TEENAGE STAR LAMINE Yamal’s superbly taken goal earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in La Liga.
The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo on Friday.
Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad.
Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium.
“We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca midfielder Pedri told Movistar.
“He’s very young, and he’s only going to get better.
“What he has to do is not settle, to keep going like this, keep working and enjoying himself out there on the pitch, because he gives us a lot.”
Barca coach Hansi Flick rotated his side, with Tuesday’s visit to face Newcastle in the Champions League last 16 looming.
As a result, his team put in a disjointed first-half display, creating little and looking far from their free-flowing best.
“Everyone was fighting, defending as a unit, and we have a clean sheet agai,n and that’s really important,” Flick told reporters, focusing on the positives.
“One game less and three points more, it’s a perfect situation.”
Barca’s Ferran Torres floundered up front, bereft of form, and Athletic had the marginally better openings of a forgettable first half.
Joao Cancelo hit the frame of his own goal early on, and Selton Sanchez ran through on goal, but Barcelona stopper Joan Garcia got down well to dispossess him.
Inaki Williams had a strike ruled out for offside, and Garcia thwarted Oihan Sancet early in the second half, in a rare clear opening as the two Copa del Rey semi-final losing sides continued to tussle fruitlessly.
Barcelona’s teenage star Yamal had an unusually quiet first hour but escaped Athletic defender Adama Boiro’s close attentions to break the deadlock.
Substitute Pedri found Yamal, and as Boiro slipped, the youngster whipped the ball into the top corner off the post for his 19th goal of the season across all competitions.
“I think he didn’t have his best game today, but you can see how important he is,” said Flick.
“He can decide the games, and when he has the space, he’s able to score. It’s good to have him on this level so that he can decide, in one situation, the match.”
- Dress rehearsal -
Nicolas Gonzalez netted twice as Diego Simeone’s Atletico overcame Real Sociedad to move three points clear of fourth-place Villarreal, who host Elche on Sunday.
It was only the second defeat for Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo in 14 matches at the helm, with the Basque side rising to eighth since the American’s arrival.
Both sides sealed passage to the Copa del Rey final this week, with this match a dress rehearsal for the showdown in Seville in April.
“It had been a while since I’d scored, so it’s good I could do it today in this stadium with these fans,” Gonzalez told Movistar.
“We’re showing in every game what we want and what we’re capable of.”
Alexander Sorloth continued his good form by sending Atletico ahead, but Carlos Soler pulled La Real level in the first half.
Atletico substitute Antoine Griezmann set up Gonzalez’s first goal with a tidy backheel as the hosts took the lead again.
Real Sociedad immediately equalised, with Mikel Oyarzabal smashing in from the edge of the box.
Gonzalez won it for Simeone’s side, leaping high to nod home Matteo Ruggieri’s curling cross.
“I’m really happy for Nico… he got injured in December and hasn’t been able to find his form since,” said Simeone.
“I hope he keeps it up, because we need everything he has to offer.”
Argentina international Gonzalez was coached by Matarazzo at Stuttgart, and the pair shared a laugh at the end of the game — they will meet again in April with a trophy on the line.
“We hate to lose, and the performance was not our best,” said Matarazzo.
“There are six weeks (before the final) with different players on the pitch… things will be different.”
Lucas Da Cunha of Como 1907. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
In Italy, captain Lucas Da Cunha scored a brilliant second-half winner as Como won 2-1 at Cagliari on Saturday to move level on points with fourth-placed Roma in Serie A, as Juventus ended their four-match league winless streak.
A third straight league victory for Cesc Fabregas’s side keeps the pressure on Roma, who visit Genoa on Sunday, in the fight for Champions League qualification.
Como, who have never played in a European competition, will then host the capital club next weekend.
Sixth-placed Juventus stayed just one point behind that pair with an impressive 4-0 home victory over Pisa.
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“I liked the way the lads reacted today, as this performance proves what the team is made of, they have a great mentality that is growing game by game,” Fabregas, whose Como side drew 0-0 with Serie A leaders Inter Milan in their Italian Cup semi-final first leg in midweek, told DAZN.
“We were all exhausted today. There were so many matches in a row, we were so tired.
“That is why this is the win I am most satisfied with this season. It is genuinely a major step forward for the team.”
Como took an early lead at Cagliari when Martin Baturina turned in Da Cunha’s mishit shot, but the home side levelled 11 minutes after half-time through Sebastiano Esposito.
