How the title race is shaping up in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 – Firstpost

The weekend saw several title contenders in action across Europe’s top five leagues: the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. Manchester City hosted Arsenal in a crucial match at the top of the table. ranking. Liverpool hosted Brighton. In La Liga, Real Madrid faced a tricky proposition against Athletic Bilbao. Bayern Munich hosted Borussia Dortmund in “Der Klassiker” while trying to keep up with Bayer Leverkusen. AC Milan faced Fiorentina in a bid to close the gap to Inter Milan. Finally, in France, PSG faced Olympique de Marseille in “Le Classique”.

English Premier League

Arsenal’s trip to the Etihad Stadium to face Man City may not have lived up to expectations, but a 0-0 draw leaves a three-way Premier League title race still very tense.

Liverpool are the new league leaders with nine games remaining after recovering from a goal down against Brighton after just 85 seconds to win 2-1. The Reds lead Arsenal by two points and City by three.

Liverpool – 67 points

Jurgen Klopp remains on course for a fairytale end to his tenure at Anfield as Liverpool took advantage of their two title rivals dropping points.

The Reds have the relative comfort of hosting bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United in midweek before their showdown heats up with a visit to Manchester United next weekend.

A local derby at Everton could also prove tricky, as they face Champions League chasing Tottenham and Aston Villa in two of their last three games.

Arsenal-65 points

The Gunners’ eight-game winning run came to an end at the Etihad, but one point was still enough to show the huge progress Mikel Arteta’s men have made over the past 12 months.

A year ago, Arsenal were beaten 4-1 away to City as Arteta’s young side stumbled in the final stretch of the title race after leading for much of the season.

A year later, they seem more mature and have a stronger squad to cope with the pressure of trying to win a first title in 20 years.

Luton should pose little threat to the Emirates on Wednesday, but a tough run of away games await against north London rivals Tottenham, Manchester United, Brighton and Wolves.

Manchester City – 64 points

Man City are aiming to become the first team to win four consecutive English top-flight titles.

After the draw against Arsenal, manager Pep Guardiola admitted that his team were now third favorites as they needed favors from Liverpool and Arsenal in the race.

The reigning champions are coming towards the end of a defining month with fourth-placed Villa traveling to the Etihad on Wednesday.

But if they stay within striking distance, City will be confident of toppling the leaders with a trip to Tottenham on paper, the only tricky game in their last eight.

the league

Real Madrid maintained their 8-point lead at the top of the La Liga table with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao thanks to a brace from Rodrygo Goes. On Saturday, Barcelona put pressure on their historic rivals with a slim but comfortable 1-0 victory over Las Palmas.

With eight matches remaining in the season, Barcelona manager Xavi has vowed to continue fighting to defend their title. “We want and believe we can fight for this. We can put pressure on Real Madrid,” he said before the victory in Las Palmas.

El Clasico, on April 21 at the Bernabeu, could change the momentum of the title race if Barcelona secure a victory. Apart from that, a trip to San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad and a trip to Villarreal seem to be the other two stumbling blocks for Los Blancos.

For Barcelona, ​​the difficult meetings include a visit to Valencia, a short trip to rival Girona, which until January was in the title race. If the season is still at stake, a final day in Seville could be decisive.

Bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen, the only undefeated team this season in Europe’s top five leagues, is heading towards the Bundesliga title. The team led by Xabi Alonso is 13 points clear and needs just three wins to clinch the German title.

A 2-1 win over Hoffenheim put pressure on Bayern Munich on Saturday. The Bavarians, however, gave in and lost 2-0 to Borussia Dortmund – their first home defeat in this match since 2014.

Seven days from the end, the outgoing coach of Bayern Munich, Thomas Tuchel, admitted his defeat and sent “congratulations to Leverkusen”. When asked if the title race was over, Tuchel replied “of course”, saying “it’s obvious, clear”.

series A

With eight games remaining, the Serie A title race appears done and dusted with Inter Milan on the brink of a first title since 2021-22. Inter are 11 points ahead of city rivals AC Milan with a game in hand. They welcome Empoli to continue their progress towards a Scudetto.

On Saturday, AC Milan strengthened their grip on second place with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Fiorentina. Juventus, third and 17 points behind Inter, suffered a defeat against Lazio.

League 1

Paris Saint-Germain are on course to win their 10th Ligue 1 title in 12 seasons after a 2-0 away win against bitter rivals Marseille. Brest are 12 points behind in second place after a 1-0 win at Lorient.

Marseille, undefeated at home this season, have not beaten PSG since November 2011.