THE SOCCER REPORT

Bayern demolish Dortmund to retake Bundesliga; Hazard moves Chelsea into PL top three

Bayern demolish Dortmund to retake Bundesliga; Hazard moves Chelsea into PL top three
FC Bayern Munich retook the lead in the Bundesliga as they look for their seventh straight league title. Credit: adidas

A little under two months to go in the European soccer season means plenty to play for and, with the number of games winding down, every match is crucial. Here are the top stories from Europe to North America and South America:

English Premier League

Every goal from Premier League Matchweek 33 | NBC Sportswww.youtube.com

  • Tottenham Hotspur open new stadium with 2-0 win over Crystal Palace
  • Manchester City behind Liverpool with one game in hand
  • Hazard lifts Chelsea to third; Spurs, Arsenal, Man Utd all with an extra game to play
  • Fulham joins Huddersfield as clubs that have clinched relegation

It was a though week for Manchester United and Arsenal, two sides in top six that have dropped dropped out of the four Champions League qualifying spots. Tottenham opened their new stadium, which will house two NFL games this coming season, with a win over Crystal Palace before they host Manchester City in the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday. Eden Hazard scored three goals this week, including a double in the 2-0 win over London rivals West Ham United on Monday. Liverpool extended their undefeated match to twelve straight in the league but it's their last defeat, a 2-1 loss to Manchester City back in January, that could end up deciding the league when all is said and done.

Speaking of City, the defending league champions continue to be eligible for a clean sweep of all available trophies as they advanced to the FA Cup Final thanks to a 1-0 win over Brighton. Watford will be their opponent after their 3-2 win in the semifinal against Wolves.

Top six: 1. Liverpool (82), 2. Manchester City (80), 3. Chelsea (66), 4. Tottenham (64), 5. Arsenal (63), 6. Manchester United (61)

Scoring leader: 19 - Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)

Assists leader: 12 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)

Spain's La Liga

Highlights FC Barcelona vs Atlético de Madrid (2-0)www.youtube.com

Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi continued their dominance of Spain by scoring in the final five minutes of regulation, turning what would've been a scoreless draw with second place Atletico Madrid into a 2-0 win for FC Barcelona. Messi picked up his 335th La Liga win to pass Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas for most by any player in the history of the league. As far as the top six, Alaves was the biggest loser this week with their drop to seventh place.

Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (73), 2. Atlético Madrid (62), 3. Real Madrid (60), 4. Getafe (50), 5. Sevilla (49), 6. Valencia (46)

Scoring leader: 33 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

Assists leader: 12 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)

German Bundesliga

90 in 90: Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund | 2019 Bundesliga Highlightswww.youtube.com

The Bundesliga also had it's own match of one vs. two in the standings. This one with higher implications as the two remain separated by a point after Saturday's match. It didn't look it on the field, however, as Bayern demolished rivals Dortmund in a 5-0 home victory for the edge in the standings. Fans in Houston celebrated this one with one of the biggest watch parties to take place stateside.

Top six: 1. Bayern Munich (64), 2. Dortmund (63), 3. RB Leipzig (55), 4. Eintracht Frankfurt (52), 5. Monchengladbach (48), 6. Wolfsburg (45)

Scoring leader: 21 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 13 - Jadon Sancho (Dortumund)

Italian Serie A

Juventus inched closer to the title thanks to their 2-1 win over Milan and Napoli's 1-1 draw against Genoa.

Top six: 1. Juventus (84), 2. Napoli (64), 3. Inter Milan (57), 4. Milan (52), 5. Atalanta (52), 6. Roma (51)

Scoring leader: 21- Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria) / Krzysztof Piątek (A.C. Milan)

Assists leader: 9 - Alejandro Gomez (Atalanta) / Dries Mertens (Napoli)

French Ligue 1

PSG's 2-2 draw against Strasbourg means the defending champions will have to wait one more match to celebrate their newest league championship.

