Some unexpected turns in the title race in England, Spain and Italy this weekend as Real Madrid stretched their Liga lead to four points. Bayern Munich made it an incredible 14 goals from their last two Bundesliga outings, while Juventus extended their Serie A advantage and Manchester City closed within five points of Chelsea in England.
Spain
Head turning result at the Camp Nou on Saturday as Barcelona’s six match La Liga win streak ended as they lost 1-0 at home to Málaga CF, the Blaugrana suffering first loss in seven Liga matches. Real Madrid capitalized on Barca’s slip as second-half goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo earned Real Madrid a 2-0 win at struggling Elche that moved them four points clear at the top of the Spanish La Liga. Being one point clear or four points is huge for Real as they know they even if they lose the El Clasico next month at the Camp Nou they can still win the title, of they simply match Barcelona’s results the rest of the season.
England
Controversy at Stamford Bridge as leaders Chelsea were unable to hold onto a one goal lead against relegation threatened Burnley after the had Nemanja Matić sent off in retaliation to a horror tackle from Ashley Barnes and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw after Ben Mee’s late header. Manchester City warmed up for their midweek match with Barcelona by thrashing Newcastle United 5-0 with ergio Agüero hitting an early penalty and David Silva scoring twice.
Italy
The title race in Italy looks over as goals from Fernando Llorente and Andrea Pirlo earned Juventus a 2-1 win against Atalanta on Friday evening put pressure on second place Roma to keep pace. But the Giallorossi could not as these drew 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona, their sixth draw in their last seven games. Next week’s meeting with Juve in Rome has become a must win game for Roma, as anything less than three points, will all but hand the title to the Turin giants.
