European football round-up: Real back on top of LaLiga

Spain's LaLiga

Real Madrid came from two goals down to swiftly reclaim top spot in LaLiga with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Villarreal.

Having been displaced at the summit a few hours earlier, Real were facing up to the prospect of two defeats in five days when the home side went 2-0 up before the hour through Manu Trigueros and Cedric Bakambu.

But Gareth Bale, starting for the first time since November, reduced the deficit, Cristiano Ronaldo converted a controversially awarded penalty to level and substitute Alvaro Morata nodded in a 83rd-minute winner as Real's relentless pressure eventually told.

It maintained the one-point cushion they held over Barca heading into the day, with Zinedine Zidane's men also holding a game in hand on their great rivals.

Barcelona had earlier moved to the top of LaLiga with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid.

Rafinha gave Barca the lead at Vicente Calderon with an angled finish before a glancing header from Diego Godin levelled the scores.

But Lionel Messi had the final word, prodding home an 86th-minute winner after his initial shot had been blocked.

Sevilla are three points adrift of Real Madrid after coming from behind to win 2-1 at derby rivals Real Betis.

The home side, who had not won in the past five matches, went ahead late in the first half through Riza Durmisi.

Steven N'Zonzi conceded a free-kick after bringing down Brazilian midfielder Petros some 25 yards out in a central position after 37 minutes.

Danish defender Durmisi promptly whipped the ball up over the wall and into the bottom right corner past the dive of Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

N'Zonzi headed wide in first-half stoppage time as Betis went into the break in front.

The lead, though, did not last long following the restart.

Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli made two changes, bringing on Wissam Ben Yedder for Pablo Sarabia and Vicente Iborra to replace Franco Vazquez, which helped make the breakthrough.

On 55 minutes, Samir Nasri, the on-loan Manchester City midfielder, floated a deep free-kick into the Betis penalty area.

Substitute Iborra got up at the far post to plant a close-range header goalwards, which Betis goalkeeper Antonio Adan beat away but Gabriel Mercado was on hand to knock the rebound into the net with the Betis defence appealing for offside.

Sevilla's pressure eventually brought a second goal with 14 minutes left.

Again it was a high ball in from a Nasri free-kick out on the right which the Betis defence failed to deal with. This time N'Zonzi got the knockdown, which left Iborra clear in the six-yard box to slot past the keeper.

Real Madrid hold two matches in hand and are away at Villarreal on Sunday.

Leganes boosted their survival hopes by thumping fellow relegation battlers 10-man Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 at Butarque for a first win since the end of November.

Alexander Szymanowski put the home side in front on 19 minutes when he hooked the ball into the top corner, with Martin Mantovani doubling the advantage on the half-hour when the defender powered in a backpost header from a corner.

Deportivo had Raul Albentosa sent off in the 62nd minute and Leganes capitalised with two more goals.

Substitute Unai Lopez made the points safe in the 81st minute, clipping the ball in at the near post, and Alberto Bueno also made his mark from the bench with a fourth in stoppage time.

Saturday's late kick-off saw Eibar beat Malaga 3-0 at the Estadio Municipal de Ipurua to record a fourth win in their last five LaLiga matches.

Adrian Gonzalez set Eibar on their way late in the first half after being set up by Sergi Enrich for a tap-in.

The midfielder added a second from the penalty spot on 50 minutes, before striker Enrich quickly volleyed in a third.

In Saturday's early kick-off Alaves beat Valencia 2-1 at home with a late goal from substitute Aleksandar Katai.

Carlos Soler had put Los Che into the lead on 70 minutes when he slotted the ball in from a tight angle after Daniel Parejo's free-kick was saved.

The Copa del Rey finalists, however, rallied and were level within eight minutes when Ibai Gomez drilled in from the edge of the penalty area.

Serbian Katai had only just come on when he was played into the right side of the penalty area by Ruben Sobrino and coolly rounded Diego Alves to secure all three points. 

On Friday night, Real Sociedad took advantage of a horrendous goalkeeping mistake to beat Las Palmas 1-0 and turn the heat up on Atletico Madrid in the battle for a Champions League place.

The game in Gran Canaria looked to be heading for a goalless stalemate until, 16 minutes from time, Las Palmas goalkeeper Javi Varas inexplicably passed the ball straight to Sociedad midfielder Xabi Prieto on the edge of the box.

Prieto took one touch and, with Varas out of position to the right of his goal, he had the simplest of tasks to slot into an unguarded net.

