THE last Clásico of the season in Spain saw Barcelona beat Real Madrid 4-3 in a pulsating game. Real could have closed the gap at the top of La Liga to just one point and after 15 minutes, they were 2-0 up thanks to two goals from Kylian Mbappé. But Barca have forged a reputation for being good at comebacks and they went in at half-time 4-2 ahead with goals from Eric García, Lamine Yamal and a brace from Raphinha. Mbappé secured his hat-trick 20 minutes from time and he had a goal disallowed late on and a penalty decision about-turned. In the final seconds, Fermin Lopez thought had scored a fifth for Barca but it was ruled out by VAR. Barca are now seven points clear at the top with three games to go, only a major collapse will deprive them of the title. Meanwhile, Atlético Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad 4-0 with Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth scoring all four goals in a 24-minute spell in the first half. Sevilla were beaten 3-2 at Celta Vigo to leave them uncomfortably close to the relegation zone. Their fans laid siege on the club’s training ground when the team returned from Vigo, which meant they had to spend the night there after some violent attacks on the site.
**Attendances**
**League**
**Home team**
**Away team**
**Attendance**
Germany
Bayern Munich
Borussia Mönchengladbach
75,000
England
Manchester United
West Ham United
73,804
Italy
AC Milan
Bologna
71,076
Portugal
Benfica
Sporting
63,478
England
Liverpool
Arsenal
60,324
England
Tottenham Hotspur
Crystal Palace
60,254
Spain
Atlético Madrid
Real Sociedad
59,612
Scotland
Celtic
Hibernian
58,972
**Eredivisie: Nervous Ajax losing their grip**
THE Dutch league title race has taken a new twist with just two rounds of matches to go. Ajax, who looked certain to be champions a couple of weeks ago, were beaten 3-0 at home by NEC Nijmegen with three second half goals. Ajax remain one point ahead of PSV, who came from two-down to win 3-2 at Feyenoord. The Rotterdam were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes and it wasn’t until the 50thminute that Ivan Perisic pulled one back for PSV. Noa Lang equalised with a quarter of an hour to go and in the ninth minute of added time, he scored again to win the game. Ajax travel to Groningen and PSV host Heracles on May 14 and on the final day (May 18), Ajax welcome Twente to Amsterdam and PSV return to Rotterdam to meet Sparta.
**Swiss Super League: Basel back on top**
BASEL have won their first league title since 2017 with three games to go. Very few people anticipated they would be contenders, especially as they had some concerns over relegation a year ago. One of Basel’s big successes this season has been Xherdan Shaqiri, who returned to the club in August and scored 18 goals in 31 league games. The 33 year-old is the top scorer in the Swiss Super League, but the team as a whole has been rather goal-happy, netting 82 in 35 matches. Shaqiri scored a hat-trick in 10 minutes on Saturday as Basel won 5-2 away at Lugano. Servette and Young Boys are currently in second and third place and it was their 0-0 draw that confirmed Basel were the champions. They also have the chance to complete the double as they play third tier club Biel Bienne on June 1 in the Swiss Cup final.
**Austrian Bundesliga: Sturm end Salzburg’s hopes**
THE Austrian title could go all the way to the final game when Sturm Graz meet Wolfsberger at the Merkur Stadium in Graz on May 24. The two teams are the only realistic challengers now, although FK Austria Wien are not mathematically out of contention. FK Austria were beaten 2-1 at home by rivals Rapid in the Vienna derby, with Ercan Kara scoring the winner for Rapid with six minutes to go. Sturm Graz put on a scintillating show in beating RB Salzburg 4-2, a result that ended the Red Bull sides’s chance of the title. Sturm’s goals came from William Bøving, Gregory Wüthrich, Tochi Chukwuani and an own goal from Aleksa Terzić. Wolfsberger, who have already lifted the Austrian Cup, won 2-0 against Blau-Weiß Linz and will play FK Austria on May 18, while Sturm travel to Rapid.
**Hat-trick heroes**
**League**
**Player**
**Club**
**Opponents**
**Timing**
Spain
Alexander Sørloth
Atlético Madrid
Real Sociedad
7, 10, 11 (5 minutes), 30
France
Gonçalo Ramos
Paris Saint-Germain
Montpellier
49, 59, 65 (17 minutes
Switzerland
Yherdan Shaqiri
Basel
Lugano
48, 51, 57 (10 minutes)
Spain
Kylian Mbappé
Real Madrid
Barcelona
5, 14, 70 (66 minutes)
**Premier: The frustration of the Europa finalists**
WHILE Liverpool were held 2-2 by Arsenal at Anfield, throwing away a two-goal lead they had built up in the first 20 minutes, the big talking point was the crowd reaction to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was jeered by some sections of the home crowd as he came on as a substitute. There was frustration at Nottingham Forest where the home team were held 2-2 by relegated Leicester City. The club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis was so upset he went onto the pitch to talk to coach Nuno Espírito Santo. One look at the league table underlines just how poor Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have been this season – the clubs are 16th and 17th in the table. They both lost 2-0 at home to West Ham and Crystal Palace respectively.
**Bundesliga: Holstein down, Hamburg up**
WITH THE title now in Bayern’s hands, attention turns to the bottom end of the Bundesliga. Bochum and Holstein Kiel have been relegated, the latter in their debut top flight season. The third play-off place is still undecided, but it is looking increasingly like Heidenheim. Hamburg are on their way back to Bundesliga 1 after securing promotion with an emphatic 6-1 win against Ulm. There was trouble at the Volksparkstadion as the crowd flooded the pitch to celebrate which left 25 injured. Hamburg were relegated for the first time in their history in 2018. Köln are in second place and will claim the second promotion place if they earn a point in their final game at home to Kaiserslautern.
**Portugal: All-square in Derby de Lisboa**
THE Primeira Liga is still gridlocked at the top, with Sporting and Benfica both on 79 points with one game to go. The two Lisbon sides drew 1-1 at the Estádio da Luz, with Sporting taking an early lead through Francisco Trincão and Kerem Aktürkoglu levelling for Benfica midway through the second period. Sporting had Ricardo Esgaio sent off in added time. Benfica have to better Sporting’s result on the final day next weekend – if they are level on points, head-to-head results are taken into consideration. Sporting, who are at home to Vitória in their last game, beat Benfica earlier this season 1-0. The Eagles are away to Braga.
**Titles still undecided**
Austria, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine.
**Titles won
**
Armenia (Noah), Azerbaijan (Qarabag), Bulgaria (Ludogorets), Cyprus (Pafos), Czech (Slavia), England (Liverpool), France (PSG), Germany (Bayern), Gibraltar (Lincoln New Imps), Greece (Olympiacos), Kosovo (Drita), Luxembourg (Differdange), Malta (Hamrun), Montenegro (Buducnost), North Macedonia (Shkendija), Northern Ireland (Linfield), Romania (FCSB), Scotland (Celtic), Serbia (Red Star Belgrade), Slovakia (Slovan Bratislava), Switzerland (Basel), Wales (New Saints).
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)