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Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues:
SPAIN
BELLINGHAM ENDS GOAL DROUGHT
Jude Bellingham took LaLiga by storm at the beginning of his first season with Real Madrid, who invested 103 million euros ($109 million) plus 30 million in add-ons to sign him from Borussia Dortmund in August, the second most expensive signing in the club’s history.
He was LaLiga’s top-scorer for most of the campaign, but the goals dried up after he scored twice to give Real a 2-0 win over upstarts Girona early in February.
Over two months passed before Bellingham finally found the net again against Barcelona on Sunday as he pounced in added time to give Real Madrid a 3-2 comeback win against their bitter rivals.
The result left second-placed Barca 11 points adrift of the leaders with six games left and Bellingham’s winner, his 17th goal in the LaLiga season, put him one behind Girona’s Artem Dovbyk on the top-scorers’ list.
ITALY
PIOLI EXIT?
As the season draws to a close, Italian media is buzzing with reports that AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli is heading for the exit door.
It is not the first time this season Pioli has been under pressure, with the Milan manager reportedly teetering on the brink as the new year approached. However, a string of positive results steered him out of the danger zone.
However, as the season nears an end, with Milan set for a second consecutive campaign without a trophy, Italian media is speculating about the 58-year-old’s future.
Pioli himself seemed unperturbed ahead of their match with Inter on Monday.
“Journalists and fans have the right to criticise, tomorrow there will be 70,000 fans spurring on AC Milan, nothing else matters,” he told reporters.
GERMANY
LEVERKUSEN’S UNBEATEN RUN CONTINUES
Champions Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run has lived a charmed life this week including on Sunday when a stoppage-time goal by Josip Stanisic rescued a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund.
Xabi Alonso’s side were also close to seeing their impressive run end on Thursday when they were trailing 1-0 at West Ham United in the Europa League quarter-finals but defender Jeremie Frimpong found a leveller in the 89th minute.
The draw in London helped Leverkusen set a new European record for consecutive unbeaten games, surpassing Juventus’s tally of 43 matches from 2011 and 2012.
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