Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory away to 10-man Atlético Madrid on Saturday that moved the defending champions seven points clear of Real Madrid – who suffered a shock defeat at Real Mallorca – at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona had plenty of motivation after Real’s 2-1 loss at Mallorca earlier on Saturday, but it was the hosts who took the lead six minutes before the break through Giuliano Simeone.
The visitors responded with a Marcus Rashford goal three minutes later and Atlético had Nico González sent off on the stroke of half-time. Lewandowski was in the right place to net a fortunate rebound three minutes from time.
Atlético remain fourth in the table on 57 points, 19 points off Barcelona and the sides will meet again at the Camp Nou on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
Real Mallorca dealt a major blow to Real Madrid’s title aspirations as Vedat Muriqi struck an added-time winner to seal a shock 2-1 win for the hosts.
They withstood Real’s pressure early in the game, the goalkeeper Leo Roman denying Kylian Mbappé with two diving saves, before taking the lead from their first shot on target in the 42nd minute when Manu Morlanes converted Pablo Maffeo’s cross.
Éder Militão, playing for the first time since his hamstring injury in December, equalised for Real in the 88th minute but Muriqi, the second-highest scorer in La Liga this season after Mbappé, sealed Mallorca’s win with a strike three minutes later. The victory – their first over Real in three years – moved them two points above the bottom three.
Muriqi, who was panned for his lacklustre performance when Kosovo failed to qualify for the World Cup with a loss to Turkey on Tuesday, broke down in tears after the final whistle, and said later: “Sometimes the emotions get the better of you, you can’t keep the tears in.
“Losing what was a final for us to reach the World Cup, then we’re winning and [Real] equalise. Then, the late goal … I’m just happy to repay the supporters, we want to stay in this division for them.”
In Germany, Bayern Munich scored three times in the last nine minutes as the Bundesliga leaders came from two goals behind to snatch a 3-2 victory at Freiburg. Tom Bischof fired in almost identical shots from the edge of the box to draw them level before Lennart Karl tapped in with almost the last kick of the game to earn three points for Bayern, who were without their injured top scorer, Harry Kane. Bayern travel to Real Madrid on Tuesday for their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Freiburg, the only German team along with Bayern to still be in the German Cup as well as a European competition, went in front a minute into the second half when Johan Manzambi whipped a sensational shot from about 25 yards out past Manuel Neuer. The hosts, who face Celta Vigo in the Europa League last eight on Thursday, then twice came agonisingly close to a second goal as they dominated early on after the break, keeping 40-year-old Neuer busy.
Freiburg doubled their lead in the 71st minute with a Lucas Hoeler volley after Neuer spilled a corner into his path, but the visitors cut the deficit 10 minutes later when Bischof threaded a shot past Noah Atubolu as the visitors upped the pressure late in the game. He did it again in stoppage time before Karl scored the winner in the dying seconds.
“We actually feel unbeatable at the moment,” said the 18-year-old Karl, whose meteoric rise this season, featuring five league goals, has made him a serious candidate for Germany’s World Cup squad. “I’m very happy. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt scored deep in second half stoppage time to snatch a 2-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart. The result kept second-placed Dortmund, on 64 points, nine behind Bayern, while Stuttgart dropped to fourth on 53, behind RB Leipzig on goal difference.
The Ruhr valley club had not beaten Stuttgart across all competitions in the previous seven matches and had to wait until the end to strike. The hosts, battling to secure a Champions League spot next season, had the upper hand and the better chances in the first half and Dortmund remained largely toothless after the break until Adeyemi found enough space outside the box to rifle in for the lead in stoppage time. Brandt then made the most of a fine cross by Fabio Silva to double their lead two minutes later.
There was fan unrest at the final whistle. A group of Stuttgart fans approached the field but stopped behind advertising boards and a chair was thrown on to the field. But this was nothing compared with events in the 2.Bundesliga match between Dynamo Dresden and Hertha Berlin.
Dresden fans ran the length of the field towards a section containing visiting supporters, who also jumped a fence and moved toward the field. Lit flares were thrown from both sides, some of them landing near spectators, and some fans seemed to trade blows.
Police then stormed on to the field from an entrance in the corner of the stadium and chased dozens of Dresden supporters back toward the other end. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured or if there had been arrests.
The referee stopped the game and took the players off for over 15 minutes. During that time, police formed two lines across the field facing the Dresden supporters. A banner in Hertha’s blue and white colors was set alight and displayed in the Dresden end.
The game eventually resumed. It was the second stoppage after an earlier delay when fans let off pyrotechnics and smoke filled the stadium.
Lens suffered a potentially fatal blow to their unlikely Ligue 1 title bid with a 3-0 loss away to their northern derby rivals Lille. Pierre Sage’s team have surprisingly been Paris Saint-Germain’s closest challengers in France this season but they were swept aside by an in-form Lille.
Hákon Haraldsson turned in Matias Fernandez-Pardo’s clever pass just before half-time at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Félix Correia pounced on a stray back pass from Matthieu Udol to score a second for Lille five minutes after the break.
Then Fernandez-Pardo sealed a fifth win in six games for Lille from the penalty spot after a handball by Ismaëlo Ganiou.
Lille climbed up two places to third after extending their unbeaten run to eight matches, with Lens still four points behind PSG and having played a game more than the league leaders, who brushed past Toulouse 3-1 on Friday.
Meanwhile in Italy, Massimiliano Allegri, the Milan coach, said on Saturday he has not given any thought to the vacant Italy manager’s job as he focuses on getting his Serie A team back into the Champions League, despite being linked with the post. Gennaro Gattuso left the Italy job on Friday after his side’s World Cup playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties, a third straight missed qualification for the four-times champions, with Giuseppe Gravina stepping down as chief of the Italian football federation.
The 58-year-old Allegri, who won five league titles at Juventus, was asked in the buildup to Monday’s Serie A game at Napoli if he would rule out coaching Italy, now or in the future. “I started a journey last year with Milan, now we have to be focused on finishing the season well and reaching the Champions League,” Allegri said. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I’m fine at Milan and I hope to stay at Milan for a long time. It’s been a few years since I have taken part in the Champions League, if we were to qualify and I were still Milan’s coach, I’d have to get used to it again.”
