#title-race

#title-race

Ange-Yoan Bonny, in for the rested Lautaro Martinez, created an early chance with a run and shot that was parried away by Wladimiro Falcone. Bonny then thought he had won a penalty, but a VAR check ruled that Danilo Veiga had played the ball. Falcone punched away a Nicolo Barella header from close range shortly after the break, then gathered a shot from Andy Diouf as the hosts continued to struggle to open up a dogged Lecce defence.

The Croatian defender sustained the injury in the second half of the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, and had to be substituted immediately. Gvardiol is likely to miss the remainder of the season, and his participation in this summer's World Cup is also in doubt. It comes as a major blow to Pep Guardiola, who is already missing a number of senior players through injury, whilst Rayan Ait-Nouri and Omar Marmoush are still on international duty.

A new era begins for Chelsea tonight, as Liam Rosenior takes charge for the first time. No manager/head coach/performance coordinator wants to start with a derby, and while their rivalry with Fulham hasn't been particularly fierce, Craven Cottage under the lights has been a problem for Liverpool and Manchester City already this season. With Arsenal hosting Liverpool on Thursday, City and Aston Villa must seize the chance to apply pressure and cut back that six-point gap at the top.

We have had our struggles throughout. We started really well in terms of results, games were really close, then we had a phase of the season where games were still really close but we were constantly unlucky. Now we have been eight games unbeaten but if you say this you feel like: They are flying through the league.' But that is not what we are doing.

Defending champions Barcelona were Spain's "Christmas champions," heading into the break with a four-point lead at the top of the table despite losing the first Clásico of the season against their bitter rivals 2-1 back in October. Despite turning their stadium into a winter wonderland over the festive period, the Bernabéu has not been a happy place for Real Madrid,

Bayern Munich wrap up Hinrunde with an away game at Heidenheim. The 17th placed side were subdued easily by the Bavarians who went on to secure a 4-0 win. This resounding victory now places them nine points above second-placed Borussia Dortmund. Manager Vincent Kompany spoke to the press following the win, calling the first half of the season a good basis.

Chelsea's record-breaking unbeaten run in the Women's Super League was brought to an end with a shock result as Everton won away against the defending champions, who had not lost any of the previous 34 league matches. Everton's 1-0 victory inflicted Sonia Bompastor's first defeat as a WSL manager after a remarkable 18 months in charge, and was Chelsea's first loss in the league since going down 4-3 at Liverpool on 1 May 2024 when Emma Hayes was still at the helm.