Robert Lewandowski has denied becoming unhappy with life at Bayern Munich, head coach Julian Nagelsmann insisted on Sunday.

The Polish striker was reported to have hinted at disenchantment as he gets close to completing eight years as a Bayern player.

Lewandowski, 33, is the leading scorer among players in Europe's top five leagues for a third consecutive season, netting 47 goals in all competitions so far in 2021-22 after 48 in 2020-21 and 55 in 2019-20.

Rumours have suggested he could be a Barcelona target, and if it became known that Lewandowski wanted a fresh start there would be no shortage of suitors.

Nagelsmann said he received assurances from Lewandowski that there is no truth to the theory he has become disgruntled.

"We are in close, very direct contact. He is old enough, and so am I, that we could address things directly if that were the case," Nagelsmann told DAZN on Sunday.

"He immediately denied that. In an interview in Poland he once said that he had very little space up front and that it's difficult to score a lot of goals and that made him unhappy.

"He doesn't have a problem with me and the other way around isn't the case either."

Former RB Leipzig boss Nagelsmann took charge at Bayern after Hansi Flick departed at the end of last season to become head coach of the Germany national team.

Bayern are well placed to land a 10th consecutive Bundesliga title, but they made an early exit from the DFB-Pokal and were upset by Villarreal in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Lewandowski played but did not score as Bayern won 3-0 at Arminia Bielefeld in the Bundesliga on Sunday to move nine points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund with four games to play.

Inaki Williams is Mr Reliable for Athletic Bilbao and has now not missed a single LaLiga match for a remarkable six years.

Williams started Sunday's clash with Celta Vigo, partnering Oihan Sancet up front.

That means that the 27-year-old – who seems set to stay at Bilbao for the majority of his career, given he is under contract until 2028 – has now played in 227 consecutive LaLiga matches, far and away a record in the competition.

Williams overtook previous record holder Juanan Larranaga when he played in his 203rd LaLiga match in a row earlier this season.

He last missed a league game on April 17, 2016, when Athletic beat Malaga 1-0.

Williams featured as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid four days later and went on to play in Athletic's final four top-flight fixtures of the campaign as they just missed out on Champions League qualification.

In each of the intervening seasons, the forward has featured in all 38 LaLiga games and his incredible run of appearances includes 189 starts.

His goal tally is not quite as impressive, with Williams managing 44 in the league since the start of 2016-17, including seven so far this term.

Yannick Carrasco scored twice, including a stoppage-time penalty, as Atletico Madrid boosted their hopes of Champions League qualification with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Espanyol on Sunday.

Diego Simeone's side succumbed 1-0 to Real Mallorca last weekend and were eliminated in Europe by Manchester City on Wednesday, before struggling again at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Atletico had to wait until the 52nd minute for substitute Carrasco to strike with their first shot on target, before Raul de Tomas levelled with a free-kick following Geoffrey Kondogbia's dismissal.

However, a late handball decision against De Tomas offered Atletico a penalty, which Carrasco converted in the 10th added minute to send Simeone's side level on points, at least briefly, with Sevilla and Barcelona, and three clear of fifth-placed Real Betis.

Atletico had defeated Espanyol in seven of their last nine home league games, but it was Vicente Moreno's visitors who started the brighter.

Leandro Cabrera's header from Darder's corner forced a sharp Jan Oblak stop just seven minutes in, while Joao Felix skewed over on the counter-attack at the other end.

Simeone responded by sending on Antoine Griezmann, Matheus Cunha and Carrasco at half-time and Atletico's fortunes soon changed.

Oblak reacted quickly to deny Darder and that save proved vital a minute later when Cunha and Carrasco combined on a clinical break.

Cunha raced towards the Espanyol goal before laying an inch-perfect pass for Carrasco to cut in and squeeze a right-footed strike under Diego Lopez to open the scoring.

Oblak then thwarted a low De Tomas volley but, after Kondogbia was shown a second yellow for handball, the Espanyol striker's resulting free-kick squirmed under the Atletico goalkeeper.

Carrasco snatched victory after De Tomas was adjudged to have handled an Atleti corner, allowing the home forward to fire into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards.

Barcelona face a fan boycott for Monday's LaLiga game against Cadiz after a group of supporters announced they would stay away in a protest over what they called "the greatest infamy at our home".

