European round-up: Benfica suffer as Porto seal title

Benfica's nightmare week had a suitably deflating ending. After the heartbreak of last-gasp defeats and Chelsea in the Europa League final, Jorge Jesus saw the Liga title slip away to Porto.

Porto's Jackson Martinez finished as the Portuguese league's top scorer with 26 goals

It had been expected after last week's loss to the northerners, with Benfica requiring a Porto slip, but it unfolded in galling fashion.

Vitor Pereira's Porto took the lead midway through the first half at third-placed Pacos de Ferreira with a hotly disputed penalty, converted by Lucho Gonzalez in an incident which also led to Pacos's Ricardo Silva being sent off.

Top-scorer Jackson Martinez netted a second for Porto after the break, meaning Danilo's red card for the Dragons and Benfica's 3-1 win over relegated Moreirense, thanks to two goals by Lima, were little more than footnotes.

Spain

After Atletico Madrid's historic Copa del Rey win against Real Madrid on Friday night, champions Barcelona took the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of La Liga back to 13 points. They beat Valladolid at the Nou Camp 2-1, with Pedro and Marc Valiente's own goal sealing the win.

The race for the fourth Champions League spot is still as tight as can be. Valencia gained the upper hand by winning 1-0 at Levante, with Jeremy Mathieu celebrating his France recall with the winner.

Yet Real Sociedad regained the advantage later on Saturday, joining them on 62 points with an excellent 2-1 win at Sevilla.

After falling behind to an Ivan Rakitic goal, the Croatian international headed into his own net to level matters. Imanol Agirretxe's winner means La Real have the edge on head-to-head with two games to go.

Italy

With Serie A's title and relegation issues sorted, focus shifted to the third and final Champions League place. AC Milan began the day in situ, but suffered an almighty scare before securing it.

Mario Balotelli has scored 12 goals in 13 games for AC Milan

They trailed to Claudio Terzi's first-half strike for much of the match, but two in the last six minutes by Mario Balotelli and Philippe Mexes saved the day and garnered a 2-1 win, despite captain Massimo Ambrosini's red card.

Fourth-placed Fiorentina's 5-1 win at bottom team Pescara, courtesy of an Adem Ljajic hat-trick, was thus in vain.

Walter Mazzarri quit as coach of second-placed Napoli after his side's final game of the season. Mazzarri had been in charge for four seasons and steered the team to the Champions League for the second time in three years.

"At this point it is only right to either change scenery or have some time off," he said. "If offers come in then I will evaluate them. If I have the right adrenaline and motivation then I'll do it, otherwise I'll stay at home."

Germany

They never seem to do it the easy way, but Schalke sealed the final Champions League spot with victory at rivals Freiburg.

Captain Julian Schuster's own goal gave the 2011 semi-finalists a 2-1 win, with Christian Streich's side settling for a commendable fifth place.

Bayern Munich warmed up for the Champions League final with an entertaining 4-3 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Arjen Robben's deciding goal extended their Bundesliga winning margin to an astonishing 25 points, after fellow finalists Dortmund slipped to a surprising home loss to Hoffenheim.

Robert Lewandowski gave Jurgen Klopp's team an early lead, but Sejad Salihovic's late double delivered Hoffenheim from the jaws of relegation into a play-off with Bundesliga 2's Kaiserslautern.

Fortuna Düsseldorf dropped out of the top flight after losing 3-0 at Hannover.

France

After public disorder ruined their title celebrations in the city centre on Monday, Paris St-Germain were finally able to celebrate their Ligue 1 championship on Saturday night.

David Beckham has lifted domestic titles in four different countries

In a match likely to be remembered for what seems sure to be David Beckham's final professional appearance, PSG beat relegated Brest 3-1 with two goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and one from Blaise Matuidi.

Marseille have already guaranteed second place so could afford to lose 2-0 at St Etienne. Lyon are in the driving seat for third after Clement Grenier's super free-kick salvaged a 1-1 draw at rivals Nice.

A win at home to Rennes on the final day would seal Lyon's place but Nice, St Etienne or Lille could steal it if they stumble, with the latter two playing one another.

Nantes and Guingamp were promoted back to Ligue 1, joining champions Monaco in returning to the top flight.

Belgium

The title decider took place on Sunday as the play-offs reached their climax. Anderlecht played host to surprise package Zulte-Waregem, knowing that a draw would seal a 32nd championship, but a loss would let the visitors in to lift the trophy.

Inspired by on-loan Chelsea midfielder Thorgan Hazard, Jens Naessens put Zulte in front with a header just before the hour, but Lucas Biglia equalised almost immediately to give Les Mauves the point they needed.

Russia

CSKA Moscow sealed their first Russian Premier League title in seven years on Saturday with a goalless draw against Kuban in the capital.

Outgoing champions Zenit's 3-1 win over Volga was therefore irrelevant, though it contained the bizarre sight of goalscoring substitute Roman Shirokov being sent off for making an inflammatory gesture to his own fans.