Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich by fielding a second-string lineup and throwing away the lead twice in a 2-2 draw with Lorient in Ligue 1.
Ibrahim Mbaye’s lucky early goal to put PSG in front at the Parc des Princes was soon cancelled out by Pablo Pagis for mid-table Lorient, but Warren Zaïre-Emery gave the hosts the lead for the second time when he scored moments after coming on as a second-half substitute.
However, a mistake by the teenage debutant Pierre Mounguengue allowed Aiyegun Tosin to run through and score a second equaliser for Lorient, and PSG could not find a winner – even being awarded a penalty in stoppage time for a nonexistent handball which was eventually overturned after the video assistant referee intervened.
The result means the outcome of the Ligue 1 title race remains a live issue, with PSG seven points clear of Lens who have four games remaining, including a trip to struggling Nice later on Saturday.
Lens also still have to play PSG at home on 13 May and Luis Enrique’s side are clearly focused principally on the defence of their European title as they head to Munich for Wednesday’s semi-final second leg with a 5-4 lead from the remarkable first meeting of the sides.
As for Bayern Munich, who are already confirmed as Bundesliga champions, they scored through Michael Olise with the last kick of the game to snatch a 3-3 draw against bottom-placed Heidenheim after battling back from two goals down. Like Luis Enrique, Vincent Kompany rotated his side heavily ahead of the return match in Munich.
Heidenheim quickly found themselves two goals up with Budu Zivzivadze and Eren Dinkci finding far too much space and beating second-choice keeper Jonas Urbig. But Bayern, who last Saturday came from 3-0 down to beat Mainz 05 4-3 in the Bundesliga then on Tuesday cut the deficit against PSG from 5-2 to 5-4, began their latest comeback with Leon Goretzka’s freekick just before the break.
The midfielder, who will be leaving Bayern at the end of the season, scored again in the 57th minute to level but Heidenheim, desperate for points to have a shot at reaching the relegation playoff spot, hit back once more.
Zivzivadze, whose had already set a club record by scoring for a fourth successive league match, curled a shot into the top far corner after shaking off Olise in the 76th to put his team 3-2 up. But in the 10th minute of stoppage time, Olise grabbed a point for Bayern with a long-range effort that went in off the back of Diant Ramaj, the Heidenheim keeper.
In Italy, Napoli were held to a 0-0 draw at Como, a result that means Inter, the Serie A leaders, now need just one point to secure the league title.
Inter hold a nine-point lead over Napoli, who have three matches left, and a draw at home to Parma on Sunday night would clinch the Scudetto. Como, meanwhile, boosted their chances of qualifying for Europe for the first time.
Cesc Fà bregas’s side are fifth in the standings on 62 points, two behind Juventus, who host already relegated Verona on Sunday and, with the top six guaranteed European football, Como are eight points ahead of Atalanta in seventh.
Como looked the more likely side to take all three points, with Vanja Milinkovic-Savic in the visitors’ goal coming to Napoli’s rescue on more than one occasion, while Matteo Politano hit the post late on for the defending champions.
In Spain, Villarreal guaranteed themselves a Champions League qualification spot with a 5-1 romp over Levante in La Liga. Marcelino’s third-placed side moved 18 points clear of fifth-place Real Betis, who have five games left to play.
Georges Mikautadze struck twice in the Yellow Submarine’s derby victory, with Alberto Moleiro, Tajon Buchanan and Nicolas Pépé also on target. Carlos Espà scored for Levante, 19th, provisionally three points from safety and in danger of relegation, with Sevilla and Alavés above them still to play this weekend.
Villarreal are five points clear of fourth-place Atlético Madrid, who 2-0 won at Valencia despite Diego Simeone rotating all 11 players from the Champions League semi-final first leg 1-1 draw against Arsenal. This was match number 1,000 for Simeone in his coaching career, but he was thinking more about 1001, in London on Tuesday against Mikel Arteta’s Premier League leaders.
The youngsters Iker Luque and Miguel Cubo struck second-half goals for Atlético, with defeated Valencia, 13th, only five points clear of the relegation zone.
Atlético took the lead after 74 minutes when Obed Vargas shuffled the ball out to Luque on the edge of the area and he produced a lethal low finish in at the near post. The visitors doubled their advantage in the 83rd minute when the substitute Antoine Griezmann teed up Cubo to thump home. The goal was initially ruled out for offside but a review showed Griezmann had timed his run in behind to perfection.
Barcelona could officially retain their title this weekend with a helping hand from one of their local rivals. If they can win at Osasuna in Saturday’s late kick-off then they would move 14 points clear of Real Madrid, who would then travel to Barcelona to face Espanyol on Sunday knowing that the title race would be all over if they failed to win.
Meanwhile, Real’s captain Dani Carvajal has suffered a foot injury as the right back approaches the final weeks of a contract that expires in June. The 34-year-old Spain international could be sidelined for up to two weeks, raising the possibility that he may still be available for their final home game of the season against Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabéu later this month. After facing Espanyol on Sunday, Real travel to Barcelona for el clásico on 10 May. Their remaining fixtures also include matches against Real Oviedo and Sevilla, both currently in the relegation zone.