The massed ranks of Eintracht Frankfurt fans at Camp Nou on Thursday for the Europa League quarter-final second leg has incensed many at Barca.

Club president Joan Laporta has said he was "ashamed" with the ticketing situation against the Bundesliga side that allowed tens of thousands of away supporters into the stadium.

Head coach Xavi has said the matter is being investigated internally, with Barcelona's 3-2 defeat and exit from the competition having compounded the misery 

The Grada d'Animacio (Animation Stand) group, which provides considerable colour and noise at home games, announced its boycott on Sunday, issuing a statement on Twitter.

"Last Thursday we experienced a day that will be marked forever as the greatest infamy at our home," the group's statement said.

It added: "As fans and members of FC Barcelona we have experienced many victories and many defeats on the field of play, but as a fan group, we have experienced a social humiliation that we will never forget."

The group said the system that allowed Frankfurt visitors to acquire tickets for the game had failed Barca fans, adding that the mass buy-up should have been detected and prevented.

The fan body also questioned whether it had come as a surprise to Barcelona that so many German fans had attended, or whether it had been allowed to bring in money at the box office.

According to the Grada d'Animacio, there were more than 30,000 Frankfurt fans at the game.

The fan group also questioned what might have happened if the visiting supporters were spoiling for a fight.

"Who knows where we would be right now with another group of fans," the group's statement added.

"Our task is simple but very complicated, to set the mood and help cheer up the rest of the stadium to get victories, because we are very clear that as fans we are the 12th team player.

"However, the events that took place on Thursday meant that we were forced to take action, as we did during the match and on other occasions, and that is precisely why we will attend the next match between FC Barcelona and Cadiz.

"We are convinced that, as members and fans of FC Barcelona, ​​we cannot ever allow again a remotely similar situation, and we ask the parties involved to remember that not everything in life is a few million, especially if we talk about a club that has as a motto 'more than a club'."

Bayern Munich restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a routine 3-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld.

Julian Nagelsmann's side were knocked out of the Champions League by Villarreal in midweek, leaving the Bundesliga as the only trophy they can claim this season.

Borussia Dortmund reduced the gap to six points on Saturday with a thumping 6-1 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday.

However, Bayern ensured they will go into Der Klassiker against Dortmund with a comfortable buffer, goals from Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry, both of which were originally disallowed for offside, and some late gloss courtesy of Jamal Musiala keeping them on course for a 10th consecutive Bundesliga crown.

Arminia started brightly and the impressive Patrick Wimmer fired into the side-netting after cutting in from the right.

But Bayern soon took control of the contest, with only an astonishing save denying Robert Lewandowski as Stefan Ortega Moreno pushed his close-range header onto the post and then off the underside of the crossbar.

Lewandowski then looked to have been thwarted by the offside flag after he met Alphonso Davies' cross and saw his effort deflected in by a defender, however, the VAR overturned the decision to give Bayern lead.

Ortega's battle with the Poland striker continued as he repelled another effort after more good work from Davies as Bayern piled further pressure on the Arminia goal.

Arminia then saw two more offside decisions go against them as a well-taken Masaya Okugawa goal was chalked off in a decision confirmed by VAR before Gnabry found the bottom-left corner with a first-time strike that was awarded after originally being disallowed by the linesman's flag.

Bayern took the sting out of a low-key second half with little difficulty and Musiala tapped in at the near post six minutes from time to put the result beyond any doubt.

Bayern Munich restored their nine-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga with a routine 3-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld to leave themselves on the brink of a 10th straight title.

Julian Nagelsmann's side were knocked out of the Champions League by Villarreal in midweek, leaving the Bundesliga as the only trophy they can claim this season.

Borussia Dortmund reduced the gap to six points with a thumping 6-1 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday.

However, Bayern ensured they will go into Der Klassiker against Dortmund with a comfortable buffer, goals from Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry, both of which were originally disallowed for offside, and some late gloss courtesy of Jamal Musiala means they can secure the title by beating their fierce rivals next time out.

Arminia started brightly and the impressive Patrick Wimmer fired into the side-netting after cutting in from the right.

But Bayern soon took control of the contest, with only an astonishing save denying Robert Lewandowski as Stefan Ortega Moreno pushed his close-range header onto the post and then off the underside of the crossbar.

Lewandowski then looked to have been thwarted by the offside flag after he met Alphonso Davies' cross and saw his effort deflected in by a defender, however, the VAR overturned the decision to give Bayern lead.