That consigned unlucky Las Palmas to a fourth successive LaLiga defeat and saw Sociedad move to within a point of fourth-placed Atletico, who play Barcelona on Sunday.

Italy's Serie A

Roma closed the gap on Serie A leaders Juventus to seven points with a 3-1 win away to Inter Milan at San Siro.

Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan scored twice and Diego Perotti added a late penalty to seal victory for Luciano Spalletti's side.

Inter's consolation came from Mauro Icardi, who marked his return from suspension with a goal, although defeat leaves Stefano Pioli's team in sixth - two points below Lazio in the Europa League qualifying spot.

Nainggolan gave Roma the lead early in the first half when he cut in from the left and curled a shot into the top-right corner of Samir Handanovic's goal.

The visitors doubled their lead 10 minutes into the second half when Nainggolan finished off a Roma counter attack with a rising shot from outside the area which gave Handanovic no chance.

Inter had dominated for much of the second half but failed to take their chances until Icardi finished at the far post from Ivan Perisic's low cross across the face of the Roma goal with nine minutes to go.

But just three minutes later Roma sealed the win when Perotti stroked home a cool finish from the penalty spot after Gary Medel had brought down Edin Dzeko.

Earlier in the day, Lazio boosted their hopes of European qualification with a 1-0 victory at home to Udinese.

Italy international striker Ciro Immobile grabbed the only goal of the game from the penalty spot after Brazilian defender Samir was adjudged to have handled in the box.

Victory for the Rome club was their fourth in five games to leave them a point behind fourth-placed Atalanta.

AC Milan also had to rely on a goal from the penalty spot as they finished 1-0 winners at Sassuolo.

Colombia international Carlos Bacca converted the spot-kick midway through the first half after Andrea Bertolacci went down as he was challenged by Federico Peluso and Alberto Aquilani.

Sassuolo striker Domenico Berardi had earlier missed a penalty at the other end following Juraj Kucka's foul on Alfred Duncan.

In the first game of the day, Fabio Quagliarella struck a last-minute equaliser as mid-table Sampdoria dented Palermo's survival hopes by snatching a 1-1 draw.

The third-bottom hosts had looked on course for just a third win from 21 league matches thanks to Ilija Nestorovski's first-half penalty.

Second-bottom Crotone also had a disappointing afternoon as they surrendered the lead to lose 2-1 at home to Cagliari.

Romanian midfielder Adrian Stoian opened the scoring but the visitors responded with goals from Joao Pedro and Marco Borriello.

Elsewhere, bottom club Pescara were beaten 2-0 at Chievo, while Manchester City loanee Olivier Ntcham struck in added time to earn Genoa a 1-1 draw with 10-man Bologna.

Juventus had extended their lead at the top of Serie A to 10 points with a 2-0 win over Empoli in Turin on Saturday, before it was cut to seven again a day later.

With Roma not in action until the head to the San Siro on Sunday evening to tackle Inter Milan, Massimiliano Allegri's men took full advantage as a second-half brace finally overcame the visitors, who are battling for points at the other end of the table.

Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic both saw first-half chances squandered before the Bianconeri finally made the breakthrough on 52 minutes.

Juan Cuadrado clipped the ball into the Empoli penalty area from the right, where Mandzukic arrived to send a point-blank header goalwards.

Lukasz Skorupski pushed the ball up onto the bar, only for it to then deflect back in off the unfortunate keeper for an own goal as he fell to the floor.

Juventus killed the game off with a second just after the hour mark, when Brazilian Alex Sandro spun Empoli defender Vincent Laurini to fire a low shot into the far corner.

Substitute Paulo Dybala thought he had tapped in a third soon after coming on, but the close-range effort was ruled out for offside against Higuain as he cut the ball back from a rebound.

Earlier, Atalanta had pulled off a shock 2-0 win over Napoli at Stadio San Paolo despite being down to 10 men for the closing stages.

The visitors had started the day in fifth place, but would end up just three points behind Napoli, who had been out to leapfrog Roma up into second.

The Partenopei made a promising start and saw an effort from Lorenzo Insigne hit the top of the crossbar.

However, it was Atalanta who broke the deadlock on 28 minutes when defender Mattia Caldara headed in following a corner.

Napoli had a free-kick from Dries Mertens pushed up onto the crossbar by Atalanta keeper Etrit Berisha.

Just after the hour, Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie was sent off after picking up two quick yellow cards.

