Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold offer reminders of their class while Lens suggest they can pip PSG to the Ligue 1 title: Winners and losers of the weekend's football around Europe

Mohamed Salah's time left as a Liverpool player is getting shorter by the day, with 'The Egyptian King' almost certainly set to depart Merseyside this summer as the Reds prepare to cash-in on one of their greatest ever players 12 months before his contract expires. And after a difficult campaign to date, Salah showed on Saturday just why he will be so missed at Anfield.

For the third time in his Liverpool career, Salah scored, provided an assist and won a penalty as part of a virtuoso performance for Arne Slot's side, who ran out 3-0 winners over Brighton in the FA Cup thanks to additional strikes from Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai. Salah's displays have left a lot to be desired for much of the season, with Saturday's spot-kick just his seventh goal in all competitions, but he demonstrated in an energetic display that he is ready to fight for silverware even if these do prove to be his final months as a Liverpool player.

"It is very nice to have him on the scoresheet again, but what I like the most is he scoring goals – you can almost expect that – but he also helps the team a lot defensively and that is something very positive,” said Slot post-match.

The cup couldn't provide respite for everyone, however. It was believed that Phil Foden was getting back to his best during an encouraging first half of the season for Manchester City's homegrown hero, but his form since the turn of the year has been more akin to what he produced last term, with it now over two months since Foden found the net in any competition.

He would have hoped to end that run on Saturday when he was named to Pep Guardiola's line up for the visit of League Two side Salford City, a team the Premier League title-chasers beat 8-0 in the FA Cup last season. Foden, however, was one of a number of Man City players who struggled to make an impact against inferior opposition as the hosts managed only a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium.

Foden faces a fight to earn his place in the England squad for this summer's World Cup, and with Cole Palmer rounding into form, it feels as if it could be a straight battle between the Man City star and Eberechi Eze for a spot on Thomas Tuchel's squad. Given the disparity between their two performances against lower-league teams this weekend, it feels like Eze may have moved ahead despite his own struggles in the Premier League.

Foden isn't the only household name who needs a big few months to prove themselves to England boss Tuchel. Trent Alexander-Arnold's injury-hit start to life at Real Madrid has seen him fall down the Three Lions' pecking order, with the ex-Liverpool defender having logged just 26 minutes at international level since Tuchel took charge at the start of 2025.

However, if Saturday's performance for Madrid in their win over Real Sociedad can be repeated through to the summer, then it would take a brave man to leave Alexander-Arnold off the plane to North America in June. The full-back provided a superb assist for Gonzalo Garcia to open the scoring for Los Blancos in their 4-1 victory over a team who were unbeaten in 11 matches under new coach Pellegrino Mattarazzo.

"He strikes me as a very intelligent guy, who understands the game very well, and quickly grasps what we want from him," Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa said of Alexander-Arnold following his first start since early December. "He's not the typical full-back who's always going to be out wide, he can also play centrally. We want players to be able to interchange positions. We're lucky to have a player like that."

There was a time when, win or lose, you know what you were going to get with Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone would set his side up in such a fashion that they would concede few chances, and while they might also create few opportunities for themselves, they generally possessed the required quality to get the job done more often than not.

How 'El Cholo' must dream of those days, now. Atleti should have been on cloud nine as they entered Sunday's meeting with Rayo Vallecano having thrashed Barcelona 4-0 three days earlier in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final. However, what good feeling their was within the Rojiblancos' squad dissipated over the course of their 3-0 defeat to a relegation-threatened team who are currently being forced to play their home games at neighbours Leganes due to the state of their own pitch.

"We can’t lose matches like this," bemoaned goalkeeper Jan Oblak. "We can’t play like this. Playing this way, it will be difficult to compete. Matches aren’t chosen. You have to compete in them at the highest level, and we’re not doing that. Rayo were much better, we deserved to lose."

Atletico have now lost back-to-back games in La Liga despite winning the two Copa games that preceded them by an aggregate score of 9-0, and what slim hopes they had of challenging Real Madrid and Barcelona for the title have now totally disappeared. In fact, Simeone's side must be nervously looking over their shoulders, with Real Betis now just four points behind them in the race for Champions League qualification.

In perhaps the most dramatic game of the weekend, Inter tightened their grip on the Serie A title race with a thrilling 3-2 win over Juventus on Saturday. After Andrea Cambiaso cancelled out his own own goal to bring Juventus level in the first half, the game turned when Pierre Kalulu was bizarrely sent off for the Bianconeri shortly before half-time for a second yellow card.

Pio Esposito then looked to have won the game for Inter when he put them back ahead in the 76th minute, only for Manuel Locatelli to bring the visitors level seven minutes later. However, Inter would have the last laugh in one of the most controversial Derby d'Italias ever as Piotr Zielinski netted the winner in the final minute to spark wild scenes at San Siro.

"Nights like this are what you dream of when you start playing football as a child," boyhood Inter fan Esposito told Sky Sport Italia. "The maximum I could ask for tonight was a victory and a goal, and I got them."