The visitors secured all three points, though, in the 76th minute, as Frenchman Da Cunha hammered a long-range strike into the top corner.
Juve ended their wait for a first league win since 1 February by seeing off Pisa with four second-half goals.
Andrea Cambiaso nodded in Kenan Yildiz’s dinked cross from close range nine minutes after the interval before Juve doubled their lead in the 65th minute.
Bottom club Pisa gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, Manuel Locatelli drilled a shot off the post, and Khephren Thuram slotted in the rebound for his first goal since September.
Yildiz fired in his 10th goal of the campaign with a quarter of an hour left, before Jeremie Boga rounded off the scoring in added time.
Seventh-placed Atalanta’s European hopes suffered a blow despite fighting back to grab a 2-2 home draw with Udinese.
Raffaele Palladino’s men, who host Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg next week, are now five points behind Roma and Como.
Thomas Kristensen and Keinan Davis scored in either half to put Udinese in control.
But Gianluca Scamacca’s header with 15 minutes to play halved the deficit, and the Italy striker pounced on a rebound to level four minutes later.
In Germany, goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier took Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 win at Cologne on Saturday, tightening their grip on Champions League qualification.
Dortmund’s 3-2 home loss to Bayern Munich last week all but ended their slim Bundesliga title hopes.
But Saturday’s win took second-placed Dortmund eight points clear of fifth-placed RB Leipzig.
Beier teed up Guirassy in the 16th minute, floating a ball over the Cologne defence for the Guinean to score his 12th Bundesliga goal this season.
The hosts’ hopes of fighting their way back dimmed just before half-time when Jahmai Simpson-Pusey planted his studs in Beier’s heel, and referee Daniel Siebert upgraded his yellow card to red after a VAR review.
Beier was in the thick of things again when he swept home on the hour mark. Jakub Kaminski scored a late consolation for the hosts, but Dortmund held on for their first league victory since mid-February.
Dortmund manager Niko Kovac cut a frustrated figure after full-time, telling Sky Germany: “We won a game today in which we didn’t play well — and the coach has every right to be angry.”
Kovac confirmed media reports that midfielder Julian Brandt, who set up Beier’s goal, would leave the club after seven seasons at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Bayer Leverkusen came from behind twice but gave up the lead late in a wild 3-3 draw at Freiburg, days out from their Champions League clash with Arsenal.
Leverkusen host the Premier League leaders on Wednesday in the first leg of their last-16 tie, but Saturday’s result left them in sixth and may hurt their chances of reaching next year’s competition.
“We’re more than a little disappointed,” Leverkusen coach Robert Andrich told Sky Germany.
“Starting Sunday, we’ll be focused on Arsenal, but we still need a lot of points in the Bundesliga to get back into the Champions League.”
Freiburg twice went ahead thanks to goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Yuito Suzuki but Leverkusen twice equalised through Christian Kofane and another superb free-kick from Alejandro Grimaldo.
Martin Terrier’s goal had the visitors on track for victory, but Matthias Ginter struck with four minutes remaining to level things up.
- Leipzig leave it late -
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig forced Augsburg’s Arthur Chaves into a stoppage-time own goal in a comeback 2-1 home win.
Robin Fellhauer gave Augsburg the lead after teammate Keven Schlotterbeck missed a penalty, but Yan Diomande pulled one back for the hosts before Chaves scuffed a David Raum cross into his own net.
Leipzig’s win took them to fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Stuttgart, who drew 2-2 at lowly Mainz.
Stuttgart fell behind to a Lee Jae-sung strike but looked to have turned the match with goals to Ermedin Demirovic and Deniz Undav inside 61 seconds, before Danny da Costa nabbed a late equaliser for the hosts.
“We fought hard for 90 minutes. When we fight back to take the lead, we need to take the three points,” a disappointed Demirovic told Sky.
Hoffenheim took a step towards a second Champions League qualification with a 4-2 win at last-placed Heidenheim to stay in third.
Alexander Prass bagged a first-half brace, and Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle scored for the visitors, while Luca Kerber scored a double for Heidenheim.
Elsewhere, Hamburg came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Wolfsburg, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.
Frustrated home fans threw flaming scarves onto the pitch after the defeat, which pushes second-last Wolfsburg, who were German champions in 2009, closer to a first relegation from the top flight since being promoted in 1997.
18-year-old Yamal's class seals Barca's narrow win at Athletic Bilbao
Spanish La Liga results on Saturday:
Italian Serie A result on Saturday:
German Bundesliga results on Saturday:
TEENAGE STAR LAMINE Yamal’s superbly taken goal earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in La Liga.