Ortega's battle with the Poland striker continued as he repelled another effort after more good work from Davies as Bayern piled further pressure on the Arminia goal.

Arminia then saw two more offside decisions go against them as a well-taken Masaya Okugawa goal was chalked off in a decision confirmed by VAR before Gnabry found the bottom-left corner with a first-time strike that was awarded after originally being disallowed by the linesman's flag.

Bayern took the sting out of a low-key second half with little difficulty and Musiala tapped in at the near post six minutes from time to put the result beyond any doubt.

What does it mean? Bayern a win away from title

Der Klassiker is always a massive date on the German football calendar but it will have extra significance next Saturday.

Nine points ahead of Dortmund with four games remaining, a home win over their arch-rivals will seal yet another title for Bayern.

Power Serge

Gnabry was at the heart of Bayern's dominance here, providing four key passes to go with his goal.

Arminia running out of games

Defeat for Arminia means they have taken just one point from their last seven games and are two points adrift of the relegation play-off spot.

What's next?

There could be a celebration at the Allianz Arena next Saturday, a day that will also see Arminia visit Cologne.

Stefanos Tsitsipas defended his Monte Carlo Masters crown and lifted his eighth ATP Tour title by defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets on Sunday.

Greek Tsitsipas, who defeated Andrey Rublev to triumph in Monaco last year, eased past second seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final and repeated the trick with a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory over Davidovich Fokina.

The Spaniard beat Novak Djokovic and reigning Indian Wells Masters champion Taylor Fritz en route to his maiden ATP Tour final, and started well on Court Rainier III with an early break.

However, Tsitsipas found his rhythm with his ferocious forehand to break back before winning four of the next five games to take the lead.

The world number five, appearing in his fourth Masters 1000 final, then failed to serve out for the match at 5-4 up in the second set, but recovered in the tie-break to secure his first trophy of the season.

In doing so, Tsitsipas becomes the sixth player to manage consecutive Monte Carlo titles in the Open Era, while half of his eight tour-level titles have come on clay.

"I am very proud of myself," Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. "Things weren't going well at one point, but I managed to stay composed to finish the match off.

"I am really proud with the belief I put in my game. Sometimes you doubt yourself, but it is always important to keep your head high."

Davidovich Fokina was aiming to become the first unseeded champion in Monte Carlo since Thomas Muster in 1992, and Tsitsipas acknowledged the 22-year-old made him fight to reclaim the trophy.

"He fought in moments I didn't expect him to fight," Tsitsipas said. "He can hit incredible winners out of nowhere and play unpredictably.

"But I was able to minimise that. I knew he would be a dangerous opponent but that is a great win for me. I think we will see great results from him in the future."

Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi hailed team-mate Kylian Mbappe as "one of the best in the world" and hopes the forward will stay at the club.

However, the Morocco international said he will support Mbappe in whatever decision he makes at the end of the season, with the striker's contract set to expire in June.

Across all competitions, Mbappe has recorded 31 goals and 18 assists – both club-highs – in 39 appearances this season as PSG close on the Ligue 1 title.

The club suffered a disappointing Champions League exit to Real Madrid last month, however, furthering speculation that Mbappe could swap Paris for Los Blancos when his deal expires.

Hakimi is desperate to see Mbappe extend his five-year stay in the French capital.

"Mbappe is one of the best in the world and he is my friend," Hakimi told Telefoot. 

"I want him to stay here, he knows. He will decide what he thinks is best for his career, and I will support him."

Holding a 12-point lead at the top of Ligue 1, PSG can take a huge step towards claiming an eighth league title in 10 years when they face second-placed Marseille in Sunday's Classique, and Hakimi highlighted the importance of winning that clash to appease the club's disgruntled fans.

Indeed, despite PSG's last 11 Ligue 1 goals being scored by the brilliant attacking trio of Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, the latter duo have faced jeers from their own supporters since the Parisians' 3-2 aggregate defeat to Madrid.

"I know there is a particular expectation and a lot of rivalry [between PSG and Marseille]," Hakimi added. "I experienced it the first time at the Velodrome [a 0-0 draw in October]. It is a game that can decide the fate of the championship. 

"Our fans deserve this victory and this tenth league title [in the club's history]. We have had a very bad few weeks. 

"It's hard when your fans don't support you. Winning against Marseille is the best we can do to keep them cheering us on until the end of the season."

