European roundup: Dortmund top after Bayern are shocked at Mainz
Bayern Munich slumped to a 3-1 loss at Mainz, conceding all three goals in a span of 14 minutes, to drop to second place in the Bundesliga, behind Borussia Dortmund, with five games left in the season.
The Bavarian side, who kicked off two points clear of Borussia Dortmund, could not have imagined their fate after going 1-0 up courtesy of Sadio Mané’s 29th-minute header. Bayern, chasing an 11th straight league crown, are on 59 points, one behind Dortmund, who crushed Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 to take control of the title race.
Despite having more than 70% of possession for more than an hour, Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern, who have now won just two of their last seven matches under the former Mainz coach, were unable to carve out any more chances.
“We don’t feel any energy any more,” Tuchel said. “Too much has happened to this team and it struggles to bounce back when things don’t go its way. It is brutally difficult to develop a spirit as a team to fight back. We struggle to win matches. We had the game under control but did not score a second goal. We are not focused enough.”
They were punished for sloppy defending in the 65th minute after failing to clear the ball repeatedly and the goalkeeper, Yann Sommer, punched it straight on to the head of Ludovic Ajorque, who had only to nod in for the equaliser.
Another defensive error by Josip Stanisic allowed Leandro Barreiro to slot in and put the hosts in front as the Bayern club hierarchy looked on in complete shock from the stands.
The hosts, however, were not done yet as Aaron Martin rifled in their third goal in the 79th to make it 10 games without defeat for Mainz, who are now sixth and in contention for European qualification.
The defeat piles more pressure on the embattled sports director, Hasan
Salihamidzic, and the CEO, Oliver Kahn, who had been criticised for sacking Julian Nagelsmann in late March and bringing in Tuchel.
Dortmund cruised past Eintracht, with two goals coming from Donyell Malen. Jude Bellingham opened Dortmund’s account in the 19th minute after picking up the ball at the edge of the box, turning and firing in.
Their second goal, five minutes later, was far easier, with keeper Gregor Kobel kicking the ball deep in to the Frankfurt half and Malen slotting in after the ball was headed on twice past a clueless Frankfurt backline.
Mats Hummels made it 3-0 with a well-timed header from a Raphaël
Guerreiro cross before Karim Adeyemi’s solo effort set up Malen for the Dutch striker’s second goal of the evening in the 66th minute.
In the other early games, Wolfsburg won 5-1 at Bochum, while Werder Bremen were 4-2 victors at Hertha Berlin. Hoffenheim lost 3-1 at home to Cologne.
In Italy, Romelu Lukaku has been cleared to play in the Coppa Italia semifinal second leg against Juventus on Wednesday after his one-match ban was overturned by the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as a measure to fight racism.
Inter expressed their disappointment on Friday when Italy’s sports court of appeal upheld the ban for Lukaku, imposed after his expulsion for a second yellow card, saying the Belgian player had been punished despite being racially abused in the semi-final’s first leg. However, the FIGC’s president, Gabriele Gravina, overturned the suspension after evaluating the report of the federal prosecutor’s office, the federation said.
The striker was subjected to racial abuse during the first leg at Juventus “before, during, and after the penalty” he scored to earn Inter a 1-1 draw, the player’s representatives said. Lukaku was then sent off after receiving a second yellow card for his goal celebration during which he held his finger up to his mouth in front of Juve fans, a gesture which was judged to be provocative.
Lukaku was happy with the decision, saying the president had shown great sensitivity to the situation. “I believe that thanks to his intervention justice has been done and this sends out a great message to the whole world of sport and beyond,” Lukaku said. “This has shown that the desire is there to fight racism.”
In Serie A a first-half goal by the midfielder Ivan Ilic secured Torino a surprise 1-0 win at second-placed Lazio as Ivan Juric’s side returned to winning ways and into the top 10.
Torino, winless in their previous four games, moved up one place to 10th on 42 points. Lazio, who remain in second on 61 points, saw their lead over the third spot shrink to two
points after Juventus returned to the top four when their 15-point deduction over the club’s transfer dealings was scrapped on Thursday. Massimiliano Allegri’s side host the leaders, Napoli, on Sunday.
Marco Asensio and Éder Militão scored to give Real Madrid a 2-0 home win against Celta Vigo and cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga to eight points. With eight games remaining, second-placed Real maintained their slim title hopes by moving to 65 points. Barça have a game in hand and host third-placed Atlético Madrid on Sunday.
Real dominated proceedings and Asensio opened the scoring with a close-range strike from a Vinícius Júnior low cross in the 42nd minute. Militão wrapped up the win right after the break, the defender netting a towering header from a corner.
“We are going to fight until the last game, until it is mathematically impossible,” Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois told DAZN. “Now we want to win the next three matches and when the [Copa de Rey] final arrives, we will see how far away we are.”
Loïs Openda shone as Lens boosted their Champions League hopes with a 3-0 home win against Monaco, one of their direct rivals for a spot in Europe’s premium club competition, in Ligue 1.
The Belgium striker Openda struck twice before the break and set up midfielder Adrien Thomasson for the third goal in the second half to provisionally lift Lens up to second on 66 points with seven games left. The result left Monaco in fourth place, five points behind, while third-placed Marseille, on 64 points, travel to Lyon on Sunday.