MILAN: Both Milan teams remained in the Serie A fight to qualify for next season’s Champions League ahead of their showdown in this season’s competition.
Inter Milan won at Roma 2-0, shortly after AC Milan beat Lazio by the same scoreline. The Rossoneri could be counting the cost of that match, however, as key forward Rafael Leão limped off injured just four days before the Champions League semifinal.
Milan closed the gap to second-placed Lazio to three points after an Ismaël Bennacer strike and a stunning Théo Hernandez goal. Milan were one point behind Inter and Juventus, which play at Atalanta on Sunday.
“I’m happy with the performance and for the win, it was too important a match for us,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “What was important was to play well and we did that even without Leão.
“I don’t think it’s serious but we’ll evaluate it tomorrow. He stopped in time, he was very calm and that gives me good hope.”
Atalanta and Roma were five points below fourth-placed Inter.
The two Milan clubs meet in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday. The return leg is the following Tuesday.
Leão limped off in the 11th minute shortly after pulling up and clutching the top of his right thigh.
Milan nevertheless took the lead six minutes later. Lazio defender Nicolò Casale attempted to pass out from his area but Bennacer stole the ball and played a one-two with Olivier Giroud before firing past Ivan Provedel.
Milan doubled their lead in stunning fashion in the 29th when Hernández collected a pass inside his own area from goalkeeper Mike Maignan and raced almost the whole length of the field before unleashing a shot into the top right corner.
WINNING STREAK
Inter Milan recorded their fifth consecutive win in all competitions. They have also conceded just one goal in that run.
Inter broke the deadlock in Rome in the 33rd minute. Denzel Dumfries ran onto a fantastic Marcelo Brozović throughball and whipped in a cross from the right that Federico Dimarco fired in from a tricky angle. Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante got the last touch on the ball as he desperately tried to keep it from going in but the goal was awarded to Dimarco.
There was a bit of fortune for Inter’s second in the 74th. Roma defender Roger Ibañez intercepted a long ball over the top but accidentally gave it back to Lautaro Martínez and he sent Romelu Lukaku through for a relatively straightforward finish into the bottom left corner.
Martínez also hit the crossbar late on.
AC Milan top Lazio to boost top-4 hopes but loses Leão
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AC Milan top Lazio to boost top-4 hopes but loses Leão
- Inter Milan won at Roma 2-0, shortly after AC Milan beat Lazio by the same scoreline
- Milan closed the gap to second-placed Lazio to three points after an Ismaël Bennacer strike and a stunning Théo Hernandez goal
Mbappe scores first hat trick for Real Madrid
- The France captain has started pouring in goals with back-to-back multi-goal games and has Madrid in pole position with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona stalled
- Cedric Bakambu headed in a stoppage-time winner to grab Real Betis a 1-0 victory at 10-man Mallorca
BARCELONA: Kylian Mbappe tucked the ball under his shirt as he raised both hands to return the applause to the Real Madrid fans who savored his first hat trick for his new club.
The France star had just led a 3-0 victory at struggling Valladolid that extended Madrid’s lead of La Liga on Saturday, keeping it in position to retain the title just after the midway point of the campaign.
Gone was the inconsistent play and missed penalties from Mbappe during his first months with Madrid following his move from Paris Saint-Germain. The France captain has started pouring in goals with back-to-back multi-goal games and has Madrid in pole position with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona stalled.
“I’m very happy for the hat trick but even happier for the win,” Mbappe said in fluent Spanish. “It was very important to win after Atletico’s result because that gave us a bit more pressure to take advantage of it.”
Madrid’s fourth straight triumph in the league combined with Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Villarreal let Carlo Ancelotti’s side open a four-point gap over its city rival. Barcelona were in third place at 10 points back before hosting Valencia on Sunday.
Madrid trailed then-leader Barcelona at one point, but since getting blown away in a 4-0 clasico debacle, they have found their stride and is in championship mode.
“My adaptation to the team is over. I feel comfortable on the field and you can see that from the way I am playing with my teammates,” Mbappe said. “This gives us confidence, but you know that until the 38th round this is not over. We have to keep winning because there is a long way to go.”
No contest in Valladolid
The game between the front-runner and the bottom side fit its billing as a mismatch.
Valladolid could draw only one save from Thibaut Courtois in the opening moments. It was all Madrid the rest of the way even though Vinicius Junior didn’t play as he completed a two-game suspension.
Mbappe swept in Madrid’s first goal on the half-hour mark after a flowing team attack of quick passes to weave the ball through a packed Valladolid area that culminated in Jude Bellingham’s assist for the France star.