The visitors, however, doubled their lead on 70 minutes when Caldara volleyed in from 12 yards to inflict a first Serie A defeat on Maurizio Sarri's men in 2017.

Germany's Bundesliga

Hoffenheim's bid for a top-four Bundesliga spot was boosted by Sebastian Rudy's late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Schalke.

Julian Nagelsmann's side trailed to a sixth-minute goal from Alessandro Schopf.

It was the Austrian midfielder's seventh goal of the season and his third in as many games, but Hoffenheim gradually began to dominate and Kerem Demirbay and Ermin Bicakcic both came close to scoring a leveller.

Hoffenheim, however, had to wait until the 80th minute for a share of the spoils when Germany midfielder Rudy headed home Steven Zuber's cross.

The draw leaves Hoffenheim fourth, a point above Hertha Berlin, while Schalke climb a place to 12th to sit level on points with Augsburg.

Borussia Monchengladbach backed up their excellent Europa League victory away to Fiorentina on Thursday with a 2-0 victory at struggling Ingolstadt.

Skipper Lars Stindl and Andre Hahn scored second-half goals as Gladbach made it four wins from five league games.

After a sterile first half which produced few scoring opportunities, the visitors took the lead in controversial fashion on the hour. Stindl turned in a cross at the back post with what appeared to be his head, but television replays showed the ball in fact had come off his hand, much to Ingolstadt's despair.

The hosts chased the equaliser late on but they were punished on the break as Hahn sealed the points in injury time.

Monchengladbach's victory moves them up three places to 10th as Ingolstadt remain struggling in the bottom two ahead of next weekend's trip to Hoffenheim.

Bayern Munich celebrated head coach Carlo Ancelotti's 1000th competitive match in club management with a comprehensive 8-0 thrashing of Hamburg on Saturday.

Arturo Vidal opened the scoring with a powerful drive from the edge of the box before Robert Lewandowski netted a brace, the first from the penalty spot, to give Bayern a comfortable 3-0 half-time lead.

The Poland striker completed his hat-trick on 54 minutes with a composed finish before David Alaba, two from Kingsley Coman and an Arjen Robben strike sealed a crushing victory over relegation-threatened Hamburg.

RB Leipzig continued their title push after they secured a 3-1 victory against Cologne to stay five points behind leaders Bayern.

Emil Forsberg broke the deadlock on five minutes with a calm finish after a weak clearance from Cologne goalkeeper Thomas Kessler fell to Timo Werner, who played in the Sweden international to curl home.

An own-goal from Dominic Maroh doubled Leipzig's lead before the break, but Yuya Osako's close-range finish halved the deficit six minutes after the restart.

Werner's 13th goal of the season ensured victory as Leipzig maintained their record of being undefeated every time they have scored in the Bundesliga.

Borussia Dortmund won away from home for only the second time in the league since November to stay in third place with a 3-0 win at Freiburg.

Papastathopoulos Sokratis headed in Raphael Guerreiro's free-kick to give the visitors the lead before Pierre-Emerick Aubaumeyang tapped in Marco Reus' driven cross to double their advantage shortly after the restart.

The Gabon striker scored a close-range second to secure victory and keep Dortmund within touching distance of Leipzig in the final automatic Champions League spot.

First-half goals from Stefan Bell and Levin Oztunali helped Mainz move up to 10th in the table after winning 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen.

Augsburg added to Darmstadt's relegation fears with a 2-1 comeback victory.

The basement boys broke the deadlock two minutes after half-time through Marcel Heller, but Paul Verhaegh's penalty and Raul Bobadilla's chipped finish five minutes from time extended the host's poor run of form which has seen them pick up just four points from a possible 42. 

Serge Gnabry scored a first-half brace as Werder Bremen climbed out of the relegation play-off spot with a 2-1 Bundesliga victory at fellow strugglers Wolfsburg.

The former Arsenal youngster opened the scoring with a deflected strike from inside the penalty area after 10 minutes before grabbing his second goal eight minutes later, controlling a flick-on from a free-kick on his chest six yards out and volleying the ball home.

Borja Mayoral reduced the deficit back to a single goal a minute later when he bungled the ball in from close range with his chest following a corner.

Wolfsburg should have rescued at least a point as both Daniel Didavi and Mayoral saw efforts hit a post while visiting goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald made a string of saves.

Hertha Berlin increased their chances of European football next season with a hard-fought 2-0 win over 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt.

