European Round-Up | 17-19 March

Bundesliga

• Biggest win (scoreline): Borussia Dortmund 6-1 1.FC Köln
• Shock result: VfL Bochum 1-0 RB Leipzig
• Star Performance: Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund) – 1 goal & 2 assists vs 1.FC Köln

Another round of action in the Bundesliga at the weekend has once again produced more curve balls after Bayern Munich came away with nothing on their travels against Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen at the Bay Arena, allowing Dortmund’s massive 6-1 win at the Westfalendstadion over Köln to not only stand as the result of the weekend but giving Edin Terzić’s men control of the table going into the international break.

Dortmund finish a Bundesliga matchday in first place for the first time since the 2019-20 season 😱

They’re back. pic.twitter.com/LiuGfvAX8w

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 19, 2023

Both Leipzig and Frankfurt also fell to defeats, with Marco Rose’s outfit being outstripped by Bochum in a 1-0 affair in the Ruhr valley during the aftermath of their 7-0 midweek thrashing at the hands of Manchester City. Frankfurt’s recent poor run of form has them clinging on to the final European spot currently, with Wolfsburg’s win in conjunction with Leverkusen’s result seeing both clubs gain ground in the process.

Apart from Bochum, only Hoffenheim could find a result regarding clubs in the bottom half thanks to their 3-1 win over fellow relegation-battlers Hertha BSC, keeping the capital side in the bottom three along with Schalke and Stuttgart.

• Top Six: Dortmund (53), Bayern (52), Union Berlin (48), Freiburg (46), RBL (45), Frankfurt (40)
• Bottom Three: Hertha (21), Schalke (21), Stuttgart (20)

La Liga

• Biggest win (scoreline): Real Valladolid 1-3 Athletic Club, Espanyol 1-3 Celta Vigo
• Shock result: Getafe 2-0 Sevilla
• Star Performance: Viktor Tsygankov (Girona) – 2 goals vs Rayo Vallecano

Barcelona march closer to their first La Liga title since 2018-19 and Xavi Hernández’s first managerial title after returning to the club he made his name at on the pitch in the wake of their 2-1 El Clásico win over bitter rivals Real Madrid. Atlético Madrid thanked Barça for the win by securing their own result to close the gap to their city rivals thanks to a 3-0 win over Valencia the day before, but Sevilla’s continued frustrating 2022-23 season reared its ugly head once more after losing away at Getafa 2-0 during a weekend that lacked true shock results.

Celebrating our 100th all-time #ElClásico win! pic.twitter.com/abbiUMW4xK

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 20, 2023

Athletic Club, Celta Vigo, and Villarreal all secured comfortable results away from home over Valladolid, Espanyol, and Osasuna, with Real Madrid the only side in the European places to drop points at the weekend.

Just five points separate 12th from 19th in the table in one of the most intriguing relegation battles anywhere in Europe, with that number dropping to just two points from 14th to 19th.

• Top Six: Barcelona (68), Real Madrid (56), Atlético Madrid (51), Real Sociedad (48), Real Betis (45), Villarreal (41)
• Bottom Three: Valencia (26), Almería (26), Elche (13)

Ligue 1

• Biggest win (scoreline): RC Lens 3-0 SCO Angers
• Shock result: Paris Saint-Germain 0-2 Stade Rennais
• Star Performance: Steve Mandanda (Stade Rennais) – 8 saves & a clean sheet vs Paris Saint-Germain

🗞 @SteveMandanda, @BourigeaudB29 et Djed Spence sont dans @lequipe type du week-end. 🔴⚫️#ToutDonner pic.twitter.com/RvfpqYIhAL

— Stade Rennais F.C. (@staderennais) March 20, 2023

Apart from PSG’s stumbles, the rest of the top six enjoyed fruitful results, with Marseille, Lens, Monaco, and Lille all posting three-point hauls to join Rennes in the win column, which included OM’s away win against Will Still’s Reims to end the young Belgian’s undefeated run while also closing the gap to PSG to just seven points.

Only two other sides managed to secure wins at the weekend, with Montpellier and Strasbourg banking points against Clermont Foot and Auxerre. Montpellier is now the form side in Ligue 1, bagging sixteen points from a possible eighteen in their last six matches. Finally, the relegation landscape remained relatively unchanged from last weekend, with Troyes’ draw against Brest pushing up one place to 18th but still three points from safety.

• Top Six: PSG (66), Marseille (59), Lens (57), Monaco (54), Rennes (50), Lille (49)
• Bottom Four: Auxerre (23), Troyes (21), Ajaccio (21), Angers (10)

Serie A

• Biggest win (scoreline): Torino 0-4 SSC Napoli
• Shock result: Udinese 3-1 AC Milan
• Star Performance: Manolo Gabbiadini (Sampdoria) – 2 goals vs Verona

Napoli remains on a collision course with their first Serie A title since the Diego Maradona era as they now sit 19 points clear at the top of the table thanks to a 4-0 thrashing of Torino in conjunction with Inter Milan’s loss to Juventus and Lazio’s leapfrogging into second after a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Roma.

Atalanta, Udinese, and Fiorentina rounded out the vast majority of the wins across the division at the weekend after three-point hauls over Empoli, AC Milan, and Lecce respectively, with Udine’s big home win over the holding Serie A champions coming in as the shock result of the weekend. The only bottom-half sides to take away all the points on offer came by way of results for Sassuolo and relegation-threatened Sampdoria.

90+7 | UDINESE TRIUMPH!
Dacia Arena erupts at the final whistle as we return to winning ways on home soil with a big win over AC Milan!#UdineseMilan 3-1

⚪️⚫️ #ForzaUdinese #AlèUdin pic.twitter.com/CXWCps5nqI

— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) March 18, 2023

The race for the remaining European places is as tight as ever come the international break, with just seven points separating 2nd from 6th, while Juventus – sitting 7th- are four points adrift of climbing back into the top six despite their points reduction.

• Top Six: Napoli (71), Lazio (52), Inter Milan (50), AC Milan (48), AS Roma (47), Atalanta (45)
• Bottom Three: Verona (19), Sampdoria (15), Cremonese (13)