While the kick-off to the new season in England, scheduled for 26 March, is fast approaching, a number of domestic competitions are in full flow across Europe. In France, Germany and Italy, the league leaders all consolidated their positions with resounding victories this weekend. And in Spain, the table’s bottom club pulled off the result of the day. FIFA.com looks back at all the action in women’s club football over the past week.

France: Lyon and Marseille clinch crucial wins In securing a comfortable 5-0 win over Albi, Lyon extended their lead over Paris Saint-Germain at the top of Division 1 Feminine to seven points. A week after scoring a hat-trick in a French Cup match versus Rodez (6-0), American star Alex Morgan grabbed a quick-fire brace, in the 67th and 68th minute – her first league goals in French football. The other goals came courtesy of Saki Kumagai (3’), Ada Hegerberg (30’), and Camille Abily (39’).

Below Les Fenottes, challengers PSG suffered an untimely 2-0 defeat at the hands of old rivals Marseille, who remain in fourth, still some distance back from third-placed Montpellier (2-0 winners at Guingamp). At the other end of the table, Rodez extricated themselves from the relegation zone with a 3-2 triumph away to Soyaux-Charente.

Top three: Lyon (45 points), Paris Saint-Germain (38), Montpellier (37)

Germany: She-Wolves bare their teeth Like Lyon, the Frauen Bundesliga leaders, Turbine Potsdam, made light work of their opponents (Borussia Monchengladbach), scoring five unanswered goals in the process. The result maintained their two-point lead over Wolfsburg, who overcame third-placed Bayern Munich 2-0 to not only remain in the hunt for the German title but also create a useful four-point gap between themselves and Bayern.

Elsewhere, FFC Frankfurt won 3-0 in Essen to leapfrog Freiburg – who were held at home (0-0) by Hoffenheim – into fourth. Curiously, all three goals were scored by German international Mandy Islacker, who was born in Essen! In the lower reaches of the standings, Jena gave themselves some breathing space via a hard-fought 1-0 win over Duisburg, leaving Bayer Leverkusen and Monchengladbach alone in the two relegation spots.

Top three: Turbine Potsdam (37), Wolfsburg (35), Bayern Munich (31) Spain: Top trio travel well In the Spanish top flight, the teams occupying the first three spots in the table all pulled off important away wins over the weekend. Atletico Madrid continued their fine run at the top with a 2-0 triumph against Real Betis, while Barcelona kept within touching distance by defeating Fundacion Albacete by the same scoreline. Valencia remain in third position after beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1. The surprise of this round of fixtures came in the game between bottom club Tacuense and Levante: just a week after shipping 11 goals to Atletico, Tacuense dug deep and picked up three welcome points (3-1) against the team sitting fourth in the league.