European roundup: Sancho double for Dortmund, Spal shock Juventus

Jadon Sancho scored twice in seven minutes to help Borussia Dortmund to a nervous 2-1 victory over Mainz 05 that sent them back to the top of the Bundesliga.

Sancho’s goals were enough to lift Dortmund, who were dominant in the first half but inexplicably eased off after the break, to 66 points with five games left to play. They are two points ahead of Bayern Munich, who face Fortuna Düsseldorf on Sunday.

Dortmund, eager to make amends for last week’s 5-0 demolition by Bayern, went ahead in the 17th minute, Sancho drilling home at the far post. And the 19-year-old doubled the score in the 24th, firing in a Thomas Delaney assist for his 10th goal of the campaign.

Mainz hit the woodwork through Karim Onisiwo in the 63rd minute and cut the deficit with Robin Quaison’s deserved goal in the 83rd before Dortmund’s keeper, Roman Buerki, made a triple point-blank save in the 87th to protect Dortmund’s three points.

Juventus’s hopes of wrapping up the earliest ever Serie A title were dealt a blow after they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at struggling Spal. Max Allegri’s side could yet see their title confirmed this weekend but it would require Napoli to drop points at Chievo on Sunday afternoon.

The afternoon started brightly for the reigning champions when the in-form striker Moise Kean scored on the half-hour mark with his sixth goal in six games, diverting a shot by João Cancelo into the net past a wrongfooted goalkeeper.

Cristiano Ronaldo was among a number of senior Juventus players rested before Tuesday’s Champions League second leg against Ajax and the team’s weaknesses were exploited when Spal’s Kevin Bonifazi rose to meet an outswinging corner and levelled the scores early in the second half. With 15 minutes to go, the veteran striker Sergio Floccari pounced on a loose ball to fire his side into a surprise lead. The hosts then held out for a win that was as valuable as it was unexpected, taking them seven points clear of the relegation zone.

Juventus could yet seal the earliest title in a 20-team Serie A season – which would be their eighth in succession – and may still equal the record number of points gained, which stands at 102, set by themselves in 2013-14.

The La Liga leaders, Barcelona, were held to a goalless draw by the bottom club, Huesca, after their coach, Ernesto Valverde, made sweeping changes to his lineup in preparation for Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Manchester United. The draw means second-placed Atlético Madrid could close the 12-point gap with Barcelona, who are on 74 points, if they beat Celta Vigo later on Saturday.

With the title practically assured after last weekend’s 2-0 win over AtIético, Valverde fielded a radically different side from that which won 1-0 at Old Trafford in Wednesday’s first leg, making 10 changes and giving three players league debuts. The top scorer, Lionel Messi, was left at home for the game after being struck in the face by the United defender Chris Smalling while Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets were also rested and Gerard Piqué and Luis Suárez were suspended.

The goalkeeper, Marc-André ter Stegen, was the only player who started at Old Trafford to start against Huesca, although Barcelona were boosted by the return of the France forward Ousmane Dembélé after a month out injured. The Barça midfielder Arturo Vidal was happy to admit that his side’s minds were more focused on getting beyond the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2015 than on the game they were playing on Saturday. “I think everyone that was playing today was thinking about Tuesday’s game, just like the guys who stayed at home. The Champions League is what everyone is dreaming about,” said the Chilean.

“There were a lot of changes and a few debuts so we’re happy in general with the game, though we could have been more ambitious in attack,” added Valverde. “It was a difficult situation with so many new players but I understood it was what we needed to do today.”

Huesca desperately needed a win to keep up their slim hopes of avoiding relegation but they struggled to make much of an impact and stay rooted to the bottom of the standings with 25 points from 32 games.