Bundesliga title battle continues as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund ease to wins
By Andy Hampson, PA
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund continued their battle for the Bundesliga title with convincing wins over Schalke and Borussia Monchengladbach respectively on Saturday.
Leaders Bayern, who hold a one-point lead at the top, remain the favourites after thrashing Schalke 6-0 at the Allianz Arena with Serge Gnabry grabbing two of their goals.
Thomas Muller, Joshua Kimmich, Mathys Tel and Noussair Mazraoui also got on the scoresheet for the Bavarians.
— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) May 13, 2023
Dortmund kept up the fight with a 5-2 home hammering of Monchengladbach.
Donyell Malen pounced to put them ahead before Jude Bellingham added a penalty and Sebastian Haller struck twice. Gio Reyna wrapped up the scoring after Gladbach pulled a couple back with a Ramy Bensebaini spot-kick and Lars Stindl effort.
Union Berlin moved into third place with a 4-2 victory over fellow European hopefuls Freiburg.
Paris St Germain, with Lionel Messi back from his recent suspension, took another step towards the Ligue 1 crown with a thumping 5-0 win over Ajaccio.
Kylian Mbappe scored twice after goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi had put PSG in command. The scoring was completed with a Mohamed Youssouf own goal but both sides ended with 10 men after Hakimi and Thomas Mangani were sent off late on.
The victory lifted PSG six points clear of second-placed Lens with three games remaining.
Full time.#SpeziaMilan #SempreMilan@Acqua_Lete pic.twitter.com/uIZV2LCHPJ
— AC Milan (@acmilan) May 13, 2023
In Italy, AC Milan’s hopes of a top-four spot suffered a blow as they slumped to a 2-0 loss at relegation-threatened Spezia.
Both goals came in the closing stages with Przemyslaw Wisniewski opening the scoring after 75 minutes and Salvatore Esposito adding a free-kick 10 minutes later.
The result left Milan in fifth, four points behind fourth-placed Lazio, ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against city rivals Inter, in which they trail 2-0.
Inter, meanwhile, moved up to third with a 4-2 win over Sassuolo.
Romelu Lukaku wrapped up the win with his second goal in the 89th minute after Sassuolo had set up a grandstand finish by cutting the deficit to 3-2 through Matheus Henrique and Davide Frattesi.
Inter had led 3-0 after an hour following Lukaku’s opener, a Ruan own goal and Lautaro Martínez strike.
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 13, 2023
Real Madrid made eight changes for their derby against Getafe but still did enough to claim a 1-0 win that lifted them back to second in LaLiga.
Karim Benzema and Rodrygo were among those to get a night off ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City while Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior came off the bench.
Marco Asencio scored the only goal of what was a comfortable win at the Bernabeu.
Fourth-placed Real Sociedad were held to a 2-2 draw by Girona while Villarreal tightened their grip on fifth with a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
