• Lazio win 2-1 while Roma draw 3-3 with Napoli

• Beier gives Dortmund win over Eintracht Frankfurt

Lazio climbed to the top of Serie A with a 2-1 home win ⁠over Parma ⁠as Roma ​twice came from behind to secure a 3-3 draw with Napoli in a pulsating clash in Naples.

Lazio have 22 points from their eight matches this ⁠season and are three points clear of champions Inter Milan, who have played a game fewer and host Fiorentina on Sunday. Lazio opened the scoring in the 50th minute as Kenneth Taylor ⁠struck his first of the season, before Parma’s Diego Carlos put the ball into his own net trying ​to cut out a cross. The visitors scored a ‌late consolation through Simone Lontani.

• Bernardo Silva opens scoring as Madrid win 4-1

• Galatasaray sweep past Lille; 10-man Inter edge Shakhtar

Real Madrid claimed a third Champions League victory in as many games by thrashing RB Leipzig 4-1 on Wednesday, with Kylian Mbappé and Yan Diomande among the goals for José Mourinho’s side.

Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for Madrid from close range towards the end of a tight first half, with Arda Guler doubling the record 15-time European champions’ advantage soon after the interval.

Lens finished second in Ligue 1 last season and won the Coupe de France. Building on that success is proving tricky

By Get French Football News

It was under cover of darkness that Yannick Cahuzac took his place in the Lens dugout at the Stade Louis II on Friday night. The lights dimmed as the players made their entrance and Cahuzac, who had been named interim manager just three days earlier, sat alone, leaning forward on a seat that Dino Toppmöller would have occupied if not for a dramatic turn of events last week.

Cahuzac’s appointment, much like his entrance in Monaco, had a stealthy quality, as if he had always been there and the switching of the lights was mere confirmation of his presence. Cahuzac left Lorient, where he had been Olivier Pantaloni’s assistant, at the end of last season to return to Lens, where he had finished his playing career before working as Franck Haise’s assistant in the 2022–23 campaign.

• Team from town of 13,000 shock 2024 champions

• Juventus 2-0 Parma; Sevilla 1-3 Atlético Madrid

The Bundesliga newcomers Elversberg began their first top-flight campaign in style, stunning Bayer Leverkusen with an impressive 3-2 home victory on Saturday.

Lukas Petkov and Cole Campbell scored within 60 seconds of each other to put Elversberg 2-0 up before the 10-minute mark. David Mokwa added another early in the second half in front of 9,307 delirious fans.

PSG flexed their muscles, bringing Ferran Torres off the bench to save the day, but only because Rennes made them

By Get French Football News

On the scale of expressions of prowess and power, Paris Saint-Germain bringing almost €150m worth of attacking talent off the bench – including the man who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final last month – ranks only a couple of rungs below the level of the extravagant aggression of a military parade. Imposing, dominating, reasserting, this wasn’t about expression but necessity as the reigning European champions initially floundered against a Rennes team that lived up to their billing as the best of the rest in Ligue 1.

PSG were forced into rolling out their new attacking arsenal early. For 45 minutes, Rennes’ incessant pressing and fluidity in transition had Luis Enrique’s side under duress. Sebastien Szymanski opened the scoring with a sliced effort from outside the box that clipped in off the inside of a post.

• De Bruyne scores as Napoli strike late to beat Genoa

• Michael Olise leads Bayern Munich to 2-1 victory

Inter kicked off their ⁠Serie A title defence with a 4-1 home win against ⁠Monza, ​after the promoted side recovered from conceding an early ⁠goal to go in level at the break before the ⁠champions turned on the style.

Hakan Calhanoglu ​put Inter ahead ‌in the ‌sixth minute, but the hosts were ‌far too complacent after taking the lead and Gustavo Varela equalised for the visitors just before the half-hour. Inter began the second half as ‌they had the first, with Piotr Zielinski scoring three minutes ​after the break, before Pio Esposito and Yann Bisseck wrapped up the win for Cristian Chivu’s side.

Success for most French clubs is staying afloat financially and developing players for buyers in the Premier League

By Get French Football News

On the eve of a new Ligue 1 season, many clubs seem a little distracted. Even those accustomed to competing at the top have concerns that transcend the pitch. In a league that contains the greatest team on the continent, the focus of the majority of clubs has shifted to surviving and providing, rather than competing.

Any fighting spirit has long since been kicked out of Paris Saint-Germain’s competitors; back-to-back Champions League titles will do that. It feels like a long time ago since Kylian Mbappé moved to Real Madrid on a free transfer, leaving behind a scent of opportunity that filled the nostrils of Marseille, Monaco and Lille. Roberto De Zerbi was bullish when he joined Marseille. “I’m not here to finish second,” said the manager, who has since moved to Tottenham. Finishing second has now become an aspiration, especially for a club such as Marseille, given their predicament.

• 35-year-old Brighton striker Welbeck seals £5m move

• Mali international Sangaré joins Bees for reported £39m

Chelsea have signed Brighton’s veteran striker Danny Welbeck in a deal worth a reported £5m. Welbeck has agreed a two-year contract and will link up with Xabi Alonso’s squad on their pre-season tour.

The 35-year-old’s move to Stamford Bridge is a break from Chelsea’s policy of signing younger players with the potential to be developed. It is the first time they have paid a transfer fee for a player over the age of 26 since they signed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona in 2022 when the striker was 33.

• Sage joins after winning Coupe de France with Lens

• ‘We come here with a lot of ambition,’ Sage says

Crystal Palace are determined to hold on to their best players this summer after confirming the appointment of Pierre Sage as their manager, with the Frenchman to be backed in the transfer market to prepare for their Europa League campaign.

Sage has signed a three-year contract to replace Oliver Glasner, having led Lens to second place in Ligue 1 last season and won the French Cup. He emerged as Palace’s preferred candidate after they missed out on Andoni Iraola and it is understood that the 47-year-old’s preference to play a 3-4-2-1 system was a key factor in his appointment.

It was a season to remember for Vitinha, Pierre Sage and Florian Thauvin but one to forget for Paul Pogba and Nice

By Get French Football News

“I like feeling the match go through me,” said Vitinha at the end of December. It’s an apt way for the 26-year-old to interpret his role at PSG, given that everything the team produces on the pitch involves him in some way or another.

Pierre Sage has done a great job at Lens and the Coupe de France final next Friday offers them another shot at glory

By Get French Football News

By the time Paris Saint-Germain finally travelled to Lens on Wednesday evening, they had all but wrapped up their fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title. Their six-point advantage, bolstered by a clear lead in goal difference, was already insurmountable with two matches remaining.

The match at the Stade Bollaert was billed as a top-of-the-table clash but the decision to push it back until the midweek before the final day of the campaign had devalued the occasion. Had the match been played when it was initially scheduled, at the start of April, a win for the hosts could have closed the gap to just one point with five matches remaining.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

• 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.