Over a month has passed since the team's Champions League collapse at the Santiago Bernabeu, where a Karim Benzema hat-trick eliminated PSG after Mbappe had netted once in either leg, but Hakimi says he still cannot explain their European exit.

"It is difficult to realise that we are out of the Champions League," he added. "We had the mechanisms to get ahead. The truth is that I cannot explain it. Even today, when I think about it, I don't understand it. I understand that the fans are sad, so are we. 

"At this level, small details make the difference, we have to correct them next year. That's what will make us champions."

PSG enter Sunday's crucial clash with Marseille having lost just one of their last 19 Ligue 1 meetings with their rivals, recording 14 wins during that run and keeping clean sheets in five of the previous seven.

Bayern Munich chief executive Oliver Kahn insists the club are "totally convinced" by head coach Julian Nagelsmann, while he hit out at the "cowardly" death threats towards the manager.

The Bundesliga side crashed out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage in midweek to Villarreal, leaving the German top-flight title as the only major trophy Nagelsmann can manage in his first season.

Bayern can restore their nine-point lead at the Bundesliga summit when they visit Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday, meaning the league would be almost secured with four games left to play after the weekend. 

However, Nagelsmann revealed in the build-up to the clash with Arminia that online abuse and threats, including towards his mother, have become commonplace in the wake of defeats for Bayern.

Kahn, speaking to German TV channel Sport1, acknowledged criticism in a high-pressure role is expected but says "limits are being far exceeded" with such threats.

"We all know it, we know what happens when FC Bayern is in this situation," he said. "That's part of it, you have to be able to deal with criticism.

"Here, however, limits are being exceeded, now far exceeded. What's going on with people who are sending death threats to other people out of anonymity?

"There is nothing more cowardly than discrediting other people out of anonymity. We will think about whether we can and must put a stop to it."

As for the success of the former RB Leipzig head coach Nagelsmann, who conceded the Bundesliga title alone was not enough at Bayern, Kahn fully supports the 34-year-old.

"We want to emphasise that we're totally convinced," he added on the Bayern boss. "We want to continue on this path with him. He knows what's important to us.

"In addition to the development of the younger players, you can see that [Jamal] Musiala is a positive development, you could also see that he pulled [Leroy] Sane out of the slump in form.

"That's what we expect from him. Of course, we also want to strengthen. We knew that Julian was a young coach, that's what we wanted too.

"We knew that there would be one or two setbacks and that's part of the path we want to take.

"Of course we always have the highest demands at Bayern Munich. But if we look at the season and also look at the data, then we have made some progress.

"Especially in terms of defence, for example, we conceded 10 goals fewer than at the same time last season and scored the same number of goals.

"We lost important players, David Alaba and Jerome Boateng but on the other hand, you have to see that we conceded 44 goals last season.

"It was our goal to become more stable, we've achieved that, we've become more flexible. This team is always capable of delivering top performances."

Jack Grealish firmly believes Manchester City can win a Premier League and Champions League double and insists their FA Cup loss to Liverpool will not affect their ambitions.

Pep Guardiola's men suffered a thrilling 3-2 semi-final defeat to Jurgen Klopp's team on Saturday, with Sadio Mane's double adding to Ibrahima Konate's opener to give the Reds a comfortable half-time lead.

Goals from Grealish and Bernardo Silva threatened an incredible turnaround, but City were unable to find a leveller and fell to their first Wembley defeat to Liverpool, having beaten them on penalties in both the 2016 League Cup final and the 2019 Community Shield.

City have now lost on four of their last five FA Cup semi-final appearances, but Grealish said the loss would not affect their attempts to beat Liverpool to the Premier League and Champions League trophies.

"Yes, 100 per cent [City can win both competitions]," he told the club's official media channels. "You go in there and look at the talent and experience that we have in that dressing room, I don't think anyone else in the league has one like it.

"Our performances and where we are in the league speak for itself. We just have to pick ourselves up, go again and hopefully by the end of the season we'll have [won] the Premier League and the Champions League.

"That's what you'll get at Manchester City, because you're always in [multiple] competitions come the end of the season, it's always game after game."

City's slow start to the encounter resulted in them conceding three first-half goals for the first time since April 2018, when they trailed the same opponents 3-0 at the break in the Champions League.

The former Aston Villa man conceded their poor display in the opening period ultimately cost them a place in the final, suggesting City would have levelled an absorbing tie had it gone on for just five more minutes.

