European football: Barcelona edge Alavés, Milan denied derby hat-trick

Barcelona closed the gap on La Liga leaders, Real Madrid, to four points, but were reliant on Robert Lewandowski’s second-half goal to beat struggling Alavés.

The home side dominated possession with Alavés, who sit in 18th place, happy to sit back and defend. Barça almost scored near the half-hour mark when Manu Sánchez’s attempt to clear Raphinha’s cross went to Lewandowski, but the Polish striker put his shot wide.

Lewandowski then headed wide from Lamine Yamal’s cross in the 57th minute, but the two combined again four minutes later to put Barcelona ahead. Pedri’s lofted ball from the left reached Yamal, whose cross took a deflection off Nahuel Tenaglia and found Lewandowski, who volleyed home from close range.

The Alavés goalkeeper, Jesús Owono stopped Yamal from doubling Barca’s lead, tipping away his shot to keep the away side in the game. Alavés then pushed for an unlikely equaliser, with Toni Martínez missing their best chance in the 87th minute when his attempt from Santiago Mouriño’s cross went wide.

“Before the game we knew we had to win. We are a few points behind,” Lewandowski, the Spanish top flight’s leading scorer, said after netting his 18th goal of the season. “We can’t always win by three, four or five goals. We played with patience and vigilance and in the end we scored one more goal than the opponent.”

The match was held up for several minutes when Gavi and Tomás Conechny clashed heads during an aerial challenge. Both players were substituted after receiving treatment on the pitch. “It’s the doctor’s decision. [Gavi] couldn’t continue playing and we have to respect that,” the Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick, said afterwards.

In Serie A, Napoli spurned the chance to extend their lead at the top when they were held to a 1-1 draw away to Roma on Sunday, with Angeliño equalising in added time for the hosts.

Leonardo Spinazzola scored against his former club to give Napoli the lead in the 29th minute but with time running out Roma snatched the goal to deny the away side what would have been a crucial win. Napoli are on 54 points, three ahead of Inter who still have a game in hand, while Roma stay ninth with 31 points.

Milan had a third derby win of the season firmly within their grasp before Inter netted late at San Siro on Sunday, and while the Milan manager, Sérgio Conceição, was clearly disappointed, he conceded that the 1-1 draw was the fairest outcome.

Milan had won both previous meetings this season, with Conceição lifting the Italian Super Cup last month in his second game in charge after a 3-2 win over their rivals, but they were denied a hat-trick by Stefan de Vrij’s goal in added time. Tijjani Reijnders had put Milan ahead on the stroke of half-time.

“We put on the field the attitude we wanted, Inter know each other very well and create a lot of difficulties for the opponents, it was important to curb their strengths and exploit some weaknesses,” Conceição said.

“In the end it is clear that we are disappointed, because we lost two points, but we saw all the joy they showed at the end. I think the draw is fair, but of course, mistakes are paid for.”

The former Manchester City captain Kyle Walker made his Milan debut and the England manager, Thomas Tuchel, was watching in the stands.

Randal Kolo Muani’s double helped Juventus to a comeback 4-1 home win over lowly Empoli in Serie A on Sunday that lifted them into the top four.

The visitors, who are 17th in the table, took a shock lead after four minutes through defender Mattia De Sciglio, on loan from Juve, who nodded home Liam Henderson’s corner. Empoli were awarded a penalty in the 15th minute, but the referee overturned his decision after a VAR check revealed an attacking handball.

Juventus, who had won one of their last eight games in all competitions, ended the first half with only one shot on target, but increased their tempo after the break. The Empoli goalkeeper, Devis Vásquez, did well to deny Nicolás González and Teun Koopmeiners before Kolo Muani equalised from close range.

The Paris Saint-Germain loanee struck just after the hour mark, tucking the ball inside the near post after he latched on to a long pass from Koopmeiners. Kolo Muani then fortuitously put Juve ahead when a long-range shot by Timothy Weah ricocheted off him and flew into the bottom corner of the net.

Substitute Dusan Vlahovic made it 3-1 in the 90th minute with a powerful shot under the bar after a solo run. Another replacement, Francisco Conceição, completed the rout late on after an excellent long pass from Khéphren Thuram. Empoli were left with 10 men in the 84th minute when Youssef Maleh was shown a second yellow card.