Barça stretch lead despite draw, City lose derby
Sunday, March 20, 2016
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Barcelona squandered a two-goal lead on Sunday and Manchester City suffered a derby reverse, after the weekend began with a Bayern München win and Atlético Madrid losing.
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SUNDAY
Villarreal 2-2 Barcelona (Bakambu 57, Mathieu 63 og; Rakitić 20, Neymar 41pen)
Luis Enrique's side extended their Liga lead to nine points despite squandering a two-goal advantage at UEFA Europa League quarter-finalists Villarreal. Ivan Rakitić's strike and a Neymar spot kick gave Barça a commanding lead before the break. However, Cédric Bakambu notched his fifth in four outings for the hosts after the interval before Jérémy Mathieu's own goal sealed the comeback. The European champions are now 39 games without defeat in all competitions.
Real Madrid 4-0 Sevilla (Benzema 6, Ronaldo 64, Bale 66, Jesé 86)
Zinédine Zidane's side strolled to victory after being able to field their 'BBC' trident of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since January. All three found the net, which meant a record 43rd Liga goal for Bale – more than any other British player down the years. At the other end, Keylor Navas saved a penalty as Madrid closed within a point of Atlético and ten of Liga leaders Barcelona, ahead of the Clásico in two weeks' time.
Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United (Rashford 16)
Teenage striker Marcus Rashford scored the winner in the Manchester derby to boost United's top-four bid and damage City's title hopes in the process. Manuel Pellegrini's side lost both Raheem Sterling and Joe Hart to injury, and fell 15 points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City, having played a game fewer. Meanwhile, the visitors moved within a point of their fourth-placed rivals.
Boavista 0-1 Benfica (Jonas 90+3)
The Eagles restored their two-point advantage over Lisbon rivals Sporting CP at the summit in dramatic fashion, Jonas notching a last-gasp winner in added time at Boavista – his 31st of the season in all competitions.
Paris Saint-Germain 0-2 Monaco (Vágner Love 65, Fabinho 68pen)
Crowned champions last weekend, Paris suffered their second Ligue 1 loss this term as second-placed Monaco visited the Parc des Princes. Laurent Blanc's charges dominated for the most part and enjoyed the better first-half chances but were undone by two goals in quick succession after the break, slumping to a first home defeat in the league since May 2014.
SATURDAY
Köln 0-1 Bayern München (Lewandowski 10)
Robert Lewandowski's 25th Bundesliga goal of 2015/16, one more than his previous best total for a league campaign, earned Josep Guardiola's men the spoils against their mid-table opponents. The Poland forward beat Köln keeper Timo Horn with a well-struck effort, surpassing Luca Toni as the scorer of the most top-flight goals by a foreign player in a single season for the Bavarians.
Wolfsburg 1-1 Darmstadt (Schürrle 90+3; Wagner 82)
Wolfsburg lost ground in their bid to secure a top-four Bundesliga finish, Andre Schürrle's last-gasp goal salvaging a draw for Dieter Hecking's team. The German international drilled in from the edge of the penalty area in the third minute of added time, taking his tally in March to five. Wolfsburg are six points shy of fourth-placed Schalke with seven games remaining.
Sporting Gijón 2-1 Atlético Madrid(Sanabria 79, Castro 89; Griezmann 29)
Relegation-threatened Sporting – who had lost their last four matches – condemned Atlético to their second Liga defeat of 2016. An expertly taken free-kick by Antoine Griezmann had put the visitors on course for their fifth successive league win.