European Roundup: Barcelona Close in on Title, Paris Saint Germain Almost There

Barcelona look well set to wrap up the La Liga title after Real Madrid could only draw while Paris St Germain are all but champions in France.

SPAIN

Real Madrid's hopes of winning the title were left hanging by a thread when they were held to a 2-2 home draw by Valencia after La Liga leaders Barcelona secured a nervy 2-0 win against visiting Real Sociedad.

Second-placed Real, who had to recover from two goals down to rescue a point at the Bernabeu, are four points behind their arch rivals with two games left and Barca can wrap up the title with a win at champions Atletico Madrid next weekend.

Luis Enrique's side struggled to find a way past Sociedad goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli at the Nou Camp before Neymar struck shortly after halftime and substitute Pedro scored a spectacular overhead kick late on.

Atletico missed a chance to all but secure third place and a Champions League group stage berth when Fernando Torres had to come off the bench to salvage a 2-2 draw at strugglers Levante that left them four points ahead of fourth-placed Valencia.

ENGLAND

Burnley and Queens Park Rangers were relegated after one season in the Premier League, while Manchester United all but claimed the last Champions League qualifying spot after they beat Crystal Palace away and Liverpool drew at Chelsea.

Burnley won 1-0 at Hull City but there was no escape from the drop for the Lancashire side after Sunderland, Leicester City and Aston Villa all won and Newcastle United drew.

QPR needed to win at Manchester City to keep alive their slim survival hopes but a sorry 6-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium left them nine points adrift of fourth-bottom Newcastle.

Manchester United's win means they need a point from their remaining two games to guarantee a Champions League place after Liverpool's 1-1 draw with champions Chelsea left Brendan Rodgers' side six points behind their north-west rivals.

GERMANY

VfL Wolfsburg beat struggling Paderborn 3-1 to secure a spot in the Champions League group stage next season after making sure of a top three finish with two matches to spare.

First-half goals from Timm Klose and Bas Dost, who took his league tally to 16, made sure Wolfsburg returned to the elite European club competition for the first time since winning the Bundesliga in 2009.

Bayern Munich, who have already secured the title, lost 1-0 to Augsburg for their fourth defeat in a row in all competitions as coach Pep Guardiola's team prepare to face Barcelona in their Champions League semi-final return on Tuesday.

Borussia Moenchengladbach, in third place, edged closer to their maiden Champions League group stage participation after cruising past rivals Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 to put five points between them.

ITALY

AS Roma stayed second, which would earn a Champions League group stage place, despite losing 2-1 at AC Milan.

Roma have 64 points, one more than Lazio who remained third in the Champions League playoff spot after losing 2-1 at home to Inter Milan with their former player Hernanes scoring both goals for the visitors.

Napoli are three points behind Lazio after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 at relegated Parma. Cesena will join Parma in Serie B next season after losing 3-2 at home to Sassuolo.

FRANCE

Paris St Germain are almost certain to retain their Ligue 1 title after second-placed Olympique Lyonnais' 3-0 loss at Caen left them six points behind with two games left.

PSG, who demolished En Avant Guingamp 6-0 on Friday, have 77 points and a better goal difference (+45 to +38) than Lyon, who were physically overwhelmed by struggling Caen.

Monaco remain two points ahead in third but Olympique de Marseille beat them 2-1 to boost their hopes of snatching the Champions League playoff spot. St Etienne are level with Marseille after a 5-0 mauling of Nice.

NETHERLANDS

Manchester United-bound Memphis Depay scored a stunning free kick as Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven beat Heracles 2-0 in the penultimate round of league matches.

AZ Alkmaar kept their hopes of finishing third alive with a 3-2 win over NAC Breda that in turn consigned their opponents to the relegation playoffs.

PORTUGAL

Jackson Martinez scored twice, the second an acrobatic bicycle kick, to give Porto a 2-0 win over Gil Vicente which extended the Portuguese title race for another week.

Needing a point to prevent Benfica from wrapping up the trophy, Porto overcame an early penalty miss by Ricardo Quaresma as Martinez, the league's top scorer, took his tally for the season to 20.

Benfica, who thumped bottom club Penafiel 4-0 on Saturday, stayed three points clear at the top with two games left and remain firm favourites to retain the title.