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European Football Betting Weekend Review: 10-12 May
It’s been another busy weekend of European football, so here’s a recap of all the results, stories and talking points from La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
La Liga
Real Madrid paraded the La Liga trophy on Sunday, but only after smashing Granada 4-0 a day earlier.
Fran García and Arda Güler on target, before Brahim Díaz bagged a brace as a heavily rotated team cruised to victory at Nuevo Los Cármenes.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team are certainly looking good ahead of the Champions League Final on 1 June.
This result confirmed Granada’s relegation, which didn’t come as a surprise, considering they’ve won just four matches all season.
Almería have already been down for weeks, but a third Andalusian club Cádiz lives to fight another day.
El Submarino Amarillo beat Getafe 1-0 on Sunday, Rubén Alcaraz converting a penalty, which means Mauricio Pellegrino’s team are five points from safety with three games to go.
Cádiz’s remaining fixtures are Sevilla (A), Las Palmas (H) and Almería (A) so, considering this team have won just three of their last 31, failing to win on the road all season, the chances of them claiming two victories from these matches is unlikely, but not impossible.
The side they’re hoping to catch at Celta de Vigo, who are not yet safe following their 1-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid, with Rodrigo De Paul’s late goal snatching victory for los Colchoneros.
This result means Atleti have now won 16 of 18 La Liga home games this season, with Diego Simeone’s side one victory away from mathematically making sure of a top four finish.
Girona are already certain of their place in the Champions League, currently second, despite Friday night’s 2-2 draw with Alavés at Mendizorrotza; Jon Guridi snatching a 99th minute equaliser for the hosts.
On Monday night, Barcelona will leapfrog their Catalan neighbours should they beat Real Sociedad at Montjuïc, with Xavi’s side targeting a fifth successive home win.
La Real also need the points as they seek to qualify for the Europa League, dropping down to seventh over the weekend, thereby occupying the Conference League play-off round place.
That’s because, as was widely-expected to happen, Real Betis beat Almería 3-2 at the Benito Villamarín, thanks to goals from Pablo Fornals, Isco and Ayoze Pérez.
As Copa del Rey winners, regardless of league finish, although they are fifth anyway, Athletic Club will be returning to European competition after six years away, doing so in the Europa League.
Ernesto Valverde’s side fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Osasuna on Saturday night, meaning Athletic are unbeaten in 17 Primera División home games, equalling the club record set in the late-70s.
There’s a full mid-week round of La Liga fixtures coming your way on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Girona vs Villarreal, Getafe vs Atleti and Real Sociedad vs Valencia some of the games to keep a eye out for.
Serie A
There’s plenty going on in the weird and wonderful world of Calcio, but this weekend belonged to Bologna.
On Saturday evening, Thiago Motta’s team beat Napoli 2-0 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with Dan Ndoye and Stefan Posch bagging quick-fire early goals, before stand-in goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia denied Matteo Politano from the penalty spot.
Then, following Sunday’s results, it was confirmed that Bologna had mathematically qualified for the Champions League, a truly remarkable achievement.
I Rossoblù haven’t featured in a major UEFA competition since 1999, while their one and only appearance in the top-tier tournament came in 1964, ousted by Anderlecht in the European Cup’s preliminary round by virtue of a coin toss, after a 2-2 draw on aggregate, followed by a goalless replay at Camp Nou; how times have changed!
Champions Internazionale, AC Milan and Juventus will also be representing Italy in next season’s Champions League, with Atalanta taking a gigantic step towards joining them on Sunday night.
With a bonus fifth place up for grabs, la Dea’s clash with Roma was massive, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s side ran out 2-1 winner in Bergamo; Charles De Ketelaere scoring twice in as many minutes, before Lorenzo Pellegrini pulled one back from the penalty spot, but to no avail for I Giallorossi.
So, Atalanta are now three points clear of Roma, and with a better head-to-head, so will wrap-up Champions League qualification with victory at Lecce on Saturday.
Before then, la Dea have the small matter of a Coppa Italia Final coming up on Wednesday, with many making them favourites as Atalanta seek to capture silverware for the first time since 1963.
Juventus are their opponents at the Olimpico, with Massimiliano Allegri’s team requiring a stoppage time equaliser from Adrien Rabiot to salvage a draw against already relegated Salernitana at home on Sunday.
La Vecchia Signora have now drawn five on the spin, winning only two of their last 15, while I Bianconeri are also winless in eight played away from Allianz Stadium, dating back to 21 January.
Both league meetings between the pair resulted in draws, but we’re backing Atalanta, who also have a Europa League Final to come of course, to hoist aloft the Coppa Italia trophy in mid-week.
Back in Serie A, it appears set that the two capital clubs will feature in next season’s Europa League, with Roma’s top five aspirations now all but over, while Lazio are just a point behind, following their 2-0 win over Empoli.
The race for eighth place and Conference League football is very much on, with Napoli the current occupants of the last European position, but with Fiorentina and Torino just a point behind, and I Viola will leapfrog last season’s champions, should they defeat Monza on Monday night.
Monday’s earlier kick off could have huge ramifications in the relegation battle that seems set to go to the last day.
Sassuolo’s survival hopes suffered a hammer blow on Sunday, defeated 2-1 at Genoa, despite taking the lead through Andrea Pinamonti’s penalty.
However, after both Frosinone and Empoli were defeated, Fabio Cannavaro’s Udinese can climb above both, should I Bianconeri defeat Lecce at Stadio Via del mare on Monday evening.
Bundesliga
Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak is showing no signs up subsiding, making it 50 games undefeated across all competitions, now just three away from completing an invincible treble.