The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo on Friday.
Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad.
Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium.
“We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca midfielder Pedri told Movistar.
“He’s very young, and he’s only going to get better.
“What he has to do is not settle, to keep going like this, keep working and enjoying himself out there on the pitch, because he gives us a lot.”
Barca coach Hansi Flick rotated his side, with Tuesday’s visit to face Newcastle in the Champions League last 16 looming.
As a result, his team put in a disjointed first-half display, creating little and looking far from their free-flowing best.
“Everyone was fighting, defending as a unit, and we have a clean sheet agai,n and that’s really important,” Flick told reporters, focusing on the positives.
“One game less and three points more, it’s a perfect situation.”
Barca’s Ferran Torres floundered up front, bereft of form, and Athletic had the marginally better openings of a forgettable first half.
Joao Cancelo hit the frame of his own goal early on, and Selton Sanchez ran through on goal, but Barcelona stopper Joan Garcia got down well to dispossess him.
Inaki Williams had a strike ruled out for offside, and Garcia thwarted Oihan Sancet early in the second half, in a rare clear opening as the two Copa del Rey semi-final losing sides continued to tussle fruitlessly.
Barcelona’s teenage star Yamal had an unusually quiet first hour but escaped Athletic defender Adama Boiro’s close attentions to break the deadlock.
Substitute Pedri found Yamal, and as Boiro slipped, the youngster whipped the ball into the top corner off the post for his 19th goal of the season across all competitions.
“I think he didn’t have his best game today, but you can see how important he is,” said Flick.
“He can decide the games, and when he has the space, he’s able to score. It’s good to have him on this level so that he can decide, in one situation, the match.”
- Dress rehearsal -
Nicolas Gonzalez netted twice as Diego Simeone’s Atletico overcame Real Sociedad to move three points clear of fourth-place Villarreal, who host Elche on Sunday.
It was only the second defeat for Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo in 14 matches at the helm, with the Basque side rising to eighth since the American’s arrival.
Both sides sealed passage to the Copa del Rey final this week, with this match a dress rehearsal for the showdown in Seville in April.
“It had been a while since I’d scored, so it’s good I could do it today in this stadium with these fans,” Gonzalez told Movistar.
“We’re showing in every game what we want and what we’re capable of.”
Alexander Sorloth continued his good form by sending Atletico ahead, but Carlos Soler pulled La Real level in the first half.
Atletico substitute Antoine Griezmann set up Gonzalez’s first goal with a tidy backheel as the hosts took the lead again.
Real Sociedad immediately equalised, with Mikel Oyarzabal smashing in from the edge of the box.
Gonzalez won it for Simeone’s side, leaping high to nod home Matteo Ruggieri’s curling cross.
“I’m really happy for Nico… he got injured in December and hasn’t been able to find his form since,” said Simeone.
“I hope he keeps it up, because we need everything he has to offer.”
Argentina international Gonzalez was coached by Matarazzo at Stuttgart, and the pair shared a laugh at the end of the game — they will meet again in April with a trophy on the line.
“We hate to lose, and the performance was not our best,” said Matarazzo.
“There are six weeks (before the final) with different players on the pitch… things will be different.”
In Italy, captain Lucas Da Cunha scored a brilliant second-half winner as Como won 2-1 at Cagliari on Saturday to move level on points with fourth-placed Roma in Serie A, as Juventus ended their four-match league winless streak.
A third straight league victory for Cesc Fabregas’s side keeps the pressure on Roma, who visit Genoa on Sunday, in the fight for Champions League qualification.
Como, who have never played in a European competition, will then host the capital club next weekend.
Sixth-placed Juventus stayed just one point behind that pair with an impressive 4-0 home victory over Pisa.
“I liked the way the lads reacted today, as this performance proves what the team is made of, they have a great mentality that is growing game by game,” Fabregas, whose Como side drew 0-0 with Serie A leaders Inter Milan in their Italian Cup semi-final first leg in midweek, told DAZN.
“We were all exhausted today. There were so many matches in a row, we were so tired.
“That is why this is the win I am most satisfied with this season. It is genuinely a major step forward for the team.”
Como took an early lead at Cagliari when Martin Baturina turned in Da Cunha’s mishit shot, but the home side levelled 11 minutes after half-time through Sebastiano Esposito.
The visitors secured all three points, though, in the 76th minute, as Frenchman Da Cunha hammered a long-range strike into the top corner.
