LONDON, March 2: Juventus kept their six-point lead in the Serie A after a 1-1 draw at Napoli in a top-of-the-table clash on Friday while Montpellier moved to within a point of the top four in Ligue 1 after two late goals gave them a 2-0 win over Rennes.
While it was a good day for the Italian and French title-holders, it was not so for Eintracht Frankfurt who slumped to a 1-0 loss against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga and Real Zaragoza lost 2-0 to Getafe to move closer to relegation from La Liga.
In Naples, a returning Giorgio Chiellini helped Juventus negotiate a major title hurdle which could clear the way for the Turin club to win their 28th Serie A title.
“The title is far away mathematically, we are six points in front which is a good advantage,” Juventus manager Antonio Conte said after a game brought forward so Juve can prepare for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Celtic.
“We still have to go play at [title rivals] Inter Milan and Lazio, and host AC Milan. We must always be gritty, determined and motivated to get the points, because every match is difficult and a surprise is always around the corner.”
Italy defender Chiellini opened the scoring 10 minutes into his first start since suffering a calf injury in December, with a bullet header past goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis from a pearl of a cross by Andrea Pirlo.
Napoli equalised two minutes from half-time when Gokhan Inler unleashed a 25-yard right-foot pile-driver which took a deflection off the head of Leonardo Bonucci and into the corner of the goal past the outstretched Gianluigi Buffon.
The draw means Juve move up to 59 points with 11 games left while Napoli have now drawn four games in a row.
“I think we shown how much we want to win the league this year,” Chiellini told Sky Sports Italia. “We’re happy with our performance and it’s a shame that we didn’t win as we hoped to, but it was the right result.”
Montpellier extended their winning streak in Ligue 1 to three consecutive matches and climbed to within one point of Nice for fourth place and a European qualification spot with 45 points with Rennes seventh place on 41.
Hilton gave Montpellier the lead with 15 minutes to play when he got his foot to a loose ball in the penalty area and fired it past Rennes goalkeeper Benoit Costil before Souleymane Camara secured all three points four minutes from time with a rising, right-footed shot.
Eintracht remained fourth in the Bundesliga, the Champions League qualifying round spot, with 38 points from 24 games while Moenchengladbach rose to sixth, four points behind.
Luuk de Jong’s first-half header was enough for all three points after the Dutchman connected with Thorben Marx flick-on from a corner to head the ball into the roof of the net from six metre in the 22nd minute.
“It was difficult. We’re happy to win 1-0,” De Jong said. “They also had chances to score — plenty of them.”
In La Liga, goals by Adrian Colunga and Sergio Escudero helped Getafe rise into eighth place with 38 points, four points behind fourth-placed Malaga and a Champions League playoff spot.
Struggling Zaragoza, meanwhile, have slumped to nine weeks without a victory and remain two points above the relegation zone.—Agencies