Barcelona combat again to win at Elche as revival beneath Xavi Hernandez continues – European round-up

Barcelona fought again to earn a 2-1 win at Elche on Sunday as a late penalty from Memphis Depay ensured they continued their revival after a tough begin to the season.

​​​​Having fallen as little as ninth again in November, when former coach Ronald Koeman was sacked, Xavi Hernandez’s revitalised Barca have climbed into La Liga’s prime three with 48 factors, leapfrogging Actual Betis in third place.

Mid-table Elche opened the scoring proper earlier than half-time when Pedri tried to clear the ball however gifted an ideal help to Fidel Chavez, who out-ran Dani Alves and scored with an angled shot simply inside the correct submit.

Ferran Torres scored the equaliser within the 61st minute after nice play from Ousmane Dembele down the correct flank. His cross was deflected by Jordi Alba and the previous Manchester Metropolis ahead, in the correct place on the proper time, turned it dwelling from shut vary.

Barca’s winner got here after the video assistant referee noticed a handball from an Elche defender inside the realm and Depay rifled his penalty into the top-left nook.

In the meantime, Joao Felix scored twice as he helped Atletico Madrid earn a 3-1 win at Actual Betis, guaranteeing they leapfrogged their rivals into fourth place within the standings.

Atletico are tied on 48 factors with third-placed Barcelona, who received 2-1 at Elche, though the Catalans have a sport in hand. Each groups path leaders Actual Madrid by 15 factors.

Betis, who began the weekend in third place, dropped beneath Barca and Atletico to fifth place with 46 factors from 27 video games.

Felix opened the scoring within the first minute with a close-range strike from an Angel Correa cross.

Betis equalised simply earlier than the break when Cristian Tello fired dwelling an angled shot from the sting of the field.

Atletico dominated following the break. Felix scored his second after Marcos Llorente led a fast counter-attack earlier than crossing to the Portuguese, who made the ultimate contact from contained in the field.

Substitute Antoine Griezmann, who’s slowly working his manner again from damage, offered the cross that allowed Thomas Lemar to finish the 3-1 victory within the eightieth minute.

Elsewhere, relegation-threatened Cadiz boosted their survival probabilities with a 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano to maneuver inside one level of Seventeenth-placed Granada.

Serie A: Giroud aim sends Milan again to summit

Olivier Giroud’s second-half aim despatched AC Milan again to the highest of Serie A as they battled to a 1-0 win away at Napoli on Sunday.

Victory implies that Stefano Pioli’s table-toppers now have 60 factors, two forward of metropolis rivals and reigning champions Inter – who’ve performed a sport fewer – and three greater than Napoli in third.

Probabilities had been few and much between in a nervous encounter, with the hosts solely managing two pictures on track all through the 90 minutes on the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

After a low-key first half by which neither facet actually threatened, Giroud netted the one aim of the sport as he turned in Davide Calabria’s cross-shot 4 minutes after the break.

Adam Ounas curled one broad for Napoli and Hirving Lozano dragged an effort broad late on as they tried in useless to seek out an equaliser.

Theo Hernandez and Alexis Saelemaekers had been denied by sensible saves from Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina on the counter within the closing levels as they sought to seal the victory.

In the meantime, a first-half aim from Alvaro Morata was sufficient to offer Juventus a 1-0 victory at dwelling to Spezia in Serie A as they tightened their grip on a Champions League spot.

The hosts, who went shut on the quarter-hour mark by midfielder Arthur Melo, took the lead after 21 minutes when the Brazilian latched on to a poor clearance from Spezia goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, selecting out Manuel Locatelli on the sting of the field earlier than the Italian fed Morata, who netted his first league aim since December.

Emmanuel Gyasi and Kevin Agudelo had been each denied by Wojciech Szczesny from shut vary after the break as Spezia sought a manner again into issues.

Morata, in the meantime, missed a gilt-edged probability to seal the victory in stoppage time on the finish of the sport as Juventus held on to safe the win.

Juve transfer onto 53 factors within the fourth and ultimate Champions League spot, the place they sit six factors above fifth-placed Atalanta, who’ve performed a sport fewer.

Fiorentina had been made to rue a number of missed alternatives as they had been held to a 1-1 draw at dwelling to Hellas Verona.

Solely two factors separated the 2 groups, who had been each determined for a win to shut in on the European locations.