He made it a double in the 57th by finishing off a three-against-two counterattack after Federico Valverde intercepted a Valladolid pass. Mbappé took a pass by Rodrygo and rifled in a low strike from the left side of the box.
Valladolid finished with 10 men after Mario Martín got a second booking in the 90th for a foul on Bellingham, sending Mbappé to the spot for his third.
That made it four games in a row with a goal across all competitions for Mbappé. In La Liga, Mbappe has 15, second only to Robert Lewandowski’s 16 for Barcelona. He also scored twice last weekend against Las Palmas in a 4-1 win.
“Mbappe is giving us a lot. He has found his rhythm over the last couple of months and that is obviously a boost for us,” Ancelotti said.
Valladolid were five points from safety.
Atletico drop more points
Atletico’s stalemate with Villarreal came a week after a shock 1-0 loss at Leganes.
Gerard Moreno, Villarreal’s top scorer in club history, made it 120 goals for the Yellow Submarine in the 25th minute after the striker converted a penalty he earned when fouled by Reinildo.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone rested Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul for the first half. Then he made three changes at halftime, sending on De Paul and winger Samu Lino to kickstart his sluggish attack.
The moves paid off as the hosts pressed Villarreal into their box, and Lino rammed in a 58th-minute equalizer.
Simeone sent Griezmann on immediately after and the action stayed in Villarreal’s area except for two chances for Villarreal’s Ayoze Perez, who replaced Gerard. But Griezmann’s header that bounced just wide in the 86th was the closest Atletico came to snatching a winner.
“We played a good game at a very tough ground against a team with a deep bench that is fighting for the league. We are happy,” Gerard said for a Villarreal that stayed in fifth place.
Betis grab late winner
Cedric Bakambu headed in a stoppage-time winner to grab Real Betis a 1-0 victory at 10-man Mallorca.
Mallorca had opportunities until Omar Mascarell received a direct red card for a studs-first tackle of Betis’ Jesús Rodríguez in the 73rd.
The win came while Betis secured a loan deal for forward Anthony from Manchester United.
Garcia sustains Espanyol
Goalkeeper Joan Garcia made three saves to deny Sevilla standout Dodi Lukebakio and help Espanyol grind out a 1-1 draw at Sevilla.
Haaland leads Man City revival to beat Chelsea
- Josko Gvardiol levelled for Pep Guardiola’s men before Haaland showed his blend of strength
- Marmoush was close to a perfect start to his City career when he blasted wide from Haaland’s pass after the Norwegian was picked out by a long ball from Ederson
MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland inspired a Manchester City fightback from 1-0 down to beat Chelsea 3-1 and move into the Premier League top four at the Blues’ expense on Saturday.
City recovered from a nightmare start to Abdukodir Khusanov’s debut as he gifted the visitors the opening goal, scored by Noni Madueke.
Josko Gvardiol levelled for Pep Guardiola’s men before Haaland showed his blend of strength and skill to chip in 22 minutes from time.
The Norwegian then turned provider for the in-form Phil Foden to secure City’s fourth win in five league games after just one in their previous nine.
Chelsea have won just once in their last seven Premier League games to fall to sixth and will once again reflect on the need to upgrade on goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after his positioning led to Haaland’s crucial goal.
City’s victory puts them back in pole position to qualify for next season’s Champions League, just days before they try to save themselves in this season’s competition.
The English champions must beat Club Brugge on Wednesday to reach the playoff round after collapsing from 2-0 up to lose 4-2 at Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
Guardiola reacted by throwing in new signings Khusanov and Omar Marmoush for their debuts.
But that decision backfired spectacularly in the case of Khusanov inside three minutes.
The first ever Uzbek to play in the Premier League did not properly connect with an attempted header back toward his own goal and Nicolas Jackson pounced to tee up Madueke for a tap in.
Moments later Khusanov was fortunate to get away with only a yellow card for chopping down Cole Palmer.
By contrast, Marmoush was showing why only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane had scored more Bundesliga goals than him this season prior to a £59 million ($72.6 million) move from Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Egyptian thought he had equalized when he pounced to fire home the rebound after Sanchez parried Ilkay Gundogan’s effort, but was flagged offside.
Gvardiol’s marauding runs from left-back were causing City’s biggest threat.
Chelsea did not heed a warning as the Croatian prodded inches wide with his left foot after storming into the box.
Just before half-time, Gvardiol had a simple task for his fifth Premier League goal of the season.
