Chelsea keep Champions League hopes alive at Burnley

Chelsea kept their outside chances of chasing down Tottenham Hotspur for a place in next season’s Champions League alive as a much-changed side secured a 2-1 win at Burnley.

At the other end of the table, Southampton crept closer to relegation as a 0-0 draw at Leicester leaves the Saints still four points off safety with just four games remaining to save themselves.

Chelsea closed to within five points of fourth-placed Spurs, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men also have a kinder run in than their London rivals.

LONDON:

ATLETICO LOSS LEAVES BARCA CLOSE TO TITLE

Atletico Madrid slumped to a 3-0 defeat at resurgent Real Sociedad on Thursday which means Barcelona need one more victory to wrap up a 25th Spanish La Liga title while Malaga were relegated after losing 1-0 at Levante. Second-placed Atletico were outplayed by Sociedad from start to finish and fell behind in the 27th minute to a thumping strike off the post from forward Willian Jose after a cut-back from former Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj.

The Basque side have been on a good run of form since Imanol Alguacil succeeded sacked coach Eusebio Sacristan and they welcomed Atletico after hammering Girona 5-0 and winning 1-0 at Las Palmas in their last two games. Second-placed Atletico have 71 points after 33 games while Barca have 83 and third-placed Real Madrid 68.

MADRID:

REUTERS Chelsea's Victor Moses (second from left) celebrates scoring his team’s second goal against Burnley on Thursday.