Giaccherini score the added-time winner for Juve.
The wheels are falling off at Napoli, who lost 2-0 at Chievo Verona, allowing AC Milan to move within two points of them with a 2-0 win at Genoa .
Three weeks ago Napoli were talking about winning the title. Now they are in danger of not even qualifying for the Champions League next season. Five points back of Napoli is Fiorentina, who won 2-0 at Lazio.
Spain
Barcelona will go into their must win match against Milan in midweek with some confidence after beating Deportivo La Coruña 2-0 in a game that saw Lionel Messi score his 40th Liga goal if the season. Incredibly, it was also the 17th consecutive league match in which Messi has scored.
For the first time all season, Real Madrid are the top team in Madrid after Atletico lost 1-0 at home to Real Sociedad, their first home loss this season. That allowed Real Madrid o go second by defeating Celta 2-1 thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo.
France
Paris Saint-Germain closed in on winning their first Ligue 1 title in almost year as they beat Nancy-Lorraine 2-1. Two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović the difference between the two sides.
The win combined with the scoreless draw between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille means that PSG’s lead at the top of the table is now 4 points.