After a goalless first half, Bosnian striker Vedad Ibisevic broke the deadlock seven minutes after the restart when he slotted home from 12 yards following neat footwork by Solomon Kalou.

Frankfurt striker Haris Seferovic received his marching orders on 78 minutes for violent conduct after an altercation with Berlin midfielder Niklas Stark before Vladimir Darida sealed victory with a header seven minutes from time.

Victory meant Hertha leapfrogged their opponents into fifth place while the visitors extended their losing streak to three matches.

France's Ligue 1

Marseille suffered their heaviest home defeat of the season as Paris St Germain moved into second place in Ligue 1 with a 5-1 win at Stade Velodrome.

Marquinhos and Edinson Cavani - with his 35th goal of the season - put PSG in command before half-time as Marseille wilted.

Lucas Moura and substitute Julian Draxler doubled PSG's lead before Marseille managed a consolation through defender Rod Fanni.

But Unai Emery's side had the last word as the outstanding Marco Verratti set up Blaise Matuidi for a fine finish into the roof of the net.

The victory moves PSG above Nice in to second place and to within three points of leaders Monaco.

Former Manchester United winger Memphis Depay had a starring role as Lyon hammered lowly Metz 5-0.

He was restored to the starting line-up after missing the 7-1 Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar in midweek and broke the deadlock just before the break with a close-range tap-in.

Eight minutes into the second half, Memphis scored again with a low drive before Ivan Balliu diverted the Dutchman's cross into his own net.

He claimed another assist when setting up Alexandre Lacazette's 26th goal of the season and substitute Mathieu Valbuena completed the rout in the final minute.

Caen produced a shock 1-0 win at St Etienne for only their second league away victory this season.

Ronny Rodelin headed home Vincent Bessat's 33rd-minute cross for his sixth goal of the campaign.

Monaco returned to winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over Guingamp on Saturday.

Leonardo Jardim's side were held to a draw by Bastia last weekend and then lost 5-3 to Manchester City in a remarkable Champions League clash in midweek.

There was rather less drama at the Stade de Roudourou, although Etienne Didot did make it a nervous finish for Monaco with a 90th-minute goal.

Kamil Glik had given the visitors the lead in the 24th minute and an 86th-minute penalty from Fabinho ultimately proved to be the winner.

The result pulled Monaco clear again at the top after Nice had joined them on 59 points with victory over Montpellier on Friday.

Bordeaux closed to within one point of Lyon in fourth after in eventful 3-2 victory over Lille.

After Valentin Vada gave Les Girondins a 16th-minute lead, Lille turned the game on its head midway through the second half.

First Nicolas de Preville picked himself up to score from the spot after being fouled by Vukasin Jovanovic before, a minute later, Eder put the hosts into the lead.

But another twist was to come. Adam Ounas equalised in the 78th minute and then scored the winner four minutes later, with Julian Palmieri sent off for Lille in between.

There was still time for Bordeaux also to be reduced to 10 men, with substitute Rio Mavuba shown a red card in injury time.

After their heroics against Monaco, it was back to reality for struggling Bastia as they were beaten 3-0 by Angers.

Karl Toko Ekambi scored twice for the hosts in the 18th and 57th minutes before Gregory Bourillon rounded off a comprehensive win with the third 11 minutes from time.

Lorient, the only side below Bastia in the table, also lost, with Giovanni Sio's goal in the 19th minute earning Rennes a 1-0 victory.

Nancy moved five points clear of the automatic drop zone after holding ninth-placed Toulouse to a creditable goalless draw.

Nice moved level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Monaco after coming from behind to win 2-1 against Montpellier.

Montpellier made the trip across the south coast having won three of their last four matches and they made a great start on Friday night when Steve Mounie put them ahead after nine minutes.

But Nice are strong at home, undefeated domestically this season at the Allianz Riviera, and turned the tables in the second half through two goals from Mickael Le Bihan.

The striker, making a rare start, levelled things up in the 68th minute and struck again five minutes from time to win the match and move Nice up to second in the table behind Monaco - who travel to Guingamp on Saturday - on goal difference.

Dijon continue to look over their shoulder towards the bottom of the table after losing 3-1 at Nantes in Friday's other game.

Yacine Bammou put the hosts ahead after just three minutes but the strugglers were thrown a lifeline shortly before half-time when Leo Dubois flicked the ball into his own net.

Goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet kept Dijon in it as long as he could but he could do little to prevent Nantes taking the lead just before the hour as Emiliano Sala blasted home a penalty.

