Welcome to FIFA.com’srolling round-up of the weekend’s action, where we will keep you in the loop on the major happenings across world football. This week the yearly flood of titles looks set to begin, with some of the potential recipients more surprising than others.
Check back in with us as the weekend progresses to get the key results from across the planet. Want to find out more from the globe’s top divisions? Check out our new Live Scores section for results, scorers and tables from Australia to Zimbabwe following its makeover.
The big matches Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Monchengladbach Thomas Muller (6); Andre Hahn (72) Thomas Muller's early goal had the Bayern Munich supporters at the Allianz Arena set and ready to celebrate their 26th German Bundesliga title. However, Borussia Monchengladbach had other plans and Andre Hahn's second-half strike brought matters level, leaving Pep Guardiola's men one point short of winning the league. While Bayern must wait another week for the chance to bring out the bubbly, 'Gladbach, on the other hand, remain in the hunt for the final UEFA Champions League spot sitting in fourth.
Manchester United 1-1 Leicester City Anthony Martial (8); Wes Morgan (17) While few fans are surprised about Bayern’s proximity to another trophy, the world of football continues to be staggered by Leicester City. Like the German giants, they too started the weekend needing two points from three games to clinch the English Premier League - and like Bayern, they are still waiting to be crowned champions. Manchester United spoiled the party when Anthony Martial opened the scoring for the hosts, but Leicester's captain Wes Morgan produced the equaliser to give the visitors a point. The Foxes could clinch their first-ever top-flight title on Monday, however, should Tottenham Hotspur, who trail Leicester by eight points, fail to beat London rivals Chelsea.
The talking pointsFC Seoul remain top of the pile in Korea Republic after coming from a goal down to earn a draw at Suwon Bluewings in Saturday's Super Match. Junior Santos had given the hosts the lead after just seven minutes, but a 58th minute goal from Adriano ensured the visitors came away with a point.
Arsenal went third after Danny Welbeck's second-half winner put the Gunners ahead 1-0 over Norwich City. While Arsene Wenger's side look to have their space in Europe secured, the race for fourth and fifth are still very much up for grabs, especially after Southampton's 4-2 victory over visiting Manchester City on Sunday. Sadio Mane's hat-trick lifted the Saints past Manuel Pellegrini's men, who are fourth in the table, four points ahead of Manchester United and five in front of West Ham United.
In France, Nice failed to keep the pressure on Monaco and Lyon in the race for a Champions League place as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Nantes. Saint-Etienne and Toulouse battled to a goalless draw, moving Les Verts up to fourth in Ligue 1. Monaco, meanwhile, held off a late fight back to leapfrog Lyon with their 3-2 win against Guingamp to go second. OL, however, subsequently regained level footing with a 2-1 triumph over Ajaccio to retake second, edging Monaco on goal difference.
Real Madrid kept the pressure on their two Spanish La Liga rivals as Gareth Bale scored ten minutes from time to beat Real Sociedad 1-0. Atletico Madrid kept pace with their city rivals, though, beating Rayo Vallecano by the same scoreline to temporarily maintain their slender one-point lead atop the table. But Barcelona's 2-0 victory at hosts Real Betis later in the day saw Lionel Messi and Co rise to the top of the pack on goal difference.
The three-way showdown in Chile, with O’Higgins, Universidad Catolica and Colo Colo all within reach of clinching the Clausura title came to a dramatic conclusion on Saturday with the three sides playing in simultaneous kick-offs. Catolica ultimately prevailed atop the league table after a 2-1 win over Addax Italiano, securing their 11th league title to date. The path cleared for Catolica when O'Higgins stumbled, dropping their result against Universidad de Concepcion by the same scoreline. Colo Colo, also 2-1 winners on the day, finished second over O'Higgins due to their superior goal difference.
Dortmund put Wolfsburg to the sword, seeing off the visitors 5-1 to keep the pressure on Bayern Munich as Thomas Tuchel's men are now five points behind the Bundesliga leaders. Hertha Berlin slipped in their race for European football as Bayer Leverkusen beat the capital club 2-1, sending Hertha fifth.
In Argentina, San Lorenzo beat Independiente 1-0 in Avellaneda courtesy of Nicola Blandi's early second-half strike. The win put San Lorenzo atop the Primera Liga, but Godoy Cruz retook the lead later on Saturday on goal difference after beating Arsenal 2-0, courtesy of Jaimen Ayovi's 48th-minute finish and Fernando Zuqui's last-minute goal to provide additional insurance.
Elsewhere, in Czech Republic, Viktoria Plzen secured their fourth league title after beating Banik Ostrava 2-0, leaving too much of a gap for second place Sparta Prague to catch up with four games remaining in the season. In Portugal, Sporting kept the pressure on league leaders Benfica by beating Porto 3-1 to stay two points back.
Basel sealed the Swiss league championship with a 2-1 win against Sion to lift their 19th domestic title and seventh consecutive championship. Matias Delgado opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Birkir Bjarnason made the lead safe 20 minutes into the second half. Veroljub Salatic pulled back a consolation late into stoppage time but it was too little too late for the visitors.
To begin the weekend's action in Major League Soccer, Montreal Impact and Colorado Rapids battled to a thrilling 2-2 draw. Didier Drogba opened the scoring early with a sublime free-kick, and three goals exchanged in the second-half saw the points split between the Eastern Conference leaders and the resurgent Rapids out west. In Mexico, Club America and Monterrey played out a thrilling 3-3 draw, while Alajuelense defeated Saprissa in the first leg of a Clasico Nacional semi-final in Costa Rica.
Adelaide United became Australian champions on Sunday as they defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 3-1 in the A-League Grand Final to claim the competition for the first time. Former Barcelona and Spain star Guillermo Amor led the Reds to the title in his first season coaching in a top-flight league.
In Russia, Rostov slipped from the top spot after falling to a 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Mordovya. The result means CSKA Moscow are league leaders for now, while third-placed Zenit St. Petersburg will want to have their say also.
The championship in the Netherlands remains incredibly tight with one game to go, which sees Ajax pipping PSV at the top of the table on goal difference after both sides recorded high-scoring victories on Sunday.
In Ukraine there was just an opportunity for pride, rather than possibility, as newly-crowned champions Dynamo Kyiv hosted second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk. The UEFA Europa League semi-finalists took down Kyiv 3-0, boosted by Eduardo's double, despite finishing the match with ten men.
Universitario are Peruvian Apertura winners thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 away win over second-placed Sporting Cristal on Sunday. The lone goal was worthy of winning any title, with Edison Flores scoring with a spectacular bicycle kick soon after half-time as Universitario secured Copa Sudamericana qualification.
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