BARCELONA (AP) ― Lionel Messi scored twice to become the first player since 1973 with 60 goals in a season for a club in a major European league, leading Barcelona to a 4-1 win at Zaragoza on Saturday night.

The three-time FIFA player of the year put Barcelona ahead 2-1 with a brilliant individual effort in the 39th, then converted a penalty kick in the 86th. The last player to reach 60 was Bayern Munich’s Gerd Mueller with 67 in 1972-73.

Messi leads the Spanish league with 38 goals, one more than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Seeking its fourth straight league title, Barcelona stretched its league winning streak to nine and closed within three points of Real Madrid, which hosts Valencia on Sunday.

Carlos Aranda put Zaragoza ahead in the 30th minute, six minutes after his penalty kick was saved by Victor Valdes. Carles Puyol tied it in the 36th when goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez fumbled a routine corner kick and the ball fell to the feet of Barcelona’s captain. Messi set up Pedro Rodriguez for a goal in stoppage time.


Engalnd

LONDON (AP) ― Clint Dempsey scored twice as Fulham ended Bolton’s recent revival with a 3-0 victory at the Reebok Stadium in the Premier League.

The American striker opened the scoring with a 30-yard free kick in the 25th minute and headed a second in the 45th to extend the London side’s advantage.

Dempsey’s double took him to 15 Premier League goals this season, surpassing Louis Saha’s club record of 13 set in 2004. Mahamadou Diarra netted Fulham’s third late in the second half. Dempsey has 21 goals overall this season.


Italy

ROME (AP) ― Michael Bradley became the first American to score in Italy’s Serie A in five years with an early goal in Chievo Verona’s 3-2 win over 10-man Catania on Saturday.

Bradley gave Chievo the lead after taking a pass from Alberto Paloschi in the seventh minute at the Bentegodi stadium. The son of former U.S. coach Bob Bradley found the target from the center of the area with a shot that bounced in off the post.

The last American to score in Serie A was Giuseppe Rossi, who had nine goals for Parma in the second half of the 2006-07 season. Rossi was born to Italian parents in Teaneck, N.J. and plays for Italy’s national team.

In the title race, surging Juventus replaced AC Milan at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win at Palermo after the defending champion concluded a difficult week with a 2-1 loss at home to Fiorentina.



Germany

BERLIN (AP) ― Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich warmed up for the likely Bundesliga decider with victories on Saturday, as the defending champion won 3-1 at Wolfsburg while Bayern beat Augsburg 2-1 at home.

Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Guendogan put Dortmund 2-0 up only for Mario Mandzukic’s goal to leave the result in doubt until Lewandowski sealed the win in the last minute.

Dortmund would equal the Bundesliga record of 24 games unbeaten and take a giant step toward defending its title if it avoids defeat on Wednesday.

In Munich, Mario Gomez scored the league’s fastest goal with his 24th of the season 24 seconds into the game and the Bayern striker extended his league-leading tally on the hour after Koo Ja-cheol equalized for Augsburg.

Bayern also has a Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid and the German Cup final against Dortmund to look forward to.

Elsewhere, Cologne fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen, Stuttgart came from behind to beat Mainz 4-1, Freiburg drew 2-2 with Nuremberg, and Kaiserslautern seems doomed after losing 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim.

Hertha Berlin earned a hard-fought 0-0 draw at fourth-place Borussia Moenchengladbach in the late game, but remains second last, two points behind Cologne.


Scotland

GLASGOW (AP) ― Celtic clinched the Scottish Premier League title in style on Saturday, thrashing Kilmarnock 6-0 to reclaim the championship from fierce rival Rangers with a month of the season remaining.

Neil Lennon’s side needed a point at Rugby Park to claim a first title since 2008 and 43rd overall. A double from Charlie Mulgrew and other first-half goals by Glenn Loovens and Gary Hooper ensured celebrations could start before halftime.

Late strikes by Joe Ledley and Hooper added gloss to an easy win.

“It’s the best day of my professional life,” Celtic manager Neil Lennon said. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s been two years in the waiting. I’m so proud of them. They deserve it.

“We have been the best team in Scotland by a long way and we have finished it in the right way.”

Celtic’s players donned T-shirts that read, “This is just the beginning” as they walked a lap of honor.

Celtic’s passage to the title was cleared by second-place Rangers being docked 10 points in February for going into administration ― a form of bankruptcy protection.

Celtic holds an 18-point lead after Rangers beat St. Mirren 3-1.


France

PARIS (AP) ― Montpellier beat relegation battlers Sochaux 2-1 to move provisionally three points clear at the top of the French league and keep the pressure on title rival Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.

Midfielder Younes Belhanda gave Montpellier an early lead and, after Modibo Maiga equalized for the visitors with his third goal in three games, striker Souleymane Camara scored the winner early in the second half.

Montpellier also opened up a seven-point gap on third-place Lille after the defending champion, which has played one game more, lost 3-1 at Brest.

Lisandro Lopez scored two penalties to take his tally to 12 as fourth-placed Lyon beat struggling Auxerre 2-1 at home to move within three points of Lille and three ahead of Toulouse.