Juve ended their wait for a first league win since 1 February by seeing off Pisa with four second-half goals.
Andrea Cambiaso nodded in Kenan Yildiz’s dinked cross from close range nine minutes after the interval before Juve doubled their lead in the 65th minute.
Bottom club Pisa gave the ball away on the edge of their own box, Manuel Locatelli drilled a shot off the post, and Khephren Thuram slotted in the rebound for his first goal since September.
Yildiz fired in his 10th goal of the campaign with a quarter of an hour left, before Jeremie Boga rounded off the scoring in added time.
Seventh-placed Atalanta’s European hopes suffered a blow despite fighting back to grab a 2-2 home draw with Udinese.
Raffaele Palladino’s men, who host Bayern Munich in their Champions League last-16 first leg next week, are now five points behind Roma and Como.
Thomas Kristensen and Keinan Davis scored in either half to put Udinese in control.
But Gianluca Scamacca’s header with 15 minutes to play halved the deficit, and the Italy striker pounced on a rebound to level four minutes later.
In Germany, goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier took Borussia Dortmund to a 2-1 win at Cologne on Saturday, tightening their grip on Champions League qualification.
Dortmund’s 3-2 home loss to Bayern Munich last week all but ended their slim Bundesliga title hopes.
But Saturday’s win took second-placed Dortmund eight points clear of fifth-placed RB Leipzig.
Beier teed up Guirassy in the 16th minute, floating a ball over the Cologne defence for the Guinean to score his 12th Bundesliga goal this season.
The hosts’ hopes of fighting their way back dimmed just before half-time when Jahmai Simpson-Pusey planted his studs in Beier’s heel, and referee Daniel Siebert upgraded his yellow card to red after a VAR review.
Beier was in the thick of things again when he swept home on the hour mark. Jakub Kaminski scored a late consolation for the hosts, but Dortmund held on for their first league victory since mid-February.
Dortmund manager Niko Kovac cut a frustrated figure after full-time, telling Sky Germany: “We won a game today in which we didn’t play well — and the coach has every right to be angry.”
Kovac confirmed media reports that midfielder Julian Brandt, who set up Beier’s goal, would leave the club after seven seasons at the end of the season when his contract expires.
Bayer Leverkusen came from behind twice but gave up the lead late in a wild 3-3 draw at Freiburg, days out from their Champions League clash with Arsenal.
Leverkusen host the Premier League leaders on Wednesday in the first leg of their last-16 tie, but Saturday’s result left them in sixth and may hurt their chances of reaching next year’s competition.
“We’re more than a little disappointed,” Leverkusen coach Robert Andrich told Sky Germany.
“Starting Sunday, we’ll be focused on Arsenal, but we still need a lot of points in the Bundesliga to get back into the Champions League.”
Freiburg twice went ahead thanks to goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Yuito Suzuki but Leverkusen twice equalised through Christian Kofane and another superb free-kick from Alejandro Grimaldo.
Martin Terrier’s goal had the visitors on track for victory, but Matthias Ginter struck with four minutes remaining to level things up.
- Leipzig leave it late -
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig forced Augsburg’s Arthur Chaves into a stoppage-time own goal in a comeback 2-1 home win.
Robin Fellhauer gave Augsburg the lead after teammate Keven Schlotterbeck missed a penalty, but Yan Diomande pulled one back for the hosts before Chaves scuffed a David Raum cross into his own net.
Leipzig’s win took them to fifth, level on points with fourth-placed Stuttgart, who drew 2-2 at lowly Mainz.
Stuttgart fell behind to a Lee Jae-sung strike but looked to have turned the match with goals to Ermedin Demirovic and Deniz Undav inside 61 seconds, before Danny da Costa nabbed a late equaliser for the hosts.
“We fought hard for 90 minutes. When we fight back to take the lead, we need to take the three points,” a disappointed Demirovic told Sky.
Hoffenheim took a step towards a second Champions League qualification with a 4-2 win at last-placed Heidenheim to stay in third.
Alexander Prass bagged a first-half brace, and Fisnik Asllani and Tim Lemperle scored for the visitors, while Luca Kerber scored a double for Heidenheim.
Elsewhere, Hamburg came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Wolfsburg, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.
Frustrated home fans threw flaming scarves onto the pitch after the defeat, which pushes second-last Wolfsburg, who were German champions in 2009, closer to a first relegation from the top flight since being promoted in 1997.
– © AFP 2026
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