European Round-Up | 10-12 March

Bundesliga

• Biggest win (scoreline): Bayern Munich 5-3 FC Augsburg
• Shock result: FC Schalke 04 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
• Star Performance: Erhan Mašović (VfL Bochum) – 1 goal, 12 clearances, and 4 blocks vs 1.FC Köln

Borussia Dortmund’s traditional frailty once again reared its ugly head at the weekend in the Ruhr derby against bitter rivals Schalke at the Veltins Arena, with the home side fighting to an inspired 2-2 draw in front of home support, pouncing on a wounded Dortmund outfit who were ousted from the Champions League thanks to Chelsea.

Three things we learned from the 100th Revierderby

– Borussia Dortmund lacked Julian Brandt & Marco Reus’ creativity
– Schalke have the quality to stay up
– BVB’s substitutions proved ineffective

✍️ by @jackmeenan15. https://t.co/heHZVtXPja

— Get German Football News (@GGFN_) March 11, 2023

That set the tone for other results across the Bundesliga to have an increased impact on both the title race as well as the scrap for the top four thanks to a high-scoring affair that saw Bayern Munich climb two points ahead of Dortmund after a 5-3 win over fellow Bavarians Augsburg.

RB Leipzig also returned to winning ways thanks to a second-half blitz which ended in a 3-0 win over visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach, while SC Freiburg pulled level on points with RBL and foundering Union Berlin – winless in their last five after a 1-1 draw at Wolfsburg – after Christian Streich’s outfit dispatched a Hoffenheim side in free fall, who now shockingly sit bottom of the table.

Both Bochum and Bayer Leverkusen also secured wins at the weekend – the only away sides to manage that feat – with 2-0 and 3-2 scorelines over Köln and Werder Bremen respectively.

• Top Six: Bayern (52), Dortmund (50), RB Leipzig (45), Union Berlin (45), Freiburg (45), Eintracht Frankfurt (40)
• Bottom Three: Stuttgart (20), Schalke (20), Hoffenheim (19)

La Liga

• Biggest win (scoreline): Real Madrid 3-1 Espanyol
• Shock result: Valencia 1-0 Osasuna
• Star Performance: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo) – two goals vs Rayo Vallecano

There was no change at the top of the La Liga table at the weekend after Barcelona and Real Madrid secured maximum points against Athletic Club and Espanyol respectively, with Atlético Madrid coming into their Monday night fixture needing a result after Real Sociedad’s draw with Mallorca now sees both clubs sitting level on points.

Real Betis failed to close the gap to the top four further after a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Villarreal to close out the results for the top six across the weekend as only three other sides managed to take home all three points.

Players with the most games with Celta Vigo in La Liga history:

300 – Hugo Mallo
293 – Iago Aspas
235 – Aleksandr Mostovoi

— Get Spanish Football News (@GSpanishFN) March 7, 2023

As things stand, Barcelona remains odds-on favorites to win the league in Xavi’s first full season in charge at the Spotify Camp Nou, but with just thirteen points separating 6th from 19th, there are plenty of stories still to come.

• Top Six: Barcelona (65), Real Madrid (56), Atlético Madrid (45), Real Sociedad (45), Real Betis (42), Villarreal (38)
• Bottom Three: Getafe (26), Almería (25), Elche (13)

Ligue 1

• Biggest win (scoreline): Clermont Foot 0-4 RC Lens
• Shock result: AS Monaco 0-1 Stade de Reims
• Star Performance: Loïs Openda (RC Lens) – three goals & 1 assist vs Clermont Foot

The away sides had much to say at the weekend across play in the top flight of French football, with five traveling outfits returning home with three points added to the table, with a big 4-0 win by Champions League-motivated Lens on the back of a near-perfect outing by Belgian international Loïs Openda one of the talking points.

FT: Monaco 0-1 Reims

Will Still still unbeaten 🫡 pic.twitter.com/iL0Ee2b2i9

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 12, 2023

PSG, Toulouse, and Montpellier also secured wins, with the French champions extending their lead at the top of the table to ten points thanks to Marseille’s home draw against Strasbourg on Sunday. But perhaps the biggest story of the weekend once again comes from young manager Will Still and his growing Reims outfit thanks to a shock 1-0 win at Monaco. That result has seen Still push Reims from 18th to 8th in the table since he took the reins in the northeast of France, extending their unbeaten run in the league to 19 matches (9-10-0) dating back to 10 October.

Lille and Lyon battled to a 3-3 draw to open weekend play on Friday night in what was perhaps the most entertaining tie of the matchday, and with seven points now separating fifth from tenth, the race for the remaining European places looks to heat up as the back end of the 2022-23 Ligue 1 season approaches.

• Top Six: PSG (66), Marseille (56), Lens (54), Monaco (51), Rennes (47), Lille (46)
• Bottom Four: Auxerre (23), Ajaccio (21), Troyes (20), Angers (10)

Serie A

• Biggest win (scoreline): AS Roma 3-4 Sassuolo
• Shock result: Spezia 2-1 Inter Milan
• Star Performance: Armand Laurienté (Sassuolo) – two goals & 1 assist vs AS Roma

A pair of shock results dominated the Serie A landscape this weekend as giant duo Inter Milan and AS Roma suffered frustrating defeats away at Spezia and in front of home support against Sassuolo respectively. Inter will be the more frustrated of the two on account of the 2-1 loss in the port city, which now sees the club 18-points adrift of runaway outfit Napoli after their 2-0 win at home against neutral favorite Atalanta.

Armand Laurienté has already contributed to over 10 goals in Serie A and he is an example of how Sassuolo are great at identifying talents 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/a63TFt9EZl

— Get Italian Football News (@_GIFN) March 13, 2023

Napoli was the only top-six side to see three points come their way at the weekend, with Lazio scrapping to a 0-0 draw in Bologna and AC Milan set for a Monday night evening clash with Salernitana at the house that Meazza built.

Juventus, Udinese, Fiorentina, and Torino were the other weekend winners after respective results against Empoli, Lecce, and Cremonese, but most impressively, the Old Lady continues to climb up the table despite the points deduction suffered earlier in the year and are now just four points outside of the top six. As things stand, baring catastrophe, Napoli will top Serie A for the first time since the Diego Maradona era in southern Italy while the mid-table scrap looks set to remain hotly contested.

• Top Six: Napoli (68), Inter Milan (50), Lazio (49), AC Milan (47), AS Roma (47), Atalanta (42)
• Bottom Three: Verona (19), Cremonese (12), Sampdoria (12)