EUROPEAN FOOTBALL ROUNDUP 18/2/2020

PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HEADLINES)
Not bored of winning yet, Reds fans? Wolves and Foxes leave each other unscathed. The battle for 4th (and 5th?) hots up. Zero to hero to zero for Engels. Gunners too strong for muted Magpies and jaded Joelinton. Burnley back in business. (TABLE)

LA LIGA WEEK 24 HIGHLIGHTS
Leaders Real were held 2-2 at the Bernabeu by a courageous Celta, as Barca cut the deficit at the top by beating 3rd placed Getafe; Atletico Valencia also ended two goals apiece. The teams at the other end are starting to dig in, as Leganes drew with Betis, Espanyol managed a point at the Sanchez Pijuan and Mallorca took all three against Alaves. Elsewhere, the Yellow Submarine has re-emerged in the European race, while Granada and Osasuna consolidated mid-table security with wins over Valladolid and Bilbao. (TABLE)

SERIE A WEEK 24 HIGHLIGHTS
The big game this week saw Lazio take up the position of prime challenger to the Old Lady with a win over Inter, as Juve returned to top spot. La Dea is sitting pretty in fourth after beating her closest rival, Roma, at home, while Napoli and Milan continued their recent uptick in form with 1-0 wins. Genoa are also on a roll and have closed back in on Samp, who fell 5-1 at home to Fiorentina. Elsewhere, Lecce gained some breathing space with victory over SPAL, Parma defeated the Neroverdi and Hellas were held by Udinese. (TABLE)

BUNDESLIGA WEEK 22 HIGHLIGHTS
There were satisfying Champions League warm-ups for Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig, who all cruised to victories by 3-goal margins. The Foals went one better by putting four past Eintracht, who will also be in European action. Bayer were just able to keep in touch with the top four as a last gasp winner made it 3-2 at Union. The Wolves also won 3-2 away at Hoffenheim, while Hertha brushed off Klinsmann’s sudden departure with a key win at the Benteler Arena. Elsewhere, Augsburg drew 1-1 with Freiburg and Mainz Schalke finished goalless. (TABLE)

LIGUE 1 WEEK 25 HIGHLIGHTS
PSG were involved in a most unexpected 4-4 thriller at the Stade de la Licorne coming back from 3 goals down to lead 4-3 only to pegged back at the death. OM now lie 10 points behind after they pulled off their own comeback against Lille. Rennes’s poor recent league form continued with a defeat to Reims and Monaco have come out of nowhere to be back in the Champions League picture in fifth after they saw off Montpellier. At the bottom, the Crocodiles won their fourth straight to go 17th ahead of Dijon, but Toulouse lost again with a couple of red cards to boot. St Etienne are also looking edgy in 16th as they lost their fourth straight game to Brest. The remaining games ended in draws. (TABLE)