(Reuters) – Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues:
LEVERKUSEN RUN
Coach Xabi Alonso is the toast of Leverkusen after leading Bayer from 16th place when he took over in October to sixth with Sunday’s 2-0 win over fellow European hopefuls RB Leipzig.
Leverkusen are now on a 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions as they eye a potential Champions League spot with five matches left in the Bundesliga campaign. They are also through to the Europa League semi-finals.
“I am proud of this team and the mentality it is showing,” said Alonso, a former World Cup winner with Spain who is in his first senior coaching post.
“After winning in Brussels in midweek (in the Europa League) we played a tough opponent with Leipzig.”
“The team was ready to fight today. We have to keep going like that with a good spirit.”
REAL MADRID’S BERNABEU PITCH IS A HEADACHE
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was very critical of the pitch at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium after their 2-0 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday as the club is set to change the playing surface for the fifth time this season.
“There is a problem with the turf,” a visibly concerned Ancelotti told DAZN on Saturday. “They are working on it and I hope they can find a solution, I think they will figure out something soon. The pitch needs to be better.”
After more than three years of the redevelopment work that promises to turn the stadium into one of the most spectacular venues in the world, the final stages have been negatively affecting the pitch which was in bad condition on Saturday.
“It is quite evident that the (construction) work affects the pitch, it was already known,” Ancelotti said.
“The turf has been changed periodically because with the work it has been deteriorating quite quickly.”
With the revamp due to be completed by the end of 2023, Real will keep playing at the stadium during the redevelopment.
They will hope the conditions are better when they host the their Champions League semi-final, first leg against Manchester City early next month.
NAPOLI CLOSE IN ON TITLE WITH JUVE WIN
A last-gasp goal by forward Giacomo Raspadori earned Napoli a precious 1-0 win at Juventus on Sunday as Luciano Spalletti’s side brace to celebrate their first Serie A title since the Diego Maradona era.
Napoli ended their mini-slump of no wins in their last three competitive outings and could become champions as early as next weekend if they beat Salernitana at home on Saturday and second-placed Lazio fail to win at Inter Milan on Sunday.
“These are nice bricks towards the final victory, so rightly the players had a bit of a celebration as the goal came in added time,” Spalletti said.
“When you bring home a win in the dying minutes there is even more happiness. But we have to wait to uncork bottles and hearts.”
Napoli completed a league double over Juve for only the fourth time, the last being in 2009-10.
OPENDA SETS LIGUE 1 ON FIRE
RC Lens striker Lois Openda has been the talk of the town in Ligue 1 after a scintillating display in a 3-0 win against AS Monaco on Saturday as the Belgium striker struck twice and set up another as his side edge closer to a Champions League spot.
Openda, 23, had a tough spell with five goals from 20 games between September and early March but since then has scored eight goals and delivered two assists in the last six matches after working with a mental coach following the World Cup.
Saturday’s victory over Monaco put Lens in third place, five points ahead of the principality side, and the northeners occupy the Champions League third qualifying round spot.
“It’s always been in our minds, we’re ready to play the games full gas,” said Openda.
Monaco’s Philippe Clement, who was head coach at FC Brugge when Openda was in the junior ranks there, said: “Lois is still a young player, but he has a great future.”
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas, Karolos Gorhmann, Julien Pretot and Anita Kobylinska; Editing by Ken Ferris and Toby Davis)