Top six: 1. PSG (81), 2. Lille (61), 3. Lyon (56), 4. Saint-Étienne (50), 5. Marseille (48), 6. Stade Reims (47)

Scoring leader: 27 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)

Assists leader: 10 - Angel Di Maria (PSG)

Dutch Eredivisie

Top three: 1. Ajax (71), 2. PSV Eindhoven (71), 3. AZ Alkmaar (53)

Belgian First Division A

Championship Round: 1. Genk (38), 2. Club Brugge (37), 3. Standard Liege (33), 4. Antwerp (31), 5. Anderlecht (26), 6. Gent (25)

Portuguese Primeira Liga

Top three: 1. Benfica (69), 2. Porto (69), 3. Sporting CP (61)

Scottish Premier League

Top three: 1. Celtic (77), 2. Rangers (66), 3. Kilmarnock (58)

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Concacaf Champions League

It looks as though this will not be the year for an MLS team to win the regional Champions League after Sporting Kansas City's humbling 5-0 defeat at Monterrey. Tigres UANL defeated Santos Laguna 3-0 in the opening match of the other semifinal series, potentially setting up the Monterrey rivals for an epic home-and-home series in the final.

Major League Soccer

D.C. United vs. Los Angeles Football Club | HIGHLIGHTS - April 6, 2019www.youtube.com

The two conference leaders faced off in the nation's capital as part of a doubleheader with Bayern Munich vs. Dortmund on national FOX. Unfortunately for D.C. United, LAFC continue to plow through the competition with 19 goals scored through the first six games of the season. Zlatan and LA Galaxy picked up three points to start the weekend, jumping the Houston Dynamo in the standings due to the latter's week off.

East top seven: 1. Columbus (13), 2. D.C. United (10), 3. Toronto (10), 4. Philadelphia (10), 5. Cincinnati (8), 6. Orlando (8), 7. Montreal (7

West top seven: 1. LAFC (16), 2. Seattle (13), 3. LA Galaxy (12), 4. Houston (10), 5. FC Dallas (10), 6. Minnesota (9), 7. Sporting KC (8)

Scoring leader: 7 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 4 - Nani (Orlando) / Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Liga MX

Top eight: 1. Leon (32), 2. Tigres UANL (29), 3. Monterrey (23), 4. Club America (22), 5. Cruz Azul (22), 6. Tijuana (22), 7. Necaxa (21), 8. Pachuca (21)

Scoring leader: 11 - Angel Mena (Leon) / Brian Fernandez (Necaxa)

Assists leader: 8 - Angel Mena (Leon)

Superliga Argentina

Argentina's top division concluded this past weekend with the top two teams facing off in a 1-1 draw. Racing Club then celebrated their league title in front of the home fans.

Final Top Four: 1. Racing Club (57), 2. Defensa y Justicia (53), 3. Boca Juniors (51), 4. River Plate (45)

Scoring Champion: 17 - Lisandro Lopez (Racing)

Assists Champion: 9 - Walter Montillo (Tigre)

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U.S. Women's National Team

The U.S. Women took part in their last two friendlies before the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup roster announcements. Alex Morgan picked up her 100th goal in a 5-3 win over Australia in Denver. On Sunday, the defending World Champions defeated Belgium 6-0 in Los Angeles on a night where the 1999 World Cup winning team was honored due to the 20th anniversary of their conquest at the Rose Bowl.

National Women's Soccer League

The top division of Women's club soccer kicks off in it's seventh season when the defending champion North Carolina Courage hosts the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday (6:00 p.m. CT). The Houston Dash open their season on Sunday (5:00 p.m. CT) when they host Seattle Reign FC at BBVA Compass Stadium. All matches this season will be broadcast on YahooSports.com.

