• Georgian opens the scoring as PSG beat rivals 2-0

• Inter victorious over Lazio in Coppa Italia final

Paris Saint-Germain secured a fifth successive Ligue 1 title by beating their nearest challengers, Lens, 2-0 in their penultimate match of the league season on Wednesday.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored after 29 minutes and the substitute Ibrahim Mbaye grabbed a stoppage-time goal to put PSG on 76 points, out of the reach of Lens, who are assured of second place on 67 points.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s rampage hurts Marseille, Strasbourg struggle and Bastia hit a new low

By Get French Football News

It was a dramatic weekend of football in France. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Emanuel Emegha played starring roles; so too did the Bastia fans, as the club exited the stage kicking and screaming.

The word “fire” has been used a lot in Marseille this season, because it has been blazing or because Habib Beye has sought to extinguish it. Such talk was purely figurative – until this week. Aubameyang was not on the teamsheet when Marseille travelled to Le Havre hoping to end a run of three games without a win. Their recent slump has not only ensured they will fail to qualify for the Champions League, but it has put them in danger of missing out on European football altogether.

• Fàbregas’s team up to fourth in Serie A before later action

• Hamburg get better of Europa League finalists Freiburg

Como kept up their stunning bid for Champions League football on Sunday by beating relegated Verona 1-0 and moving to within two points of Serie A’s top four.

Tasos Douvikas rattled home the only goal of the game in the 71st minute at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi as Como moved up to fifth and piled pressure on fourth-placed Milan.

• Kane misses first Bundesliga spot-kick in 25 attempts in win

• Slavia-Sparta derby abandoned after pitch invasion

Harry Kane missed a penalty as Bayern Munich failed to hit top form but the Bundesliga champions still edged struggling Wolfsburg 1-0 to bounce back after their midweek Champions League semi-final exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern, who won with a Michael Olise goal, had suffered a 6-5 aggregate loss to PSG after their 1-1 draw in Munich on Wednesday, narrowly missing out on what would have been their first Champions League final in six years. The frustration was evident at the start as the Bavarian side, with six changes in the lineup, lacked their usual attacking spark despite having Kane, the top scorer, in the starting XI.

Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola have bought into Luis Enrique’s vision

By Get French Football News

Ousmane Dembélé grins when he says that, if he does not press, he will be benched by Luis Enrique. The Ballon d’Or winner does not do his defensive work under duress. Like the rest of his teammates, he seems to derive enjoyment from a part of the game that was once seen as unnatural. Attackers would attack and defenders would defend; simple rules for a simple game. But demands have changed.

The forward line of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar was a mouthwatering prospect but they failed to take Paris Saint‑Germain close to a Champions League title and there was a lack of joy in their work. All attack and no defend made PSG a dull watch. There was a lesson in their failure: that football had changed and matches could not be won by the sheer weight of their attacking talent.

• Barça will be champions if Real fail to win on Sunday

• Bayern draw with Heidenheim; PSG denied by Lorient

Barcelona could secure the La Liga title on Sunday after Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres struck late in a 2-1 victory at Osasuna. With four games remaining, Barça top the table on 88 points, 14 clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand and visit Espanyol on Sunday. Should Madrid fail to win, Barcelona will be confirmed champions for the second successive season.

Barça broke through in the 81st minute when Marcus Rashford crossed from the right and Lewandowski rose to head in. Five minutes later Fermín López slipped Torres clear and he finished low past Sergio Herrera. Raúl García pulled back a goal from close range two minutes later, but it was too little to late for Osasuna, who remain 10th on 42 points.

• Bayern stun Mainz with four second-half goals

• Rashford strikes for Barcelona in win at Getafe

Bayern Munich fought back from three goals down to clinch a 4-3 win away to Mainz 05, with substitutes Harry Kane and Michael Olise leading a second-half comeback for the Bundesliga champions. Dominik Kohr, Paul Nebel and Sheraldo Becker scored for Mainz in the first half while Bayern, who had made eight changes to the starting lineup that beat Bayer Leverkusen in Wednesday’s German Cup semi-final, had no shots on target until the break.

The Bayern coach, Vincent Kompany, brought on Kane and Olise after the break and their renewed aggression paid off with Nicolas Jackson scoring in the 53rd minute and Olise finding the net 20 minutes later.

