Barca stay on Liga title track

Barcelona, May 5: Barcelona moved a step closer to the La Liga title as they came from behind to beat already-relegated Real Valladolid 2-1 on Saturday to extend their lead on rivals Real Madrid.

The Catalan giants heavily rotated with Tuesday's Champions League semi-final clash at Inter Milan their priority and fell behind to Ivan Sanchez's early deflected goal.

However second half strikes by Raphinha and Fermin Lopez powered Barca seven points clear of second-place champions Madrid, who host Celta Vigo on Sunday ahead of the Clasico on May 11.

Atletico Madrid were held to a dull 0-0 draw at relegation-battling Alaves.

Diego Simeone's side have little to play for in the final weeks of the season, sitting third with Champions League qualification virtually assured and leaders Barcelona nine points ahead of them.

Alaves, however, moved provisionally 16th, three points clear of the relegation zone with an important point against their illustrious visitors.

Ayoze Perez struck twice for Villarreal as they beat Osasuna 4-2 to close in on Champions League qualification for next season.

Arsenal rocked by Bournemouth

Arsenal suffered a blow ahead of their Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain as Evanilson fired Bournemouth to a historic 2-1 victory, while Aston Villa boosted their top five bid with a 1-0 win against Fulham on Saturday.

Mikel Arteta's side took the lead through Declan Rice's first half opener on his 100th appearance for the club.

But Dean Huijsen equalised in the second half and Evanilson completed the comeback to give Bournemouth their first ever away win over Arsenal.

Beaten 1-0 by PSG in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday, Arsenal will need a much-improved performance in the second leg in Paris on Wednesday.

The second-placed Gunners also still require six points to guarantee Champions League qualification for next season via a top five finish in the Premier League.

Arsenal finished as runners-up behind Manchester City for the last two seasons and the Champions League is their last hope of a trophy this term.

They last reached the Champions League final in 2006 and have never won the tournament.

"We should have put the game to bed. We defended really poorly, nowhere near the standards that we are used to," Arteta said.

"We wanted to generate the momentum and a really positive vibe today and we haven't.

"What we have created is frustration, rage and anger. Make sure we use that on Wednesday."

Unai Emery's side are back in the hunt to finish in the Premier League's top five thanks to Youri Tielemans' 12th-minute header at Villa Park.

Seventh-placed Villa extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 20 games in all competitions, lifting them level with sixth-placed Nottingham Forest and fifth-placed Chelsea on 60 points.

After bouncing back from their dismal FA Cup semi-final loss to Crystal Palace last weekend, Villa will hope their rivals falter over the weekend as the top five race heads for a dramatic climax.

"If we weren't winning today, forget it completely," Emery said.

"Today, we got more or less to be close to Europe. Wow, fantastic, brilliant. The best gift we can achieve after it is the Europa League or Champions League.

"We will fight for it, Europe, and hopefully we can fight for the Champions League."

Napoli closer to Serie A crown 

Napoli remained three points clear at the top of Serie A on Saturday after a hard-fought 1-0 win at Lecce while title rivals Inter Milan beat Verona by the same score ahead of their Champions League semi-final showdown with Barcelona.

Antonio Conte's team are one step closer to a second league title in three seasons thanks to Giacomo Raspadori's well-struck free-kick in the 24th minute of a match which was briefly stopped by home fans' fiery protest against the league following the death of a beloved club physio.

Napoli need seven points from their final three games of the season against Genoa, Parma and Cagliari to guarantee a fourth league crown after their fourth straight win without conceding a goal.

And that's assuming reigning champions Inter win all three of their concluding league matches at Torino, against Lazio and at 10th-placed Como, who earlier secured a fifth consecutive win in Serie A for the first time in their history with a 1-0 success at Parma.

"I can't deny that it was a big step (towards the title)," said Conte told DAZN.

Lecce meanwhile stay one place and point above the relegation zone and will drop into the bottom three if Empoli beat Lazio on Sunday.

Kristjan Asllani's ninth-minute penalty ended up deciding Inter's low-key win over Verona, who offered little even against a second-string line-up selected by Simone Inzaghi.

Inter give the impression of knowing that their Scudetto defence is likely to end in failure and Inzaghi made 10 changes from the team which drew 3-3 at Barca midweek, with the second leg of their last-four clash coming up on Tuesday.

And his gamble paid off with three points at a subdued San Siro and all of his key players, beyond already-injured captain Lautaro Martinez and France defender Benjamin Pavard, ready to face the Catalan giants.(AFP)