European round-up: Inter nine clear after stunning comeback

Inter Milan produced a superb comeback to extend their lead at the top of Serie A to nine points with a thrilling 4-3 win at Como.

A trip to face Cesc Fabregas’ Champions League-chasing side always promised to provide a stern test for Inter in their pursuit of the Scudetto, and so it proved as the hosts took a 2-0 lead through Alex Valle and Nico Paz, only for Marcus Thuram to prod home for Inter in first-half stoppage time.

Thuram then lobbed Como goalkeeper Jean Butez to make it 2-2 as he pounced on a defensive mix-up, before Denzel Dumfries completed the turnaround with a far-post header from Hakan Calhanoglu’s free-kick.

Dumfries lashed home a second to give Inter breathing room, which proved to be just about enough for Inter to clinch the points despite Lucas Da Cunha’s late penalty.

Inter now have a commanding lead at the summit with six games to play, the Nerazzurri taking advantage after Napoli were held to a 1-1 draw at Parma, Antonio Conte’s men unable to complete the turnaround after Scott McTominay had cancelled out Gabriel Strefezza’s first-minute effort.

Meanwhile, Bologna were 2-0 winners over struggling Lecce, while Genoa beat Sassuolo 2-1 in a game that saw Genoa’s Mikael Egill Ellertsson and Sassuolo’s Domenico Berardi sent off for an incident in the tunnel at half-time.

Stuttgart surge into third

Stuttgart are up to third in the Bundesliga after they leapfrogged RB Leipzig with an emphatic 4-0 win over Hamburg.

Angelo Stiller finished off a well-worked move to give Stuttgart the lead in the 22nd minute, before Chris Fuhrich doubled the advantage 10 minutes later. Maximilian Mittelstadt’s deflected effort put the game beyond doubt and, though Deniz Undav blazed a penalty over the bar, Stuttgart did add gloss to the scoreline through Bilal El Khannouss’ late goal.

Sebastian Hoeness’ side are four points clear of fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen in the race for the top four, with Stuttgart above Leipzig on goal difference.

Elsewhere, Cologne moved above Werder Bremen in the fight against relegation with a 3-1 home win, while Freiburg won 1-0 at Mainz.

Villarreal pounce on Atletico slip-up

Villarreal solidified their grip on third place in LaLiga after Atletico Madrid’s slip-up at Sevilla, the Yellow Submarine moving four points clear of Atleti with a 2-1 win Athletic Bilbao thanks to goals from Sergi Cardona and Alfon.

Celta Vigo and Real Betis both slipped up in their fight for fifth place, which may well be good enough for the Champions League.

Celta were beaten 3-0 at home by Oviedo as they moved off the bottom of the table, while Betis could only manage a 1-1 draw at Osasuna.

In Ligue 1, Lille moved back above Marseille as they bid to secure direct progression to the league phase of next season’s Champions League, a 4-0 win at 10-man Toulouse seeing Les Dogues into third.

Meanwhile, Lyon are just two points behind Lille and one behind fourth-placed Marseille, who occupy the spot that would secure a place in the Champions League third qualifying round, after beating Lorient 2-0. In the day’s other game, Nice drew 1-1 with Le Havre.