It’s another weekend of European football and, as we edge closer and closer to the end of the season, a number of clubs have one hand on some silverware. We start our Saturday in Spain as Real Madrid got their win over Mallorca which sees them edge closer to another LaLiga title, while Barcelona defeated Cadiz to put them in good form before their UEFA Champions League return leg against PSG midweek.
In Germany, Bayern Munich delayed the early celebration of Bayer Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga with their win over Cologne and over in Wales, it was party time as Wrexham secured another promotion, this time to League One.
Let’s get into the action.
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SATURDAY REVIEW
The lead: Madrid’s narrow Mallorca win edges them closer to LaLiga title
Real Madrid’s trip to Mallorca in LaLiga was always going to be an awkward test, squeezed in the middle of a Champions League quarterfinal, and facing a team in need of points at the bottom of the table. And so it proved, with Aurélien Tchouaméni‘s long-range strike — which appeared to take a significant deflection — the difference between the two teams, giving Madrid a valuable 1-0 win and another step towards clinching the league title.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to make five changes, benching Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, and Dani Carvajal, was understandable given the context of the Manchester City tie. But the result was a disjointed first-half performance which saw Madrid create just one half chance when Jude Bellingham‘s curling shot hit the bar.
In the second half, things improved. Tchouaméni put Madrid ahead in the 48th minute, and the team’s attacking threat increased after an hour when Ancelotti introduced Camavinga and Vinicius. The Brazil forward immediately went close to scoring twice himself, before more quick footwork set up Federico Valverde, who rounded goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic before his shot was somehow blocked on the line.
At the other end, keeper Andriy Lunin had to save at full stretch from Sergi Darder to maintain Madrid’s lead. There were a few minutes for back-from-injury Éder Militão, too, introduced as a late substitute in added time, although not enough to suggest that the centre-back is in contention for a starting spot against City on Wednesday.
Ultimately, a win was all that Madrid needed, in what was never going to be a straightforward game against a Mallorca side stung by their penalty shootout defeat in last weekend’s Copa del Rey final. Thanks to Tchouameni and a stroke of luck, they got it. — Alex Kirkland
Saturday talking points around the leagues
Barca’s win over Cadiz puts them in good form before PSG return leg
João Félix‘s brilliant bicycle kick earned Barcelona a 1-0 win against Cádiz at the Nuevo Mirandilla on Saturday as they remained eight points behind LaLiga leaders Real Madrid ahead of next Sunday’s Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Félix scored the only goal of the game in the 37th minute, finishing acrobatically from a corner to take his tally to 10 goals in all competitions this season.
The Portuguese winger also hit the post in the second half — although the flag belatedly went up for offside — and was responsible for some of Barça’s best moments in an otherwise unremarkable game.
He hopes his performance will earn him a place in the team for Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Paris Saint-Germain at the Olympic Stadium, which Barça go into with a 3-2 advantage.
However, the fact he started here suggests he may have to settle for a place on the bench, with wingers Lamine Yamal and Raphinha two of eight players to drop out of the side that won in Paris as coach Xavi Hernández rung the changes.
Despite those rotations, Barça got the job done against Cádiz, who remain in the bottom three, to extend their unbeaten streak in all competitions to 13 matches.
As well as Félix, Barça also had goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen to thank for the points against Cádiz. The German goalkeeper made a superb save from Diadie Samassékou in the second half to extend his team’s run of clean sheets in the league to six matches.
Barça’s upturn in form may have come too late to challenge in LaLiga. They remain eight points adrift of Madrid after their victory at Mallorca and a failure to win next weekend’s Clásico will likely end their slim title hopes.
That makes Tuesday’s game against PSG so big as Barça target their first Champions League semifinal since 2019. — Sam Marsden
Bayern delay Leverkusen’s Bundesliga triumph as they beat Cologne in convincing fashion
With their backs against the wall, Bayern Munich delivered a mature performance against Cologne, beating the relegation-threatened side 2-0 thanks to goals by Raphaël Guerreiro and Thomas Müller. Bayern, therefore, delayed the almost inevitable Bundesliga win by Bayer Leverkusen. The Xabi Alonso-led team play Werder Bremen on Sunday and have the chance to secure their maiden championship with a win at BayArena.
Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel, who was not allowed to coach from the sideline due to a suspension, decided to make several personnel changes for the game against Cologne, as he seemingly intended to rest some players in anticipation of the second leg of Bayern’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie with Arsenal in a few days.
Still, the record German champions did not want to fumble yet another league game, leaving Cologne as little room to breathe as possible during most of the game. As seen so often this season, Cologne were primarily hoping for opportunities to hit their opponents on the break, with fast-paced striker Sargis Adamyan being positioned near the offside line throughout most of the first hour. The 30-year-old Armenian had two chances to hurt Bayern early on but could not convert.
From there on, Bayern took over completely, waiting patiently for Cologne’s defense to commit more and more mistakes. Guerreiro scored the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute after a Joshua Kimmich corner kick, while Müller cleared up any remaining doubts during stoppage time, capitalizing from a miscue between Jacob Christensen and Luca Waldschmidt. Bayern would have needed a solid performance like the one on Saturday much more often throughout the season, though Cologne are clearly a below-average team at the moment.
While Cologne are looking towards a future in 2. Bundesliga, their local rivals Bayer Leverkusen are on the verge of the biggest success in the club’s long history. It all comes down to their game against Bremen on Sunday. — Constantin Eckner
Americans abroad: Reyna impresses in first Forest start
It took a while to happen but Gio Reyna finally was able to get his first start for Nottingham Forest, the club he is on loan at Borussia Dortmund. Despite playing eight matches for the Tricky Trees this season, the USMNT attacker was unable to get a start until Saturday against Wolves and did not disappoint manager Nuno Espírito Santo as he was able to get an assist from a corner kick to allow Morgan Gibbs-White to score an equalizer in what ultimately ended in a 2-2 draw for the hosts.
Forest will take every point they can get at this stage. With five games to go until the end of the season, Reyna and Co. sit just one point above relegation zone, with Luton Town currently occupying the last spot with five games to go until the end of the season.
Things you love to see 🤩@USMNT‘s Gio Reyna registered an assist in his first PL start for @NFFC! 🎁🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HV95Lq7JHK
— Premier League USA (@PLinUSA) April 13, 2024
Meanwhile, in Italy, Weston McKennie was unable to provide any spark to Juventus in their scoreless Derby della Mole match against Torino as they continue to be in pole position to qualify for the Champions League next season. Finally in the Netherlands, both Sergiño Dest and Malik Tillman started to help PSV defeat Vitesse 6-0 as they pushed closer and closer to the finish line to an Eredivisie title, which was also buoyed by Tillman scoring the second goal for Peter Bosz’s side. — Roberto Rojas
News of the day
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Manchester City provisionally climbed to the top of the Premier League table after defeating Luton Town 5-1 which also saw Erling Haaland score his 20th league goal of the season. Pep Guardiola’s side now have 73 points with six games as a three-way title race continues with them being two points ahead of both Arsenal and Liverpool, who can climb over City with victories in their respective games on Sunday. Relegation-threatened Luton Town are 18th, a point away from safety.
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Drama occurred in Germany after Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer was denied a hat trick on Saturday when his penalty kick against Borussia Monchengladbach was canceled by the video assistant referee (VAR) after he had scored from it. It was later revealed that the referee Florian Badstübner deemed that Omlin touched the ball before taking out Karim Adeyemi, thus invalidating the penalty. Dortmund went on to win 2-1.
And finally, on Saturday …
League One says “Welcome to Wrexham!” The Welsh club co-owned by Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have officially earned promotion to English football’s third tier for the first time since 2005 after they defeated Forest Green Rovers 6-0 with two games to spare in the EFL League Two season.
Though they can technically still win the League Two title over the team above them (and who they still have to play) in Stockport County, Wrexham continues their quest to achieve their goal of moving up the English football pyramid and eventually up to the promised land that is the Premier League.
A few years ago, if you told me I would be crying tears of joy over a football match taking place in North Wales, you would be Rob McElhenney. Congrats to Wrexham and to my co-chairman in crime. Double up the town! This is the ride of our lives. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 https://t.co/gP6Oh2NNl4
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) April 13, 2024
Nevertheless, both Reynolds and McElhenney can feel a sense of pride towards the Welsh club and they took to social media to express that.
With back-to-back promotions from the National League to League Two to now League One, another back-to-back promotion could potentially mean Wrexham playing in the Premier League in 2026. A long way to go of course, but the dream remains intact. – Rojas