Matheus Nunes this time made the break from full-back and after he was denied by Sanchez, the ball fell for Gvardiol to roll into an empty net.
Guardiola cut his losses with Khusanov at the start of the second period. He was replaced by John Stones and City were rarely troubled thereafter at the back.
Marmoush was close to a perfect start to his City career when he blasted wide from Haaland’s pass after the Norwegian was picked out by a long ball from Ederson.
But again Chelsea did not learn their lesson. Moments later from another Ederson clearance, Haaland outmuscled Trevoh Chalobah and then chipped Sanchez, who had charged out of his goal and ended up in no man’s land.
Despite City’s struggles, Haaland has remained a reliable source of goals as he took his tally for the season to 24, six of which have come in the last six games.
And he created he third goal as his layoff sent Foden clear to slot home his sixth goal in his last four league games.
Napoli beat Juventus to continue Serie A title charge
- Antonio Conte’s side bounced back from Randal Kolo Muani’s strike moments from half-time in his Juve debut
- Napoli won their seventh straight match thanks to a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty
MILAN: Napoli continued their Serie A title charge on Saturday by coming from behind to win a feverish contest with rivals Juventus 2-1 and go six points clear at the top of the pile.
Antonio Conte’s side bounced back from Randal Kolo Muani’s strike moments from half-time in his Juve debut. Napoli won their seventh straight match thanks to a bullet header from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty.
Napoli are hunting a second Scudetto in three seasons and Saturday’s win, and in particular their dominant performance in the second half, was another sign that they, and not Inter Milan, are the team to beat.
Six points from clashes with Atalanta and Juve in successive weeks have kept Inter at bay with the reigning champions at lowly Lecce on Sunday hoping to halve the gap that separates Simone Inzaghi’s team from Napoli.
The roar that accompanied the hosts’ goals and the final whistle underlined the renewed belief that supporters have in their team after watching Napoli put up a dreadful defense of the Scudetto title last season.
Juve, meanwhile, are 16 points behind Napoli in fifth after falling to their first league defeat of the season, not the position expected when Thiago Motta replaced Massimiliano Allegri as coach in the summer.
Kolo Muani gave Juve a deserved half-time lead two days after finally completing his loan move to Turin from Paris Saint-Germain, where he had been frozen out by coach Luis Enrique.
He was in the right place at the right time in the 43rd minute to spin and lash home his third club goal of the season after Anguissa challenged for the ball and sent it straight to the France forward.
But Napoli were a different team after the break. After Alex Meret somehow kept out Lukaku’s close-range header the Juve goalkeeper could do nothing to stop Anguissa thumping home the leveller from Matteo Politano’s cross.
And there was only going to be one winner once Lukaku calmly rolled home his ninth Napoli goal from the spot after Scott McTominay was taken out by Manuel Locatelli.
Atalanta also stay seven points off the pace in third even though Mateo Retegui’s brace fired them to a 2-1 win at Como earlier on Saturday.
Italy striker Retegui pounced in the 56th and 70th minutes at a soaking Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia to take his league tally to 16 goals and give third-placed Atalanta their first win in Italy’s top flight in 2025.
The 25-year-old has scored five times in four games in all competitions since returning from a hamstring injury earlier this month, and his hot form is great news for Atalanta ahead of their trip to Barcelona.
Atalanta travel to Catalonia gunning for a place in the top eight of the Champions League and automatic qualification for the last 16, after thumping Sturm Graz on Tuesday.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side had to battle to victory at Como who deservedly led at the break through Nico Paz’s fantastic first-time strike but remain three points above the relegation zone in 13th place.
“It’s not easy to play so many matches so close together... we were slow in the first half but we were much better after half-time,” said Gasperini to DAZN.
Como will find it hard to pick up points between now and March. Their next five fixtures are against Bologna, Juventus, Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma.
“You need to remember that we’re Como, we’re a newly-promoted team but we’re giving a lot of big teams hard games,” said coach Cesc Fabregas.
The away side also had strikes from Ademola Lookman and Charles De Ketelaere ruled out for offside and handball, which made for a nervy final few minutes as Como pushed unsuccessfully for a leveller.
Atletico Madrid stumble in La Liga again after draw with Villarreal
- The stalemate, which came a week after a shock 1-0 loss at Leganes, left Atletico one point behind Real Madrid
- Gerard Moreno, Villarreal’s top scorer in club history, made it 120 goals for the Yellow Submarine in the 25th minute
BARCELONA: Atletico Madrid stumbled again in their La Liga quest after being held by Villarreal to 1-1 at home on Saturday.