• Late leveller is fresh blow to Madrid’s faint title hopes

• RB Leipzig’s 3-1 win is marred by online sexism row

Héctor Bellerín struck deep into stoppage time to earn Real Betis a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid on Friday, dealing another blow to the visitors’ fading title hopes.

Álvaro Arbeloa’s side appeared on course for a narrow win after taking the lead in the 17th minute. Federico Valverde let fly from outside the box and the Betis goalkeeper, Álvaro Valles, could only parry the ball into the path of Vinícius Júnior, who reacted swiftly to guide a neat finish just inside the right post.

PSG’s win against Nantes gives them a four-point lead on Lens, but now have a gruelling schedule to play through

By Get French Football News

“The title is still in play. Lens aren’t giving up,” warned Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos after his team’s comfortable 3-0 win over Nantes on Wednesday night. Nantes put up a fight early in the match, and even had what would have been an equalising goal ruled out for offside, but they eventually caved to defeat at the Parc des Princes.

With five rounds of games to play, PSG have a four-point lead over Lens, who they meet in the penultimate fixture of the campaign. “This is a tough league but we haven’t had a challenger like this in other years,” added the Brazilian defender. “Lens are really having a great season. It’s good for us. It keeps us working hard and focused until the end of the season. We don’t have time to dwell. We’ll be playing every three days.”

Bill Foley – who also owns Bournemouth – thinks he can do better than Olivier Pantaloni but he may prove mistaken

By Get French Football News

“Why can’t we beat everyone?” asked Lorient owner Bill Foley earlier this month. It’s not the kind of fighting talk you are accustomed to hearing from a newly promoted side but, given that they have already beaten Lens, Lyon, Monaco, Rennes, and now Marseille at home, it is justified.

Lorient toyed with Marseille during their 2-0 win on Saturday, eliciting “olés” from the crowd as they knocked the ball around. The fans at the Stade du Moustoir are used to being treated. Lorient have lost just twice at home in the last two seasons. Not even Paris Saint-Germain took all three points when they visited earlier in the campaign. Marseille’s sporting director, Medhi Benatia, launched into a tirade after the match, denouncing his players’ performances as a “scandal”, but he should have shown more respect for opponents who have defied the odds this season.

Thierry Henry loves him. Didier Deschamps made him a France player at 17. And Luis Enrique says he is ‘spectacular’

By Get French Football News

When Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan Thierry Henry said “the sky is the limit” for the midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off.

Beeswax was Icarus’ undoing; a mild ankle sprain did it for Zaïre-Emery. Not quite the stuff of legend, but far from inconsequential. Having started six of PSG’s eight games in the league phase of the Champions League last season, he missed their playoff tie against Brest and would not start another game in the competition all season. Luis Enrique had found his formula and Zaïre-Emery was not part of it. Fabian Ruiz joined Vitinha and João Neves in the midfield and they started every knockout game as PSG won the competition for the first time. The PSG midfield was dazzling without Zaïre-Emery.

• Fans jeer as draw follows losses to Mallorca and Bayern

• Marseille go third in Ligue 1 as Paris FC stun Monaco

Real Madrid had to settle for a 1-1 draw against mid-table Girona in La Liga on Friday, extending the hosts’ winless run to three games in all competitions and giving Barcelona the chance to stretch their advantage at the top.

Federico Valverde put Madrid ahead six minutes after half-time but Girona levelled in the 62nd minute through Thomas Lemar. Álvaro Arbeloa’s side are six points behind Barça, who have a game in hand against Espanyol on Saturday and could move nine clear with seven games to play.

Habib Beye was given the Marseille job as he knows the club but his style is smothering the team’s attacking flair

By Get French Football News

Habib Beye quoted Pape Diouf, the late former Marseille president, when he was appointed as the club’s new manager in February, saying: “Pape Diouf, who I considered my spiritual father, always told me: ‘When the fire burns in Marseille, sometimes you have to let it burn because it will go out on its own.’ This club brings you immense emotions but from time to time you have to be able to stay cool, calm, and collected.”

