El Clasico success moves Barcelona closer to another LaLiga title

Barcelona have one hand on the LaLiga trophy after beating Real Madrid 4-3 in a goal-laden El Clasico.

Barca went into the clash four points clear of their rivals and have now extended that to seven with only three games left despite a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe.

Real made a lightning start, Mbappe picking himself up to score from the penalty spot in the fifth minute after a foul by Wojciech Szczesny and then doubling the visitors’ advantage nine minutes later.

But in the 19th minute Eric Garcia pulled one back and Lamine Yamal levelled with a curling effort with 32 minutes gone.

Barca were now firmly on the front foot and they went in at half-time 4-2 ahead, Raphinha seizing on a defensive mistake two minutes later and then netting the fourth just before the break.

Mbappe completed his treble with 20 minutes left but Real could not find an equaliser, while birthday boy Fermin Lopez had a late fifth for Barca disallowed for handball.

Athletic Bilbao bounced back from their Europa League disappointment with a 1-0 win over struggling Alaves courtesy of Manu Sanchez’s 71st-minute own goal.

Real Betis’ Champions League hopes were dealt a blow as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Osasuna, Ante Budimir cancelling out Cucho Hernandez’s opener 15 minutes from time.

Leganes boosted their hopes of survival with a 3-2 victory over Espanyol, holding on despite a late comeback from the Catalan side.

In Germany, Borussia Dortmund moved to within one point of the top four with a 4-2 victory over second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

Jeremie Frimpong gave last year’s Bundesliga champions the lead on the half-hour mark but Dortmund were ahead by half-time thanks to a quick response from Julian Brandt and a second from Julian Ryerson.

Karim Adeyemi added a third in the 73rd minute and Serhou Guirassy’s fourth made absolutely sure of the points before Jonas Hofmann pulled one back for Leverkusen in stoppage time.

An emotional afternoon saw the Leverkusen fans bid farewell to boss Xabi Alonso ahead of his final home match.

Third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt were held to a 2-2 draw by relegation-threatened St Pauli.

There were two goals in the opening four minutes, with Manolis Saliakas cancelling out Rasmus Kristensen’s first-minute strike before Morgan Guilavogui put St Pauli ahead. Michy Batshuayi earned Frankfurt a point with an equaliser 19 minutes from time.

Samuel Essende’s early red card gave Augsburg an uphill task against Stuttgart and they slumped to a 4-0 loss.

In Serie A, Napoli are now only a point ahead of Inter Milan at the top after they were held to a 2-2 draw by Genoa.

Romelu Lukaku’s 15th-minute opener was cancelled out by an own goal from Alex Meret and, although Giacomo Raspadori restored Napoli’s lead in the second half, Johan Vasquez earned Genoa a point six minutes from time.

Earlier, goals from Nicola Zalewski and Kristjan Asllani from the penalty spot earned Inter a 2-0 victory over Torino.

Verona edged closer to safety after a 1-1 draw with Lecce, who remain deep in trouble, while already-relegated Monza claimed just their third league win of the season, winning 2-1 at Udinese thanks to Keita Balde’s 90th-minute winner.