UEFA Champions League
Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate to progress to the Champions League final and will meet German rivals Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on 25th May. This will be the competition’s 1st all German final.
Bayern came to the Nou Camp having put 4 past Barca in Munich and were not willing to sit back and see out the game. Instead they took the game to the Catalan giants and scored 3 more goals through Arjen Robben, Gerard Pique (OG) and Thomas Muller all coming in the 2nd half.
Lionel Messi was just an onlooker as he was sidelined by an apparent hamstring injury and would not have been able to make much of a difference even if he had played his part in the match. Bayern matched Barca stride for stride and showed how beautiful a team sport football really is and should be.
Borussia Dortmund hung on to progress at the expense of Real Madrid despite losing 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu. They won the 1st leg 4-1 and could have put the tie beyond doubt had Robert Lewandowski been as clinical as he was in the 1st leg when he scored all 4 goals. Madrid were scrappy in their approach and missed some early chances themselves. They scored late on through Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos but the all important 3rd goal eluded them.
UEFA Europa League
Chelsea booked their place in the final at Amsterdam on May 15th after beating Basel 3-1 (5-2 on aggregate) at Stamford Bridge. Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time but Chelsea came back strongly in the 2nd half through goals from Fernando Torres, Victor Moses and a peach from David Luiz who was promoted to a holding midfield role by Rafael Benitez.
The Blues will meet Benfica after the Portuguese side beat Fenerbahce 3-1 at home (3-2 on aggregate). Nicolas Gaitan opened the scoring for the hosts but former Liverpool forward Dirk Kuyt equalized from the spot for the Turkish side. Oscar Cardozo then scored twice to send his side to face Chelsea.
English Premier League
QPR and Reading were relegated after their goalless draw at the Madejski Stadium.
Fellow strugglers Wigan drew 2-2 at home against Tottenham Hotspur. Gareth Bale opened the scoring but Emmerson Boyce and Callum McManaman gave the Latics the lead only for the former to score an own goal right at the death to secure a point for the visitors.
Aston Villa who are also in the survival dogfight took a giant step as they thrashed Sunderland 6-1 at Villa Park. After Danny Rose had cancelled out Ron Vlaar’s opener, Andreas Weimann and Gabriel Agbonlahor scored either side of Christian Benteke’s hat trick. Things worsened for the Black Cats as Stephane Sessegnon was sent off.
Manchester City beat West Ham United 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure. Andy Carroll scored a consolation in injury time. Everton beat Fulham 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to Steven Pienaar’s solitary goal. Southampton were beaten 3-0 at home by West Bromwich Albion with Shane Long, Romelu Lukaku and Marc-Antoine Fortune getting on the score sheet. Gaston Ramirez and Daniel Fox were sent off for the Saints while Fortune was also shown red.
Charlie Adam scored the only goal of the game as Stoke City beat Norwich City 1-0 at the Britannia.
Newcastle United were thrashed 6-0 at home by Liverpool who scored through Daniel Agger, Jordan Henderson (2), Daniel Sturridge (2) and Fabio Borini. Mathieu Debuchy was sent off with 15 minutes to play.
Chelsea beat Swansea City 2-0 at home with Oscar and Frank Lampard (penalty) scoring.
Arsenal entertained champions Manchester United and held a guard of honour for the visitors. Theo Walcott put the Gunners in front after just 2 minutes but Robin Van Persie equalised from the spot having been brought down by Bacary Sagna. Both sides had chances to score but a draw was a fair result.
Spanish La Liga
Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw away at Athletic Bilbao. Markel Susaeta opened the scoring but Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez put the league leaders in front only for Ander Herrera to equalise for the hosts in the 90th minute.
Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the Madrid derby. Radamel Falcao’s early goal was cancelled out by teammate Francisco Juanfran’s own goal. Angel Di Maria grabbed the winner for Real.
Barca lead with 85 points after 33 games followed by Real and Atletico on 74 and 68 points respectively.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Munich beat Freiburg 1-0 through Emre Can’s goal while Borussia Dortmund beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-1 away. Bayer Leverkusen beat Werder Bremen 1-0 at home.
Italian Serie A
Juventus beat Torino 2-0 in their local derby and need just 1 more win to win the Scudetto. AC Milan beat Catania 4-2 away while Palermo beat Inter Milan 1-0 at home. Napoli beat Pescara 3-0 away and Roma beat Siena 4-0 in Rome while Fiorentina beat Sampdoria 3-0 away with Parma and Lazio drawing 0-0.
French Ligue 1
Paris Saint Germain took another step closer to winning the title after beating Evian Thonon Gaillard 1-0 away. Marseille beat Lorient 1-0 while Lyon and St Etienne drew 1-1.
Dutch Eredivisie
With 2 rounds remaining, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord are all in with a chance to win the title. Ajax are 4 points clear of PSV and Feyenoord both on 66 points.
Ajax beat NAC Breda 2-0 away while PSV beat Groningen 5-2 at home. Feyenoord thrashed Heracles Almelo 6-0 at home.
Portuguese Liga
Benfica look favourites to regain the title from Porto as the former lead with 73 points, 4 clear of the latter with 3 games remaining.
