Madrid beats Barcelona 2-1; Dortmund retains title


BARCELONA (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 73rd minute to send Barcelona to its first loss in 55 home games and put Real Madrid on the cusp of breaking the Catalan giants’ three-year hold on the Spanish league crown with a 2-1 win Saturday.

Sami Khedira opened the scoring in the 17th minute with Madrid’s league-record 108th goal of the season. Ronaldo sealed the victory with his league-record 42nd goal moments after Alexis Sanchez tied it for Barcelona.

Madrid’s 19th league game without a loss lifted it seven points ahead of Barcelona at the top of the standings with four rounds to go.

“This was a crucial step forward, now we have to finish it off,” Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso said. “We barely suffered. We controlled the game to perfection.”

This was Madrid’s first victory at Camp Nou since 2007 and coach Jose Mourinho’s first career win in the stadium in 10 visits with three different teams. Barcelona’s previous home defeat was 2-0 to Hercules on Sept. 11, 2010.

The game had been hyped as a duel between Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Madrid’s Ronaldo, but this time the Portugal forward came out on top and moved one goal ahead of his Argentine rival in their duel to see who is the top all-time scorer in a single Spanish league season.

England

Newcastle capitalized on a stalemate between Arsenal and Chelsea to maintain its surge toward qualification for next season’s Champions League. It defeated Stoke 3-0 to claim a sixth straight victory and climb into the English Premier League’s top four.

Papiss Demba Cisse scored for the sixth match in a row and Yohan Cabaye had two goals for Newcastle, which is now just three points behind third-place Arsenal and has played one less game.

“That is a big, big achievement by us, make no mistake,” said Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, whose team was projected by many to struggle this season.

Tottenham continued its freefall by dropping a place to fifth following a 1-0 loss at relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers, which left Harry Redknapp’s team three points outside the Champions League positions.

Chelsea rode its luck to escape with a 0-0 draw at Arsenal, which struck the goal frame twice, and is now four points behind Newcastle with only four games left.

The Blues’ entry to the Champions League for a 10th straight season may now hinge on winning this year’s competition. It is 1-0 ahead going into the second leg of the semifinal against Barcelona on Tuesday.

Germany

Borussia Dortmund retained the Bundesliga title when it beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0. It was Dortmund’s eighth German league championship.

Ivan Perisic scored in the 23rd minute and Shinji Kagawa got the celebrations under way in the 59th.

Dortmund has an unassailable eight-point lead over Bayern Munich with two rounds to play. The team also sealed the title at the same stage last season.

Dortmund stretched its record unbeaten run in a season to 26 games. It became the first team other than Bayern to retain the title since it last did so 16 years ago.

Franck Ribery kept Bayern’s slim hopes alive hours earlier when he scored in the 90th minute to earn his team a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen.

Italy

Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved a penalty in a 0-0 draw at Chievo Verona to keep his club in contention for Champions League qualification as Serie A resumed a week after Piermario Morosini’s death.

Handanovic dived to his right and blocked Cyril Thereau’s penalty kick in the 43rd minute, and Chievo was also unlucky when U.S. player Michael Bradley hit the post with a long shot four minutes in.