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European roundup: Messi's Barcelona prevail, Ronaldo's Juventus held

Ronald Koeman's side ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

Lionel Messi provided a goal and an assist as Barcelona beat Sevilla to move to within two points of the LaLiga summit.

Sevilla welcomed Barca having won their last six league outings but never looked like maintaining that run as Ronald Koeman's side left with a 2-0 win.

Messi teed up Ousmane Dembele for the opener just before the half-hour mark with both sides having goals chalked out for offside.

The Barcelona skipper would then wrap up the victory with a scrappy effort five minutes from the end of a fairly routine afternoon's work.

Bottom club Huesca missed the chance to lift themselves out of the relegation zone as they conceded a late leveller in a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Eibar.

Sandro Ramirez scored for the visitors with less than 10 minutes remaining but they could not hold on as Papakouli Diop secured a share of the spoils for Eibar.

Alaves remain just a point above the bottom three after losing 1-0 at home to Osasuna, with Kike Barja grabbing the only goal of the game.

Getafe eased to a 3-0 victory over 10-man Valencia in the late game as Mauro Arambarri scored before Mouctar Diakhaby was sent off early in the second-half, Jaime Mata and Carles Aleana then extending the advantage.

The top three in the Bundesliga all recorded victories as Bayern Munich stay top of the pile following a 5-1 thrashing of Cologne.

Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both bagged a brace after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting had put Bayern ahead.

Serge Gnabry scored two late goals in Bayern Munich's thrashing of Cologne.
Serge Gnabry scored two late goals in Bayern Munich's thrashing of Cologne (Andreas Schaad/AP)

Ellyes Skhiri had pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 but a second for Lewandowski and Gnabry's late double made sure of a comfortable afternoon for the champions.

RB Leipzig remain two points adrift in second spot after coming from two goals down to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2.

The visitors stormed into the lead as a Jonas Hofmann penalty and a Marcus Thuram effort had them in charge at the interval – only for Christopher Nkunku and Yussuf Poulsen to level things up before Alexander Sorloth struck in stoppage time to complete a sensational comeback.

Wolfsburg are five points further back but stayed in touch with a 2-0 home win over Hertha Berlin as a Lukas Klunter own goal and a late Maxence Lacroix effort proved enough for the hosts who had Marin Pongracic sent off in the dying stages.

England international Jadon Sancho matched Messi's efforts as he chalked up a goal and assist in Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 win over Bielfeld.

Sancho picked up his 50th Bundesliga assist as he squared for Mahmoud Dahoud to open the scoring before converting from the penalty spot after Marco Reus had been fouled with Reinier Jesus going on to add the gloss late on.

Stuttgart also enjoyed a big win over rock bottom Schalke with Wataru Endo hitting two in a 5-1 romp.

Endo set the hosts on their way with Sasa Kalajdzic extending the lead before Arsenal loanee Sead Kolasinac pulled one back.

But Stuttgart would pull clear as late goals from Philipp Klement and Daniel Didavi emphasised Schalke's struggles.

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal was not enough for Juventus to beat Verona in Serie A.
Cristiano Ronaldo's goal was not enough for Juventus to beat Verona in Serie A (Paola Garbuio/PA)

Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Juventus as they were held to a 1-1 draw against Verona.

The reigning Serie A champions are seven points behind leaders Inter Milan following the stalemate as Ronaldo's effort just after the interval was cancelled out by Antonin Barak's strike.

Lazio spurned the opportunity to move into the top four as they lost 2-0 at Bologna who claimed the points courtesy of goals from Ibrahima Mbaye and Nicola Sansone.

Elsewhere, Emmanuel Gyasi hit a brace as Spezia came from two down to draw 2-2 at home with Parma.

The visitors could have moved to within two points of safety as Yann Karamoh and Hernani Junior had them on course for just a third win of the campaign before Gyasi struck.

Kylian Mbappe grabbed two more goals as Paris St Germain thrashed bottom side Dijon to move to within a point of Ligue 1 leaders Lille.

Everton loanee Moise Kean opened the scoring early on before Mbappe converted a penalty and bent home a decent effort with Danilo heading in to give Mauricio Pochettino's side a 4-0 win.

Metz moved to fifth as Vagner Goncalves hit a last-gasp winner in a 2-1 comeback victory at Bordeaux, who had taken the lead through Samuel Kalu before Thomas Delaine levelled.

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Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo pictured in February 2021
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Saturday's Serie A predictions including Hellas Verona vs. Juventus
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona17122350193138
2Real Madrid16113234132136
3Atletico MadridAtletico16105130111935
4Athletic Bilbao1795326151132
5Villarreal157532725226
6Real Sociedad167361611524
7Osasuna166642225-324
8Mallorca177371620-424
9GironaGirona166462223-122
10Celta Vigo166372527-221
11Real BetisBetis165651820-221
12Rayo Vallecano155461516-119
13Sevilla165471723-619
14Las PalmasLas Palmas165382227-518
15Getafe163761113-216
16AlavesAlaves164391827-915
17Leganes163671423-915
18Espanyol1541101528-1313
19Valencia142481322-910
20Real ValladolidValladolid1623111134-239


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