On Sunday, die Werkself scored five in a Bundesliga away game for a second successive weekend, this time hammering Bochum, with Patrik Schick, Victor Boniface, Amine Adli, Josip Stanišić and Álex Grimaldo all on target at Ruhrstadion, the scene of their most-recent defeat 351 days ago.
So, next Saturday, Xabi Alonso’s side will be presented with the Meisterschale following their game against Augsburg, before meeting Atalanta in the Europa League Final and then Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal Final the following Saturday, three games away from an unprecedented, unbeaten treble.
This weekend was the penultimate matchday of the Bundesliga season, with the relegation battle really heating up, setting up a potentially dramatic final day.
In Saturday’s huge game, Union Berlin raced into a 2-0 lead after just 19 minutes at RheinEnergieStadion, Robin Knoche and Kevin Volland scoring, the quickest die Eisernen have ever scored twice in a top-flight away fixture.
Defeat would have condemned Köln to relegation, but they weren’t going to take it lying down, with Steffen Tigges equalising in the 87th minute, before teenager Damion Downs poked home a 93rd minute winner.
By Saturday night, Union Berlin then had slipped into the relegation play-off spot, courtesy of Mainz’s 3-0 hammering of Borussia Dortmund; Leandro Barreiro on target, before Lee Jae-sung scored twice.
Since Bo Henriksen’s appointment as die Nullfünfer’s head coach in February, no club has picked up more points from home matches that Mainz’s tally of 17, unbeaten in eight at Mewa Arena
So, on the final day, Köln will go down unless they beat Heidenheim and Union Berlin are defeated by Freiburg.
Both Bochum and Mainz could still end up in the relegation play-off, but only if Union are victorious and they are defeated, with visits to Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg on the cards respectively.
Towards the top of the table, Eintracht Frankfurt’s 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach means die Adler have qualified for the Europa League.
The top five places have been sorted for a while, making Bayern Munich’s 2-0 win over Wolfsburg rather inconsequential.
On Friday night, Serhou Guirassy was the only scorer as Stuttgart beat Augsburg 1-0, this die Schwaben’s 22nd win of the season, the most they’ve ever enjoyed in a top-flight campaign, which is remarkable considering they’re five-times champions.
On Sunday, Hoffenheim smashed already relegated Darmstadt 6-0, scoring five in the first half of a match in either the first or second division for the first time ever.
Assuming Bayer win the Pokal, eighth will be enough for Conference League qualification, with Hoffenheim and Freiburg currently occupying the last European spots, although Heidenheim, Augsburg and Werder Bremen are all still mathematically in contention going into the final day.
Lastly, a word on the Zweite Bundesliga, because two clubs were promoted this weekend.
After 13 seasons in the second-tier, St. Pauli will be back in the Bundesliga for the first time since 2010 which, given that fierce rivals HSV remained rooted in the 2.Bundesliga, is extra sweet for Kiezkicker.
Nearby Holstein Kiel are coming up too, becoming the latest top-tier debutants, set to be the 58th different club to compete in the Bundesliga since the inaugural season of 1963/64.
Fortuna Düsseldorf have also rubber stamped third, so we know they will feature in the relegationsspielen on 23 and 27 May, with their opponents still to be confirmed.
Ligue 1
Paris Saint-Germain were presented with the Ligue 1 trophy on Sunday night, but the party was rather spoilt by the fact PSG were actually beaten 3-1 by Toulouse, despite taking an early lead through Kylian Mbappé.
Les Rouge-et-Bleu were defeated in a domestic fixture for the first time since 15 September, just a few days after their annual, ignominious Champions League exit, the latest edition courtesy of Borussia Dortmund.
Sunday saw Mbappé's final appearance for the club at Parc des Princes, and he received a mixed reception.
The Ultras unfurled a banner that said “a child from the suburbs of Paris, became a legend for Paris Saint-Germain”, but this was booed by other sections of the stadium.
Just below in the table, Monaco have secured their place in the Champions League league phase, courtesy of a 2-0 win at Montpellier, in which Kassoum Ouattara and Youssouf Fofana were the scorers.
At the same time, with seven fixtures taking place simultaneously on Sunday night, LOSC Lille climbed up to third, as Jonathan David’s doubled downed Nantes.
Les Dogues, who host Nice on the final day, are now above Brest, following les Pirates’s 1-1 draw with Reims, meaning, as it stands, Lille would go straight into the Champions League while Brest, who’ve never previously featured in UEFA competition, entering in qualifying.
The aforementioned Nice have guaranteed a top five finish, getting into the Europa League at least, after les Aiglons defeated Le Havre on Friday night, with Jérémie Boga the only scorer.
In the race for sixth and seventh, Lens could only draw with Rennes while, at the same time, Lyon joined them on 50 points, thanks to a 1-0 win at Clermont, while Marseille are a mere three points adrift both with a game in hand, after OM swatted aside Lorient.
This brings us nicely onto the relegation battle, because Clermont Foot are officially relegated, while Lorient appear doomed too.
Les Merlus are currently three points below Metz with a goal difference that’s seven inferior, (-21 to -28), although, on the final day, Lorient host basement boys Clermont, while Metz take on champions PSG, so you never know.
László Bölöni’s side require a point against PSG to make sure of the relegation play-off place, almost guaranteed to remain in the bottom three, considering they’re three points below Le Havre who’s goal difference is 11 better.
Lastly, a word on Nantes, who are now safe, but have endured a miserable campaign, losing each of their last nine at Stade de la Beaujoire, a new, unwanted club record for Antoine Kombouaré's team.
There’s a double-header of mid-week fixtures coming your way on Wednesday, as Nice host PSG while, concurrently, Reims take on OM, two fixtures that could be key in the fight for Europe.
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