Euro weekend round-up: CR7 hat-trick, Bayern title charge, Real Madrid comeback

We’ve just had a cracking Easter weekend of football and we’ve dived into the stats of some of the best matches from around Europe.

Cristiano Ronaldo produced the goods for Man United, Bayern took a step closer to the league title and Real Madrid produced an impressive comeback.  

 

Bayern one win away 

Bayern Munich are now only one win away from clinching their 10th straight Bundesliga title after their 3-0 away win at Arminia Bielefeld.  

Bayern have averaged 2.4 points per game this season and they are on track to finish on course to finish with 81.6 points. 

After the disappointment of crashing out of the Champions League, Bayern were keen to bounce back in emphatic style. 

They accumulated an xG of 3.11 and were fully worth the three points.  

Joshua Kimmich once again dictated the game for Bayern Munich as he completed 103 accurate passes as well as setting up Serge Gnabry for Bayern’s second goal. 

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund beat Wolfsburg 6-1 as Erling Haaland rediscovered his goalscoring touch.  

Haaland’s brace now means that he has 25 goal contributions in 20 Bundesliga appearances this season as Borussia Dortmund look set on a second placed finish. 

 

Liverpool win FA Cup showdown 

Both Liverpool and Chelsea progressed through to the FA Cup final after a couple of thrilling games at Wembley. 

Liverpool put Manchester City to the sword in the first half and they once again proved how clinical they can be.  

Zack Steffen’s blunder gave Liverpool a cushion and they once again overachieved their xG by scoring three goals from an xG of 1.47.  

Jurgen Klopp’s side will head into the FA Cup final against Chelsea after they dispatched Crystal Palace by two goals.  

After a cagey first half, Chelsea’s quality told in the second half as Mason Mount and Ruben Loftus-Cheek came up with two moments of quality. 

Chelsea completed 340 passes in the second half, 40 more than they did in the first 45 minutes as they upped the tempo to edge past Palace. 

 

Ronaldo’s still got it 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 60th hat-trick of his career as Manchester United beat Norwich 3-2 at Old Trafford. His hat-trick was topped off with his first free-kick goal since September 2020. 

The Portuguese star managed to score three goals from an xG of just 0.78, an overperformance of 2.22 goals.  

Prior to this weekend, Ronaldo had actually underperformed his seasonal xG, but after scoring a hat-trick this weekend he has now overperformed by 0.3 goals.  

With Spurs and Arsenal losing this weekend, the race for the top four is well and truly back on for Man United. 

Man United currently sit fifth in the table, just three points behind Spurs as they prepare for a midweek clash with Liverpool.  

 

Real Madrid comeback 

Real Madrid managed to mount a second half comeback to beat Sevilla 3-2 away from home. 

Carlo Ancelotti’s side found themselves 2-0 down at half time thanks to goals from Ivan Rakitić and Érik Lamela.  

Prior to the game, Sevilla boasted the best home record in the league, having not lost at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium all season.  

In the second half Real Madrid turned on the style and showed why they are currently 15 points ahead at the top of La Liga. 

Daniel Carvajal assisted Madrid’s first two goals before Karim Benzema scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute.  

The Frenchman now has 25 league goals as well as 11 assists to his name this season, which is his most prolific season up until this point.   

Having played 32 matches, Real Madrid lead La Liga with 75 points and they are on course to pick up an impressive 89 points as they have averaged 2.34 PPG throughout the season.