The stalemate, which came a week after a shock 1-0 loss at Leganes, left Atletico one point behind Real Madrid before the leader visited last-placed Valladolid.
Gerard Moreno, Villarreal’s top scorer in club history, made it 120 goals for the Yellow Submarine in the 25th minute after the striker converted a penalty he earned when fouled by Reinildo.
Gerard went close twice to adding another goal, but defender Axel Witsel did well to block or disrupt his efforts on either side of halftime.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone rested Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul for the first half. Then he made three changes at halftime, sending on De Paul and winger Samu Lino to kickstart his sluggish attack.
The moves paid off as the hosts pressed Villarreal into their box, and Lino rammed in a 58th-minute equalizer after goalkeeper Luis Junior stopped Ángel Correa’s shot but couldn’t control the ball.
Simeone sent Griezmann on immediately after and the action stayed in Villarreal’s area except for two chances for Villarreal’s Ayoze Pérez, who replaced Gerard.
But Griezmann’s header that bounced just wide in the 86th was the closest Atletico came to snatching a winner.
“We played a good game at a very tough ground against a team with a deep bench that is fighting for the league. We are happy,” Gerard said for a Villarreal that stayed in fifth place.
Atletico are at Salzburg on Wednesday aiming to lock up a spot in the knockout rounds of the Champions League and avoid a playoff.
Kane scores as Bayern Munich go six points clear
- Kane and English compatriot Eric Dier created the opener in the 15th minute
- Dier found Kane who drilled a low shot through the fingers of Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu
FREIBURG, Germany: Harry Kane scored as Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Freiburg on Saturday to move six points clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at RB Leipzig.
Kane and English compatriot Eric Dier created the opener in the 15th minute.
Dier found Kane who drilled a low shot through the fingers of Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
The goal was Kane’s first from open play since mid-November and his 17th in 17 league games this season.
Bayern doubled their lead after 54 minutes when Kim Min-jae outmuscled Atubolu and headed in a Joshua Kimmich corner.
Freiburg made Bayern sweat when Matthias Ginter headed in a corner with 22 minutes remaining, but the German giants held firm to bounce back from Wednesday’s surprise 3-0 Champions League loss at Feyenoord.
“We’ve played better games than that,” Kimmich told Sky Germany.
“But that is exactly what you need sometimes. We deserved to win.”
Bayern’s win means defending champions Leverkusen are now six points behind the league leaders, after they dropped points in the league for the first time since early November at Leipzig.
Florian Wirtz impressed throughout and was instrumental in Leverkusen’s opener.
The Germany midfielder shrugged off two defenders with a jink and shot against the post, with Patrik Schick well placed to tap in and put Leverkusen in front after 18 minutes.
Leverkusen’s controversial second, scored on the 36-minute mark, was also created by Wirtz.
Near the sideline, the 21-year-old won the ball from Leipzig’s David Raum, while appearing to sink his studs into the defender’s leg.
With Raum on the ground, Wirtz dribbled goalwards and cut the ball back to Aleix Garcia, who calmly slotted home.
Raum had his revenge just five minutes later, thumping in a deflected free kick off the crossbar to cut Leverkusen’s advantage.
Leipzig equalized from another set piece with five minutes remaining. Xavi Simons sent a spiralling free kick into the box which Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba turned into his own net.
In their first match since sacking coach Nuri Sahin, 10-man Borussia Dortmund also let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at home against Werder Bremen.
Dortmund’s chances took an early hit when center-back Nico Schlotterbeck was red carded for a last-man foul after 21 minutes.
The hosts were dangerous despite the disadvantage and took the lead seven minutes later when Julian Brandt found Serhou Guirassy who headed in his eighth league goal of the season.
Dortmund looked in charge when Guirassy’s 51st-minute cross was turned into his own net by Bremen defender Marco Friedl, but Bremen levelled things up with two goals in eight minutes.
Former Dortmund midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt unleashed a rocket from outside the box before Marvin Ducksch caught the hosts napping, running in behind and scoring to level things up.
Elsewhere, Mainz continued their impressive run this season, beating Stuttgart 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Nelson Weiper and Anthony Caci.
Relegation candidates last campaign, Mainz’s win sends them sixth, one point behind Stuttgart and Leipzig and in contention for a Champions League place.
A stoppage time goal from Keven Schlotterbeck took Augsburg to a 2-1 home win over Heidenheim.
In Saturday’s late game, Borussia Moenchengladbach host last-placed Bochum.
