**_BARCELONA_**: Lamine Yamal struck in the second half to earn Barcelona a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao, keeping the champions four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the LaLiga standings.
Hansi Flick rotated his side ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Newcastle United and Barcelona failed to test goalkeeper Unai Simon before halftime as Athletic controlled much of the play.
Athletic created the better chances but were repeatedly denied by keeper Joan Garcia, who produced a string of fine saves to keep the visitors level and underline his growing importance this season.
Flick introduced Raphinha, Pedri and Robert Lewandowski midway through the second half and the breakthrough came in the 68th minute. Pedri released Yamal inside the box running from the right channel and the 18-year-old curled a left-footed shot into the top corner to silence the home crowd.
Barcelona top the standings with 67 points, while Athletic are ninth with 35 points.
In France . . .
Monaco handed French champions Paris Saint-Germain their first home defeat of the Ligue 1 season on Fridsay with a 3-1 away victory at the Parc des Princes that opened up the championship race.
Maghnes Akliouche had Monaco ahead at halftime, and Aleksandr Golovin and Folarin Balogun netted after the break for the visitors, while Bradley Barcola scored a consolation for PSG, still four points clear of second-placed Racing Lens in the standings.
Lens, however, have a chance to cut into the lead when they host bottom-placed Metz on Sunday.
Monaco, who PSG had eliminated in the Champions League last month, moved up to fifth with 40 points, still 17 behind the leaders.
Akliouche punished the home side in the 27th minute after a poor clearance by Warren Zaire-Emery in his own penalty area, with Balogun moving aside so the French international could hit a left-footed finish home from close range.
Golovin increased it to 2-0 in the 55th minute with his first touch after coming on as a substitute, sweeping home a square pass from Mamadou Coulibaly.
PSG were handed hopes of a comeback when Barcola pulled one back in the 71st minute with a right-footed effort from the left wing.
But Monaco took two minutes to restore the two-goal advantage as Balogun’s shot took a deflection off Nuno Mendes before nestling into the back of the net.
PSG will have to pick themselves up as they host Chelsea on Wednesday as they continue their defence of the Champions League title.
In Germany . . .
Bayern Munich cruised past 10-man Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-1 on Friday to widen their lead at the top to 14 points in the German Bundesliga. Even without injured top striker Harry Kane, it was one-way traffic from the start as four different scorers were on target for Bayern.
Brimming with confidence following last week’s 3-2 win at second-placed Borussia Dortmund, Vincent Kompany’s men were once again in ruthless form.
The Bavarians, who face Atalanta on Tuesday in the Champions League Round of 16 first leg, are now on 66 points in the Bundesliga with nine games left to play.
Luis Diaz, the league’s second best scorer, opened the hosts’ account in the 33rd with a superb volley for his 14th goal of the campaign before Konrad Laimer doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime.
Things took a turn for the worse for Gladbach in the 55th when Rocco Reitz was sent off with a straight red card for fouling Nicolas Jackson in the box. In the absence of Kane, it was Jamal Musiala who stepped up and converted the spot kick to make it 3-0.
It was Musiala’s first league goal since his return from injury in January after breaking his leg in July 2025 with the Germany midfielder desperate to get some much needed match practice with an eye on the World Cup starting in June.
Jackson also got onto the scoresheet in the 79th, tapping in Lennart Karl’s cutback, before Gladbach bagged a late consolation goal in the 89th with substitute Wael Mohya.
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