Football Leagues Updates: 17th April | Major Leagues Back In Action
After the European break due to quarterfinals of Europa and Champions Leagues, all the major European leagues were in action on the weekend. Allsportspk presents the overviews of the matches played on 15, 16 and 17 April and highlights the salient aspects of the respective league’s activities.
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La Liga
Ten more matches were decided in the Spanish top league on Matchday 29 of 38. The results are given below.
- Rayo Vallecano 2 – 1 Osasuna
- Valladolid 2 – 1 Villarreal
- Athletic Club 2 – 0 Real Sociedad
- Real Betis 3 – 1 Espanyol
- Real Madrid 2 – 0 Cadiz
- Girona 2 – 0 Elche
- Barcelona 0 – 0 Getafe
- Atletico Madrid 2 – 1 Almeria
- Sevilla 2 – 0 Valencia
- Mallorca 1 – 0 Celta Vigo
- Points Tables Overview
- On the points table, Barcelona stay at top with 73 points in 29 games. Real Madrid maintain their 2nd position with 62 points from 29 games. Atletico Madrid are 3rd with 60 points from 29 games and Real Sociedad 4th with 51 points from 29 games. The teams in relegation zone are Valencia (27), Espanyol (27) and Elche (13).
Ligue 1
10 matches were played in French top league on Matchday 31 of 38. Results are given below.
- Lyon 2 – 1 Toulouse
- Rennes 3 – 0 Reims
- PSG 3 – 1 Lens
- LOSC 2 – 1 Montpellier
- Auxerre 2 – 1 Nantes
- Brest 1 – 0 Nice
- Clermont Foot 2 – 1 Angers
- Strasbourg 3 – 1 Ajaccio
- Marseille 3 – 1 Troyes
- Monaco 3 – 1 Lorient
Points Tables Overview
PSG continue to lead with 72 points from 31 games. Marseille have replaced Lens at 2nd with 64 points from 31 games. Lens are 3rd with 63 from 31 and Monaco on 4th with 61 from 31 games on the points table. At the bottom, Troyes (21), Ajaccio (21) and Angers (14) are almost sure to be relegated.
English Premier League
10 matches were played on 15 and 16 April, Matchday 31 of 38. Woes of Chelsea interim coach Frank Lampard continue as they lost their third consecutive match under him. Manchester City continue their imperial form by registering victories home and away. Manchester United brushed aside their European draw heartbreak by winning against Notts. Arsenal continue to draw which helped Manchester City in closing the gap with them with a game in hand. Results are given below.
- Aston Villa 3 – 0 Newcastle United
- Crystal Palace 2 – 0 Southampton
- Fulham 3 – 1 Everton
- Wolverhampton 2 – 0 Brentford
- Brighton 2 – 1 Chelsea
- Bournemouth 3 – 2 Tottenham Hotspur
- Manchester City 3 – 1 Leicester City
- Westham United 2 – 2 Arsenal
- Manchester United 2 – 0 Nottingham Forest
- Liverpool 6 – 1 Leeds United
Points Tables Overview
On the points table, Arsenal have 74 points from 31 games. Second placed Manchester City have 70 from 30 games. Manchester United have leap-frogged Newcastle and are now 3rd at 59 points from 30 games. Newcastle United are 4th with 56 points from 30 games. Nottingham Forest (27), Leicester City (25) and Southampton (23) are in the relegation zone.
Bundusliga
Results of the top German league on Matchday 28 of 34 played on 14, 15 and 16 April are as under.
- Schalke 5 – 2 Hertha
- Koln 1 – 1 Mainz
- VfB Stuttgart 3 – 3 Dortmund
- Hoffenheim 1 – 1 Bayern Munich
- RB Leipzig 3 – 2 Augsburg
- Monchengladbach 1 – 1 Eintracht Frankfurt
- SC Freiburg 2 – 1 Werder
- Union Berlin 1 – 1 VfL Bochum
- Wolfsburg 0 – 0 Leverkusen
Points Tables Overview
After completion of 28 matches, though Bayern continue to maintain their top position with 59 points, it seems they did not recover from their drubbing at the hands of Manchester City in the European quarterfinals and drew with Bottom-half Hoffenheim. Leverkusen also repeated their draw performance of European quarterfinals against Wolfsburg. Dortmund is 2nd with 57 points though they could have matched Bayern with a win. Union Berlin are 3rd with 52 and RB Leipzig 4th with 51 points. Teams in the relegation zone are VfB Stuttgart (24), Schalke (24) and Hertha (22).
Serie A
Many Italian teams were involved in the European quarterfinals and some of the results in Italian premier league Serie A may have carried the effects thereof as most of these teams either lost or drew their matches with teams placed lower on the points table. Results of Matchday 30 of 38 are as under.
- Cremonese 1 – 0 Empoli
- Lazio 3 – 0 Spezia
- Bologna 1 – 1 Milan
- Napoli 0 – 0 Verona
- Monza 1 – 0 Inter
- Lecce 1 – 1 Sampdoria
- Torino 1 – 1 Salernitana
- Sassuolo 1 – 0 Juventus
- Roma 3 – 0 Udinese
- Fiorentina 1 – 1 Atalanta
As described above, Inter, Milan and Napoli had played in the Champions League quarterfinals and it could have been the reason of top of the table Napoli drawing goalless with bottom-3 Verona, Milan also drawing with Bologna and Inter losing to Monza. Similarly, Juventus though won their European match against Sporting Lisbon, but lost in the national league to Sassuolo. Only Roma came out victorious against Udinese after losing their European match against Dutch side Feyenoord.
Points Tables Overview
As all the teams have played 30 matches each, Napoli are the runaway leader with 75 points. Lazio are second with 61 points, Roma 3rd with 56 and Milan 4th with 53 points. Bottom three teams Verona (23), Cremonese (19) and Sampdoria (16) are in the relegation zone unless they make dramatic strides in their remaining matches.