Felipe Pardo curled in a superb third goal to seal the win after 79 minutes before Lois Diony's red card with five minutes remaining completed a miserable evening for the visitors.

Holland's Eredivisie

Feyenoord maintained their five-point lead at the Eredivisie summit with a 2-1 victory over reigning champions PSV Eindhoven.

Jan-Arie van der Heijden's 82nd-minute header settled a hectic De Kuip contest, with goal-line technology determining the ball had crossed the line by a matter of millimetres.

Jens Toornstra rewarded a fast Feyenoord start when he smashed home Terence Kongolo's ninth-minute cross.

PSV had won their previous six games but they created little until Gaston Pereiro equalised after 62 minutes.

Pereiro curled home a 20-yard shot off a post, the first goal Feyenoord had conceded in 2017.

Santiago Arias twice cleared Eric Botteghin headers off the PSV line and Steven Berghuis struck a post for the hosts.

But Feyenoord were not to be denied and Van der Heijden secured a 10th successive league win to move them 11 points clear of third-placed PSV.

Ajax remain five points adrift of Feyenoord after beating Heracles Almelo 4-1.

Kasper Dolberg put Ajax ahead midway through the first half, but Samuel Armenteros equalised within two minutes.

But second half goals from Matthijs de Ligt - the 17-year-old's first senior goal - Davinson Sanchez and Bertrand Traore secured a seventh straight win for Ajax.

Fifth-placed AZ Alkmaar were held 1-1 at home by PEC Zwolle.

AZ were humbled 7-1 by Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday and there appeared to be a hangover from that thrashing when Ryan Thomas put Zwolle ahead straight after half-time.

But Fred Friday spared AZ blushes when he met Levi Garcia's cross nine minutes from time.

Vitesse Arnhem won 3-1 at struggling Go Ahead Eagles to move into seventh spot.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel's 11th goal of the season gave Vitesse the lead after 29 minutes before Navarone Foor (52) and Milot Rashica (80) scored.

Daniel Crowley claimed a late consolation, but the Eagles remain in the bottom three.

Utrecht came from two goals down to win 3-2 at Groningen on Saturday to record a fourth win in the last five Eredivisie matches.

Bryan Linssen gave Groningen and early lead and sent the hosts into half-time with a 2-0 advantage when he latched onto a long pass up field and held off Utrecht captain Willem Janssen at the edge of the area to slot into the bottom corner.

The visitors hit back when Sebastien Haller headed in on 54 minutes before 18-year-old Giovanni Troupee levelled with 11 minutes left when he lashed in an angled drive and then midfielder Yassin Ayoub snatched a late winner after a swift counter attack.

Heerenveen moved up into fifth place after they beat 10-man Roda 3-0 at the Abe Lenstra Stadion to end a six-game winless run.

Roda had Mohamed El Makrini sent off in the 54th minute and after that the floodgates opened after defender Doke Schmidt broke the deadlock when nodding in a free-kick on the hour.

Henk Veerman added the second from close range in the closing stages and Reza Ghoochannej converted a penalty in stoppage time.

Sparta Rotterdam ran out 1-0 winners at out-of-form NEC Nijmegen to put some daylight between themselves and the dropzone.

Paco van Moorsel's goal on 33 minutes when he slotted in from the edge of the penalty area proved enough for all three points and a fifth straight defeat for the home side.

Excelsior remained second from bottom after Willem II won 2-0 at Stadion Woudestein.

Two goals in as many minutes just after the hour did the damage, defender Dico Koppers stabbing the ball in at the far post before Erik Falkenburg's near post header doubled the lead.

Excelsior finished the match with 10 men when substitute Danilo Pantic, who is on loan from Chelsea, was sent off in the final minute after picking up two yellow cards in the closing quarter-of-an-hour. 

On Friday night, FC Twente missed the chance to move up to fifth in the Eredivisie table as they were held to a 1-1 draw at bottom side ADO Den Haag.

The home side opened the scoring after 12 minutes when Guyon Fernandez saw his shot parried by Twente goalkeeper Nick Marsman and Ruben Schaken netted the rebound.

But the strugglers were only ahead for 14 minutes as Enes Unal scored following a Kamohelo Mokotjo pass.

Yet just two minutes later the home side could have been back in front but Dion Malone's shot was blocked.

Unal almost put his side ahead after 53 minutes but his header was cleared off the line as a dominant Twente failed to make their possession count.