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, Apr. 9

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Liverpool vs. Porto (B/R Live, UniMas/Univision Deportes)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Tottenham vs. Manchester City (TNT, Galavision)

7:00 p.m. - [MLS] D.C. United vs. Montreal Impact (ESPN+)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Peñarol vs. LDU Quito (beIN Sports)

Wednesday, Apr. 10

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Manchester United vs. FC Barcelona (TNT, UniMas/Univision Deportes)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Ajax vs. Juventus (B/R Live, Galavision)

7:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Santos Laguna vs. Tigres UANL (YahooSports.com, Univision Deportes)

7:30 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] Boca Juniors vs. J. Wilstermann (beIN Sports en Español)

8:00 p.m. - [MLS] Colorado Rapids vs. Seattle Sounders FC (ESPN+)

Thursday, Apr. 11

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Arsenal vs. Napoli (B/R Live, Univision Deportes)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Slavia Prague vs. Chelsea (B/R Live, Galavision)

2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Villarreal vs. Valencia (B/R Live, UniMas)

5:00 p.m. - [Copa Libertadores] River Plate vs. Alianza Lima (beIN Sports)

8:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] Sporting KC vs. Monterrey (YahooSports.com, Univision Deportes)

Friday, Apr. 12

1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Nuremberg vs. FC Schalke 04 (FS2)

1:45 p.m. - [Ligue 1] Nantes vs. Lyon (beIN Sports)

2:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Leicester City vs. Newcastle (NBC Sports)

7:30 p.m. - [MLS] Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (ESPN+)

Saturday, Apr. 13

6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Tottenham vs. Huddersfield (NBC Sports)

8:30 a.m. - [Budesliga] RB Leipzig vs. VfL Wolfsburg (FS1, Univision Deportes)

9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Southampton vs. Wolves (NBC Sports)

9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Huesca vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)

11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester United vs. West Ham (NBC Sports)

11:30 a.m. - [Budesliga] Borussia Dortmund vs. Mainz 05 (FS1)

2:00 p.m. - [MLS] Houston Dynamo vs. San Jose Earthquakes (Univision)

4:00 p.m. - [MLS] Minnesota United vs. New York City FC (ESPN2)

9:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Morelia vs. Chivas Guadalajara (Univision)

Sunday, Apr. 14

8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City (NBC Sports)

8:30 a.m. - [Budesliga] Dusseldorf vs. Bayern Munich (FS1, Univision Deportes)

10:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Liverpool vs. Chelsea (NBC Sports)

12:00 p.m. - [Liga MX] Pumas vs. Tijuana (Univision)

5:00 p.m. - [NWSL] Houston Dash vs. Seattle Reign FC (YahooSports.com)

6:00 p.m. - [MLS] Sporting KC vs. NY Red Bulls (FS1)

6:30 p.m. - [Liga MX] Cruz Azul vs. Club America (Univision)

Monday, Apr. 15

2:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Watford vs. Arsenal (NBC Sports)

2:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Leganes vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)

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Rockets win again! Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.

Jalen Green scored 34 points, Alperen Sengun had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 128-108 on Wednesday night.

Green, who hit six 3-pointers, continued his recent scoring surge. He is averaging 32 points in Houston's last six games, including a career-best 42 points against Memphis on Monday.

Fred VanVleet added 16 points, eight assists and three steals for the Rockets, who beat Denver for the fifth time in six meetings.

The Nuggets were without two of their five leading scorers in reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic (right elbow inflammation) and Aaron Gordon (right calf injury).

Jamal Murray and Christian Braun each scored 22 point for Denver, which had 18 turnovers in the loss, including five apiece from its starting backcourt of Murray and Russell Westbrook.

Takeaways

Rockets: Houston won its fifth in a row and improved to 10-3 in its last 13 games to solidify its standing as the No. 2 team in the Western Conference.

Nuggets: Denver, which had won eight of its previous 10 games, absorbed its most lopsided defeat since a 145-118 loss to the New York Knicks on Nov. 25.

Key moment

Houston opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run that was capped off by a corner 3 by former Nugget Jeff Green that stretched the Rockets' lead to 11 points. Houston outscored Denver 41-25 in the period to take a 69-48 lead into halftime.

Key stat

The loss was Denver’s eighth in 20 home games this season, matching the Nuggets’ home loss total across 41 regular-season games in 2023-24.

Up next

Houston continues its three-game road swing Thursday at Sacramento. The Nuggets are back in action Friday at the Miami Heat.

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