England: Liverpool slowed down by Tottenham, Chelsea taken over in the last moments
If the point taken against Tottenham is enough for Liverpool to temporarily take the lead ahead of Manchester City, the Citizens could well be the big winners of the day if they win against Newcastle on Sunday.
Both sides have 83 points and only a +64 to +63 goal difference gives the Reds the upper hand. But City could take a three-step lead with three games remaining.
This draw does not help Tottenham either, still fifth and a length behind Arsenal, fourth and last virtual qualifier for the C1, which receives Leeds on Sunday.
Dulled by the excess of energy to beat Villarreal (3-2) in midweek, the Reds stumbled on Tottenham, combative, and who delighted Antonio Conte on the bench.
The two teams had touched wood in the first period, the Reds on a header from Virgil van Dijk (39th) and the Londoners on a strike from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (42nd).
But it was the Spurs who had opened the scoring on a climb from Harry Kane who had shifted Ryan Sessegnon whose low drop had been pushed to the bottom by Son Heug-min (1-1, 59th).
Liverpool found the resources to come back on a deflected shot from Luis Diaz (1-1, 74th), but this point remains a misstep which could spell the end of its quadruple dreams.
Under the eyes of the American businessman Todd Boehly, at the head of a consortium which obtained the green light to buy them from Roman Abramovich for the historic sum of 5 billion euros, the Blues have weakened their chances qualification in C1 by wasting a two-goal advantage.
With 67 points, Chelsea are only 4 behind Arsenal, 4th with 63 points and 6 over Tottenham, 5th with 61 points, but these two clubs have two games less.
The visit of Wolverhampton, who remained on three successive defeats, however seemed a good opportunity to get closer to qualifying for the Champions League.
The afternoon had started very well, with Chelsea being disallowed two goals by VAR before being propelled into the lead by Romelu Lukaku who scored his first two goals of 2022.
He first obtained and transformed a penalty in the 56th (1-0), before resuming without control a service from Pulisic who had recovered a clearance from Conor Coady, countered by a partner, to double the lead two minutes later. (2-0, 58th).
But the Blues were totally liquefied as the match progressed and especially after the reduction of the score of Francisco Trincao (2-1, 79th).
At the end of added time, they ended up cracking, Coady equalizing with a header in the 7th minute of added time.
There remains a trip to Leeds, then the receptions of Leicester and Watford at Chelsea to keep their place in C1 next year, interspersed with an English Cup final against Liverpool in a week.
Spain: Barça takes a big step towards the C1
Destination Champions League! Thanks to a last-second firecracker signed Jordi Alba, FC Barcelona snatched the 2-1 victory over Betis Sevilla on Saturday for the 35th day of La Liga, and thus validated their ticket for the next Champions League.
The young prodigy Ansu Fati opened the scoring as soon as he entered the game in the 76th minute, then Marc Bartra, the former Barça player, equalized by heading a free kick from Nabil Fekir three minutes later (79th). But the veteran Jordi Alba, with a powerful recovery from the left in the 90th + 4, offered the three points and the qualification in C1 to the Catalans.
Thanks to this success, the Blaugranas, 2nd with 60 points, can no longer be joined by Betis, current 5th with 58 points, when there are only three championship days left.
Alba’s goal upset the game, which had slowed down after a frenzied start. It was long believed that Barca’s happy hour would come down to the three minutes that separated Ansu Fati’s goal from Marc Bartra’s equaliser.
For his second game since returning from a hamstring injury, Ansu Fati, who replaced Ferran Torres on the left wing, set the sights in the space of 76 seconds, adjusting a close side strike to deceive Rui Silva, thus scoring his first La Liga goal since November 6 at Celta Vigo (3-3).
Despite the defeat, the Andalusians still dream of C1: Nabil Fekir’s teammates are only three points behind Atlético Madrid, which receives Real Madrid on Sunday at the Metropolitano, crowned Spanish champions last weekend, for a derby that only matters to the Colchoneros.
Germany: Dortmund wins, Diaby scores with Leverkusen
Borussia finished on the second step of the podium behind the Munich “Rekordmeister” for the sixth time in ten years. A double from his international striker Julian Brandt allowed him to win 3-1 on the lawn of the last Fürth, already relegated to the second division.
Felix Passlack scored the third goal for the Yellow and Black.
Leverkusen also secured their third place definitively, winning 4-2 a game that was badly started at Hoffenheim.
Led twice, Bayer owed their happiness to their infernal duo Moussa Diaby / Patrick Schick, the little French will-o’-the-wisp who blasted defenses and the ruthless Czech center-forward.
Schick scored twice (1-1, 34th and 3-2, 76th) and an assist for Moussa Diaby (2-2, 73rd), who had himself offered the first goal to his teammate.
Schick takes his tally of goals to 24 this season in the league, second in the gunners’ standings behind Robert Lewandowski (34 goals for Bayern). Diaby managed 13 goals and as many assists.
Argentinian international Lucas Alario scored the 4-2 goal late in the game (90th + 1).
Italy: Naples solid 3rd
Naples won Saturday on the ground of Torino (1-0) a victory which mathematically keeps alive its slim chances of title and above all allows it to consolidate its third place in front of Juventus (4th), beaten Friday during the 36th day.
In theory, Napoli are not definitively excluded from the battle for the scudetto with five points behind Inter Milan, winner of Empoli on Friday (4-2), and four on AC Milan, away Sunday at Hellas Verona.
But Lorenzo Insigne and his teammates, long neck and neck with the two Milanese clubs, no longer really harbor hope since their defeat at Empoli (3-2) at the end of April. They nevertheless make it a point of honor to finish their captain’s last Italian season well, as evidenced by their victory in Turin (1-0) a week after that against Sassuolo (6-1).
In a match without great rhythm, Insigne missed the opportunity to score one of his last goals in Italy before joining Toronto and the North American championship by missing a penalty, well diverted by the Piedmontese goalkeeper Etrit Berisha (61st) .
And it was midfielder Fabian Ruiz who turned into a scorer by going to score after recovering a ball (73rd).
Napoli (3rd), who were already guaranteed to play in the Champions League next year, increased their lead to four points over Juventus (4th), after the defeat of the Bianconeri at Genoa (2-1) on Friday.
“We have achieved the goal of playing the Champions League, this team has not played for two years. I think we had a good season despite everything, ”commented Fabian Ruiz on DAZN.
“We hope that this season will be the basis for doing more good things next year,” added the Spaniard.