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Barcelona’s Dani Olmo scored inside the first minute of the second half to earn a hard-fought 1-0 home win against Mallorca, extending their lead in La Liga over Real Madrid at the top of the table to seven points with five games to go.
Barça dominated proceedings despite coach Hansi Flick deciding to rest several key starters ahead of Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against bitter rivals Real, but Mallorca goalkeeper Leo Román put on a show between the posts to keep them at bay.
The hosts finally managed to break the deadlock shortly after the break thanks to a fine piece of individual skill from Olmo, who took the ball in a tight space inside the box and quickly fired a left foot shot into the bottom corner before Mallorca’s defenders could challenge him.
The win lifted Barça to 76 points at the top of the table with Real, who visit Getafe on Wednesday, seven points adrift with a game in hand.
Valencia recovered to a 1-1 home draw with Espanyol – Javi Guerra’s 57th-minute leveller cancelled out Javi Puado’s effort at the tail end of the first half. The teams remain 13th and 14th, with Espanyol holding the edge on goal difference.
In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Nantes, keeping the Ligue 1 champions on course to become the first team to go unbeaten through an entire season in the French top flight.
In a slow first half the hosts were content to sit back and play on the counter, but Vitinha struck a low half-volley off a Lee Kang-in pass to put PSG ahead after 33 minutes.
Nantes looked more aggressive after the break as Jean-Charles Castelletto drew a fine save from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on the hour mark.
Douglas Augusto finally found the equaliser seven minutes from time with a great shot from the edge of the box following a great run from Matthis Abline. Gonçalo Ramos went agonisingly close to netting a winner for the visitors, but his stoppage-time header hit the crossbar.
PSG, who wrapped up the title earlier this month, hold a 23-point advantage over second-placed Marseille, while Nantes are 14th on 31 points, four points above the drop zone.
Belgium’s title-chasing Union Saint-Gilloise revealed the real identity of the culprit who threw a ball on to the field from their bench at a crucial juncture of their win over Racing Genk in the Belgian Pro League playoffs at the weekend.
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The time-wasting tactic drew howls of disapproval, prompted an intense television debate and overshadowed Union’s 2-1 away win, which moved them level with Genk on 40 points in the standings.
The ball was thrown on as Genk, who had just pulled one goal back, were launching their last attack as they attempted a late comeback, forcing a halt to play with a second ball on the pitch.
Union’s kitman Ibrahim Fadili was identified as the transgressor and sent off but it has since transpired that reserve goalkeeper and former Genk player Vic Chambaere was the guilty party. “Our equipment manager was wrongfully sent off for this incident. After internal discussions this morning, it turns out that it was our goalkeeper Vic Chambaere who kicked the ball on to the pitch,” said a statement. “This is an action that Union strongly disapproves of and which does not reflect our values or those of our supporters. Union will always fight to the bitter end on the pitch, but above all, we advocate respect and fair play, both on and off the pitch.
“This morning, our management spoke with our technical staff and player Vic Chambaere. We also wish to apologise to the match referee and our opponent on Sunday afternoon for throwing the ball onto the pitch in the final minutes of the match.”
The result allowed Club Brugge to move top of the standings with a two-point advantage to set up a close three-way contest for the title with four rounds of matches left. The 22-year-old Chambaere, who joined from Genk at the start of the season, was handed a four-match ban and fined €5,000 (£4,300) at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday while Fadili was given a two-match ban for “misleading the referee” and fined €2,500.
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