The club was ablaze when Roberto De Zerbi’s tumultuous reign came to an end. His exit heralded a wave of fan discontent and incited change in the boardroom. Beye spoke about letting the fire burn out, but he would have been better advised to keep the flame alive. Under the Italian, Marseille were imperfect and inconsistent, but capable of brilliance. He played to the strengths in the squad. The attack was scintillating at times; the problem was the goals they shipped at the other end. Beye has not played to his squad’s strengths. Instead, his radical departure from his predecessor’s style has only accentuated Marseille’s weaknesses.

• PSV hold 17-point lead to clinch title with five games left

• Inter edge towards winning Serie A with Roma thrashing

PSV Eindhoven were crowned on Sunday as Dutch champions for the 27th time, with five matches left of the season, after second-placed Feyenoord’s 0-0 draw with Volendam.

PSV hold an unassailable 17-point lead at the top of the table after bouncing back from successive defeats with a 4-3 victory against Utrecht on Saturday.

• Robert Lewandowski’s late winner sinks Atlético

• Real downed by Mallorca’s stoppage-time winner

Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory away to 10-man Atlético Madrid on Saturday that moved the defending champions seven points clear of Real Madrid – who suffered a shock defeat at Real Mallorca – at the top of La Liga.

Barcelona had plenty of motivation after Real’s 2-1 loss at Mallorca earlier on Saturday, but it was the hosts who took the lead six minutes before the break through Giuliano Simeone.

• Lens were opposed to moving the Ligue 1 game

• The top two sides will now play on 13 May

Paris Saint-Germain’s visit to Lens, potentially a crucial encounter in the Ligue 1 title race, has been postponed to give PSG more time to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool.

The match between the top two teams in France’s top division – PSG lead Lens by a point – was scheduled for 11 April but will now take place on 13 May, three days before the final round of fixtures.

PSG do not run as much as their opponents and they are not as big or powerful, but they keep winning

By Get French Football News

Luis Enrique said his side’s 4-0 win over Nice “showed the kind of team that PSG are”. With Nuno Mendes at left-wing, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia playing as a No 9 and Lucas Beraldo coming on in midfield, it was unlike anything we have seen before. Yet, remarkably, it all felt so familiar.

The dynamics within the game were nothing new. PSG continued to test the limits of positional fluidity, while Nice pushed the limits of their own rigidity by deploying what Nice centre-back Dante called a “team block”. PSG’s waspish front three of Mendes, Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué outmanoeuvred a Nice back three who are all over six-feet tall. While the rest of Ligue 1 have trended towards physicality, PSG have trended towards technicality, and there was only one winner at the Allianz Riviera.

• Brazil international scores winner in 3-2 victory

• Barça four points clear at top after beating Vallecano

Vinícius Júnior scored twice as Real Madrid fought back to beat Atlético Madrid 3-2 in a breathless Spanish capital derby on Sunday, keeping Alvaro Arbeloa’s side within four points of the La Liga leaders, Barcelona.

Atlético’s Ademola Lookman opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, finishing a slick counterattack involving Matteo Ruggeri and a delightful backheel from Giuliano Simeone. Vinícius equalised from the penalty spot in the 52nd minute after David Hancko clumsily tripped Brahim Díaz, and Federico Valverde capitalised on a José María Giménez error three minutes later to make it 2-1 to Real.

• Bundesliga leaders reach 97 goals with Kane scoring 31

• PSG return to Ligue 1 summit, Juve held by Sassuolo

Bayern Munich scored three times in seven minutes to cruise past Union Berlin 4-0 in the Bundesliga on Saturday to stay clear at the top while edging closer to an all-time club scoring record.

The Bavarian club, chasing three trophies and fresh from their midweek Champions League quarter-final qualification with a 10-2 aggregate win over Atalanta, are nine points clear at the top.

PSG were given the weekend off to help them in Europe, with little consideration for how it would affect other clubs

By Get French Football News

Paris Saint-Germain do not need a helping hand but they were given it: first by the French football federation, who postponed their match against Nantes at the weekend so they could concentrate on the Champions League, and then by Lens, who lost 2-1 to Lorient and failed to retake top spot in Ligue 1.

The decision to postpone PSG’s game was one agreed upon by all parties, one taken to aid their preparations for their second leg against Chelsea, and one not without precedent. The same Ligue 1 fixture was postponed last season so PSG could focus on their European tie against Aston Villa.