The victory moved Cristian Chivu's side eight points clear of AC Milan at the top of the table, though the Rossoneri have a game in hand to play against Como on Wednesday, and with matches against struggling Lecce and Genoa to come before the Milan Derby on March 8, Inter will be confident of putting themselves in a position to all-but wrap up their Scudetto defence before the March international break.

Had things gone differently last summer, Cesc Fabregas would have been Inter boss, not Chivu. The Spaniard was high on the Nerazzurri's wishlist, only for him to opt to remain with Como for another campaign, and it has gone pretty well thus far, with Fabregas' side into the Coppa Italia semi-finals while still in the hunt for a top-four finish in Serie A.

Juve's defeat, coupled with Roma's draw with Napoli, opened the door for Como even further, but they were unable to take advantage, falling to a 2-1 home loss to struggling Fiorentina that was capped by Alvaro Morata receiving a late red card. 

"I’m annoyed that I wasn’t able to help the boys understand the importance of the game. I showed them my experience as a footballer during the week, maybe too much, but it wasn’t enough," Fabregas said post-match. "It wasn’t a football match in the second half. Leaving that aside, the game has to be won with the right motivation and energy.

"I feel bad as a coach, because I wasn’t able to convey this to my players today. Maybe it was in our heads. We made a mistake in our attitude, we have to show more desire. I didn’t like the first half very much, the second half, I repeat, wasn’t a game of football."

The defeat leaves Como six points adrift of fourth-placed Roma with games against Milan and Juve to come this week that will likely decide whether a European push is realistic for the remainder of the season.

Perhaps the most exciting title race within Europe's 'Big Five' leagues continues to play out in Ligue 1, where the top two again traded places. Surprise package Lens are back on top, one point ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, who slumped to a 3-1 loss at Rennes on Friday.

"I think we need to show more desire," insisted Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele following PSG's latest disappointing result. "We have to play for Paris Saint-Germain to win matches, because if we play on our own on the field, it won't work, we won't win the titles we want.

"Last season, we put the club first, before thinking about ourselves, and I think we need to get back to that, especially in matches like these. We're in the second half of the season, and it's Paris Saint-Germain that should come first, not individual players. We have to play for the club instead of thinking about ourselves."

Lens had just under 24 hours to wait before they could respond, and they would have been forgiven for any nerves they showed on their visit to Paris FC. However, Pierre Sage's side showed no signs of feeling the pressure as they ran out 5-0 winners in the French capital to keep themselves on track to win their first league title since 1998.

For much of the season, Marseille believed themselves to be in the title race. However, a damaging run of form hasn't just seen OM fall out of the title picture and lead to Roberto De Zerbi losing his job, but has also now put OM at risk of missing on Champions League qualification.

For the second time in three weeks, Marseille threw away a two-goal lead in the final 20 minutes of a match to draw 2-2, as they this time allowed Strasbourg to leave the Velodrome with a point. OM have now won just two of their last seven games in all competitions, and find themselves five points behind in-form Lyon, who occupy the third and final automatic qualification place for next season's Champions League.

Sporting director Medhi Benatia followed De Zerbi in leaving the club in the wake of Saturday's draw, with one of France's greatest clubs now firmly back in crisis-mode and in a fight to save their flailing season.

After a minor blip, Bayern Munich are back striding towards the Bundesliga title, with Saturday's 3-0 win over Werder Bremen maintaining their six-point lead over Borussia Dortmund as a crucial Klassiker at the end of the month begins to emerge on the horizon. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the Bavarians' win over their relegation-threatened hosts on Saturday, but it was a landmark day for Harry Kane.

The ex-Tottenham star became the first Englishman to net 500 senior goals for club and country by scoring a brace, taking his tally for the season to 41 from just 35 games for Bayern, while he also converted the 100th penalty of his illustrious career.

Bayern boss Vincent Kompany put it perfectly post-match: "He's Harry Kane, he has and will always score goals."

Hearts' dream of ending the Old Firm's dominance of the Scottish Premiership remains on, but Sunday could certainly have gone better for Derek McInnes' side in their pursuit of a first league title since 1960.

Firstly, the leaders could only watch on as third-placed Celtic came from 2-0 down to score a stoppage-time winner and win 3-2 at Kilmarnock, before Hearts to the field at Ibrox to face second-placed Rangers. McInnes' side twice took the lead in the first half, but were pegged back each time before the home side ran out 4-2 winners thanks to a hat-trick from Youssef Chermiti.

Hearts remain top of the table, but the gap to Rangers has been cut to two points, while Celtic are a further point back with a game in hand on the top two. McInnes, though, remains confident that his team can get the job done.

"We still feel, although we’ve lost a fight today, there’s still a war to win and we’re still well in it," he told his post-match press conference. "For us, to be top of the league at this stage of the season is a testament to the efforts of the players. 

"There’s no shame in losing this game and we’re disappointed. But we’re still fighting. The fact that we’re up there with two heavyweights, with Rangers and Celtic, says a lot about the lads. And we’ve 11 games to go. We don’t feel as if we’re going to go anywhere."