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Trouble in Valencia; Muller Dropped; Le Classique in France and Serie A’s top two keep on winning.

Valencia fans are not happy. Their side haven’t won a league game since November and are only four points above the relegation zone with 15 games remaining.

Under-fire Coach Gary Neville arrived back after his side had lost 1-0 at Real Betis – a team winning only their second home game of the season, the other against David Moyes’ Real Sociedad - to be met by fans asking for him to go. It’s almost two months since they were singing for their last manager to be sacked.

Under a headline of “Don’t Give Up” and a picture of fans holding a flag saying: ‘These fans are not the second division’, the cover of the Valencian newspaper Super Deporte says: “We think this Valencia insults 96 years of history and the players are not fit to wear the shirt. We think the trainer is not the solution and the owner has taken selfish decisions. The fans are furious and but we have one message: ‘Don’t Give Up.’” Neville has no plans to give up either and given the results, such headlines are to be expected. Neville knows that. He’s working day and night to get things right, but, as another Super Deporte piece before the Betis game said: “Neville’s hard work is not being reflected in results”.

Whoever the manager of Valencia has been, Super Deporte has never been shy to fan the flames. Fan expectations are that Valencia should be competing for trophies because they used to compete for trophies, but the current run is nowhere near good enough for a club of their stature. Neville knows this but said: "We didn’t deserve to lose. We had chances which we didn’t take. We didn’t deserve to lose our last two league games".

It was a bad day for Valencian football as bottom of the table Levante, who’d been busy in the transfer market, were defeated 2-0 at home by top of the table Barcelona. “Leader and Pichichi,” was the headline on Monday’s Catalan daily Sport, showing Luis Suarez who scored yet again with his 36th goal of the season. Barça are now 26 games unbeaten.

In Germany, Borussia Mönchengladbach finally recorded their first win of the second half of the season by hammering Werder Bremen 5-1 on Friday night, gaining revenge for their cup exit at the hands of the northerners back in December. “Gladbach attack overruns weak Bremen defence and ends crisis with goal fest” summed up Kicker. “Schubert’s side can dream of the Champions League again” added Spiegel as the Foals moved up to sixth.

Borussia Dortmund and their 10,000 travelling fans headed to the capital to face third placed Hertha BSC - the surprise package of the season so far. “No more back five!” predicted Berlin’s Tagesspiegel, “Pal Dardai determined to be more offensive.” But in the end, as Kicker reported, “the Berliners rarely showed much attacking intent” as the game finished 0-0. Salomon Kalou was wasteful for the hosts and “goal monster” (Sportbild) Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was uncharacteristically subdued in front of a watching José Mourinho in the Olympiastadion.

The result gave Bayern Munich a chance to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga as they travelled to Bayer Leverkusen, but the Bavarians had their own pre-match issues. Sportbild suggested in the week that an overweight Arturo Vidal had been on all-night drinking sessions during the club’s Qatar training camp and reported on Friday that Guardiola was already focussing his attention on Manchester City with the comment “I’m like a woman, I can concentrate on both!” Die Welt questioned the Catalan’s “surprising” treatment of Thomas Müller who started on the bench in the BayArena as the champions were held to a 0-0 draw by a “tactically courageous Leverkusen side” (Kicker). “Bayern helpless without Müller!” added BILD, although the striker did come off the bench to miss a great chance late on.

The game of the weekend took place in Frankfurt, as VfB Stuttgart continued their remarkable upturn in form with a 4-2 win over Eintracht. “6 goals, 2 red cards and a joke of a penalty decision” summarised BILD. “VfB not giving up the chase!” added Kicker, as the Swabians pulled 5 points clear of the relegation zone with their fourth win in a row. “Stuttgart enjoying Kramny effect” said the Süddeutsche Zeitung, referring to the team’s change of fortunes under new boss Jürgen Kramny.

Elsewhere, there was no happy return to the Ruhr for Julian Draxler. “Schalke dominate on Draxler’s return” reported Kicker as Wolfsburg were beaten 3-0. “HSV spoil Cologne’s party” said the Süddeutsche Zeitung as Cologne and their 3,500 travelling fans in fancy dress settled for a 1-1 draw in Hamburg on carnival weekend.

In France, the Ligue 1 table is slowly beginning to look more familiar on a weekend where “Ligue 1 saw red!” (Le Monde) with nine red cards. “Monaco reign on the Côte d’Azur” said Le Point after the principality club beat neighbours Nice to remain second. “Greens drinking Bordeaux and aiming high” said France Football after St Étienne went fourth with a 4-1 win over the Girondins. Rivals Lyon are only 3 points behind them in sixth after a 3-0 win away at Angers. “Lyon back on the road and back on track” said L’Équipe.

All attention was on the Stade Vélodrome on Sunday night as PSG travelled south for Le Classique. Despite taking the lead through Zlatan Ibrahimovic after 158 seconds, PSG faced their toughest test of the season as Marseille fought back through Rémy Cabella, before Di Maria secured the Parisians’ ninth consecutive Classique success. “OM will have regrets” opined RMC, “PSG made to work to get the better of Marseille” said L’Équipe, whilst France Football said the champions’ effectiveness was “the difference between a small and a big team”.



In Italy, leaders Napoli and Juventus both won again and sit eight points clear. They meet on Saturday, with La Gazzetta Dello Sport’s headline of ‘Now it’s up to you two’ accurate.

Napoli beat Carpi at home, “eighth win in a row and Maradona’s record beaten” said Gazzetta. “Higuain scores in his sixth straight match: “If we win in Turin…”

Winning in Turin against a side on an even better run would be incredible. “The Bianconeri make it 14 (straight wins) in Turin thanks to Cuadrado and Dybala. And Marotta (Juve CEO) warns Allegri: “Chelsea? If I were him I would think hard about it.”

The coach of the Italian champions will focus on Saturday’s game for now. And there’s even a mention of Leicester on the cover of Gazzetta: “(We) travel to Leicester, the multicultural area united by Mister Ranieri and his Foxes” it says of a travel piece.