Juventus in difficulty

Following their loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last week, Juventus struggled to win an unconvincing 1-0 away win over Bologna, struggling for relegation.

Paulo Dybala came into play to score the only goal of the match and his coach Mbadimiliano Allegri was honest in his badessment.

"There was still a little hangover Wednesday – there is no point in hiding it," said the coach. "Today, it was important to win and suffer, the guys played well."

Napoli's 4-0 defeat against Parma means that they continue to lead the hunting squad.

In Spain, Lionel Messi once again made the headlines: he managed a hat trick – the 50th of his career – in the 4-2 win at Barcelona in Seville.

Atletico Madrid beat Villarreal 2-0 to retain second place ahead of Real Madrid, who had the upper hand on Levante in an angry match, nine points from the end.

Ball penalty

A late penalty from Gareth Bale sealed Real's 2-1 win, but not before each team could fire a man.

Jadon Sancho scored a goal and a badist in Borussia Dortmund's nervous 3-2 win over Bayer Leverkusen yesterday.

After watching Bayern Munich beat Hertha Berlin, there was strong pressure for Dortmund to regain his three-point lead at the top.

It was also the end of their series of three consecutive draws in the league.

Kylian Mbappe was back on the scoresheet. His double against Nimes on Saturday was his 50th and 51st goals in Ligue 1.

And it could have been more, the French international having scored the ball in the net twice, but the two players were sidelined in the 3-0 win.

They are now leading Ligue 1 by 17 points.

Independent Irish