"Obviously we started slow, for the whole of the first half Liverpool were on top," he added. "For us, it wasn't an ideal first half and in the end it cost us.

"I'm not going sit here and say excuses. I just think we came out slow. That was it. Liverpool have been the same as us, they've travelled the same amount as us in the last few weeks, played the same as us.

"We didn't have the first half that we wanted to, but we came in at half-time and the manager made a few changes. In the second half I think we were much better for it, but I think in the end it was too little, too late.

"With another five minutes I think we'd have gotten another goal, and if we took it to extra time there would only have been one winner, but it wasn't meant to be."

City will turn their attentions back to the Premier League when they host Brighton and Hove Albion on Wednesday, although they could begin that game in second place with Liverpool, one point behind the leaders, facing Manchester United one day earlier.

Xavi urged Barcelona to "keep believing in the project" after his side crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Barca stumbled in the Europa League quarter-final as they were eliminated by Eintracht Frankfurt, but their LaLiga form remains impressive and has guided them to second in the table.

The Blaugrana are 12 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who play third-placed Sevilla on Sunday, and are unbeaten in their last 15 Spanish top-flight games, winning their last seven.

Xavi insists his team must forget about the failure in Europe if they are to register eight straight league wins for the first time since January 2019 when they host Cadiz on Monday.

"When we started in November, we knew we needed to be more competitive, that five or six years ago we didn't compete well enough in Europe," he told reporters at a pre-match news conference.

"We have to keep believing in the project, we competed well in Napoli, not against Eintracht.

"It's a tough blow, they've eliminated us from the Europa League that we hoped to win to qualify for the Champions League and we haven't succeeded.

"We are encouraging the group, making them see where we have failed, also what we have done well. In short, it is to continue believing in what we are working on. Little by little, with patience.

"Now it's time to focus on securing the Champions League [via LaLiga]."

As for questions over his tactical methods, Xavi responded: "We have won five Champion League titles with this style. The style that [Johan] Cruyff imposed has given us much success.

"If we have doubts, we must improve this game system, what we must not do is rest on it. If we are making mistakes, we must improve it."

Barca will be hoping to have the Camp Nou filled by home fans against Cadiz, as opposed to the masses of away Eintracht fans – estimated to have been around 25,000 – that made it in for the Europa League.

Blaugrana president Joan Laporta acknowledged he was "ashamed" with the ticketing situation against the Bundesliga side, and Xavi confirmed the matter was being investigated internally.

"The club is working to solve it, as soon as they have an explanation, first they will tell us and then the media," he added.

"The players did not feel at home. It was a bad night in every way."

Erling Haaland's price tag means he is an unrealistic transfer target for Bayern Munich, according the club's chief executive Oliver Kahn.

With Bayern's own star striker Robert Lewandowski linked with a move to Spain ahead of his contract expiring in 2023, it has been suggested that Die Roten could make another raid on rivals Dortmund, just as they did when bringing Lewandowski to the club in 2014.

Haaland has scored 18 goals in 20 Bundesliga appearances this season, 14 fewer than Lewandowski, albeit having played nine games fewer than the 33-year-old.

A host of Europe's top clubs expected to make serious attempts to sign the Norwegian come the end of the season. However, Kahn says Bayern do not have the finances to make a deal work.

"I don't think we would be doing our job well if we didn't deal with a young striker," Kahn told German TV channel Sport1.

"He's shown his performances too, at BVB he's an excellent striker. He's also a very interesting player for the future.

"There is always talk of the 'Haaland package'. [But] these are areas that are very, very far away from what we imagine [financially]."

Haaland has averaged a goal every 86.78 minutes in the Bundesliga this season, the third-best rate amongst players to have hit double figures, behind only Lewandowski (a goal every 78.22 minutes), and Bayer Leverkusen's Patrik Schick (every 83.35 minutes).

Since making his Bundesliga debut on January 18, 2020, Haaland has scored 58 goals in 63 league games, a tally only bettered by Lewandowski's astonishing return of 88 goals in 72 games during that time.

The 21-year-old scored twice as Marco Rose's side hammered Wolfsburg 6-1 on Saturday, with team-mate Tom Rothe becoming the youngest player to score on their Bundesliga debut (aged 17 years and 169 days) as BVB look to deny Bayern a 10th consecutive title.