Krzysztof Piatek fired Fiorentina forward within the tenth minute, however Gianluca Caprari equalized from the penalty spot for Verona 10 minutes later.

On the different finish of the desk, Genoa drew 0-0 in opposition to Empoli to maneuver inside seven factors of security. Venezia additionally remained within the backside three as they misplaced 4-1 at dwelling to Sassuolo. Torino drew 0-0 at Bologna.

Bundesliga: Hoffenheim go fourth with win over Cologne

Stefan Posch scored the one aim as Hoffenheim beat Cologne 1-0, amid a number of missed probabilities by each groups, to maneuver as much as fourth within the Bundesliga, the final place for Champions League qualification.

Posch’s second-half aim was sufficient for the guests to stretch their successful run to 4 video games and transfer two factors away from Leipzig and Freiburg after their 1-1 draw on Saturday. 9 rounds of fixtures stay.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine once more featured prominently within the Bundesliga. Cologne gamers wore jerseys with ‘Cease Battle’ written on the entrance.

John Lennon’s ‘Think about’ was performed across the stadium earlier than gamers and followers noticed a minute’s silence in solidarity with the victims.

Hoffenheim ahead Ihlas Bebou missed a number of good alternatives to attain, whereas Anthony Modeste missed the house staff’s finest probability of the primary half when he fired over with solely the goalkeeper to beat.

Bebou started the second half with a header in opposition to the submit and Modeste had a aim dominated out for offside earlier than Posch lastly broke the impasse within the 61st minute when he headed in a cross from Germany defender David Raum.

There have been additional missed probabilities for each groups, with Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner hitting the submit when it appeared simpler to attain. Cologne substitute Tim Lemperle headed simply broad in damage time.

The scheduled earlier sport between second-placed Borussia Dortmund and Mainz was postponed on Friday to March 16 as a result of a coronavirus outbreak at dwelling staff Mainz.

Ligue 1: Monaco’s Martins sinks Marseille

Gelson Martins scored a second half winner as Monaco inflicted extra dwelling distress on Marseille with a 1-0 victory of their Ligue 1 encounter on Sunday.

Martins reacted quickest to show the ball in after Kevin Volland’s shot crashed again off the submit. The aim was initially flagged for offside however that call was overturned by the Video Assistant Referee.

Marseille, who’ve received solely 5 of their 14 dwelling matches this season, stay in third place within the desk with 47 factors from 27 video games. They path leaders Paris Saint-Germain by 15 factors and are two behind second-placed Good.

Denis Bouanga scored the one aim as St Etienne climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 dwelling win over Metz, whereas Troyes claimed an important victory of their bid for survival away at backside facet Bordeaux.

Bouanga had a first-half aim dominated out by the Video Assistant Referee for handball, however there was little question about his effort on 52 minutes as a poor clearance landed at his toes and he thumped a shot into the again of the web.

Metz, who’re second-bottom within the desk, thought they’d a penalty within the closing levels as Falaye Sacko dedicated a transparent foul on Farid Boulaya within the field, however referee Jeremy Stinat overturned the choice after an infringement within the build-up was noticed.

Troyes did their possibilities of staying up the world of excellent after a 2-0 win at ailing Bordeaux.

That they had a little bit of luck early on when Mama Balde’s penalty was saved by dwelling goalkeeper Gaetan Poussin, who then knocked the ball into the web together with his trailing leg for an personal aim.

The guests added a second with 5 minutes remaining having been awarded a second spot-kick, this time transformed by South Africa worldwide Lebo Mothiba, who has lately returned from virtually two years on the sidelines with damage.

Rennes moved as much as fourth with a 2-0 victory over Angers, their third win in succession however a sixth straight loss for his or her opponents that has seen them tumble down the desk.

Benjamin Bourigeaud and Gaetan Laborde scored the objectives for Rennes, who are actually a degree off the Champions League qualification locations.

They’ve leapfrogged Strasbourg, who had been held to a 3rd successive draw by Reims. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde put Strasbourg in entrance, however Jens Cajuste equalised for the house facet with six minutes remaining.

Nantes additionally saved their Champions League hopes alive with a 2-0 win at dwelling to Montpellier. Objectives from Randal Kolo Muani and Willem Geubbels sealed the three factors. They climb to sixth, 5 factors behind third-placed Marseille.

Defending champions Lille continued their late push for a European spot by routing 10-man Clermont 4-0 to remain stage on factors with Nantes.