Juventus moved to the brink of Champions League qualification with a 2-0 Serie A win over Cremonese on Sunday, though their victory was marred by another injury suffered by Paul Pogba.
With one eye on Thursday's decisive Europa League semi-final clash with Sevilla, Massimiliano Allegri made seven changes to his line-up, handing Pogba his first Serie A start since returning to Turin.
Pogba's outing lasted just 24 minutes as he was substituted in tears after appearing to suffer a thigh injury, and though his withdrawal initially affected Juve, fellow midfielder Nicolo Fagioli broke Cremonese's resistance with a powerful drive after half-time.
Bremer headed a late second as Juve went eight points clear of fifth-placed Milan with three games remaining, leaving them favoured for a top-four finish, provided their 15-point deduction is not restored.
Juve struggled to break Cremonese down in a low-key opening, and they suffered a huge blow when Pogba pulled up innocuously, before exiting the field visibly upset seven years to the day after his last Serie A start.
Danilo was unable to convert the rebound when Marco Carnesecchi spilt Bremer's header 32 minutes in, and that was as close as the Bianconeri came before being booed off at half-time.
Federico Chiesa blazed over the crossbar as Juve sought an improvement after the break, while Adrien Rabiot forced Carnesecchi into action with a powerful 25-yard strike.
Chiesa turned provider as Juve broke the deadlock after 55 minutes, though Fagioli was deserving of all the credit as he hammered the winger's lay-off into the roof of the net from 20 yards out.
A VAR review denied Juve a second goal when Arkadiusz Milik converted with 16 minutes remaining, but the contest was over five minutes later when Bremer reacted quickest to nod in following a corner.
What does it mean? Juve edge towards finish line
Juve's hopes of Champions League qualification have been under threat on several occasions this season, including when they were hit with a 15-point deduction in January, and more recently when they ended April with a four-match winless run in Serie A (D1 L3).
However, Allegri's men have hit form just as their rivals have faltered, winning three successive games to move well clear of Milan.
Off-field matters could yet have an impact, but on the pitch, Juve know any further slip-ups from the Rossoneri will confirm their place in the top four.
Pogba woes continue
Pogba returned to Turin from Manchester United with much fanfare last year, but it's fair to say his Juve comeback has not been successful.
Beset by injuries since pre-season, Pogba has made just six league appearances this campaign, featuring for a total of 84 minutes.
Fagioli steps up
Following Pogba's withdrawal, Juve needed somebody to step up and provide some attacking inspiration.
Fagioli, who spent a period in Cremonese's youth system and enjoyed a loan spell with the club last season, did just that.
Following his thunderous strike, he is one of just two midfielders born this century to score three goals and register three assists in Serie A this term, alongside Udinese's Lazar Samardzic.
What's next?
It's all to play for as Juventus head to Sevilla for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday, following a 1-1 first-leg draw.
Barcelona must 'work hard' to achieve Champions League glory, says Flick
Hansi Flick tempered expectations of Barcelona's chances of silverware in his first season in charge ahead of facing Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.
Flick has led Barca to 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions, scoring 50 goals in those games while conceding just 14 times.
Some standout matches have seen Barca thrash Clasico rivals Real Madrid 4-0 while also brushing aside Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League in their last match in the competition.
While Flick understood the fans' excitement after those results, he urged his side to keep their feet on the ground with a long season still in front of them.
"We have to work hard. There are many teams who dream of the same thing, of winning (the Champions League)," Flick said.
"For the moment, we're going to focus on working hard and grinding out, so then we'll see what happens. We have to focus on our goal which is to keep improving.
"A team's form fluctuates a lot over a long season. The important thing is to focus on winning the next match. Sure, after the match against Bayern everything changed.
"But we are just starting. The important thing is how we finish the season. We could say that our goal is to be in the top eight."
Flick, however, insisted he was not surprised by his side's impressive start to the campaign despite enduring a trophyless season last term.
Barca are nine points clear at the top of LaLiga and 11th in the Champions League table ahead of facing Red Star, who are without a win from their three games so far.
"Before we came here we analysed the whole team, every player. We realised that there was very good quality overall," Flick said.
"Another thing to point out is that we wanted to improve how we defend and did small changes in the way we play. The players liked it and they are happy working on it.
"The players play a big role, they are helping us a lot.
"The start was already good on the pre-season in North American and the players are very happy, although there are still many things to improve."
And Barca will be confident of keeping their fine form going against a side that has lost 81% of their matches in the Champions League (P21 W2 D2 L17).
This is the first European meeting between the two sides since October 1996 in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a 1-1 draw with Giovanni cancelling out a Zoran Jovicic's opener for the Serbians.
PSV 4-0 Girona: Dutch side get first win of Champions League
PSV Eindhoven won their first match in the Champions League this season as they thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday.
Ryan Flamingo got the scoring under way after 16 minutes as he turned Malik Tillman's long throw home, despite replays showing that it should have been disallowed as Tillman's foot was over the byline before releasing the ball.
Tillman got himself on the scoresheet 17 minutes later with a fine finish after he arribed into the box unopposed.
Things went from bad to worth for Girona after half-time, with Arnau Martinez receiving a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a second bookable offence.
From then, it was all one-way traffic and PSV might feel aggrieved not to have won by a bigger margin given their glut of second-half chances.
Ismael Saibari was next to put the ball in the back of the net, although his effort was ruled out for a foul in the build-up following a VAR review.
Johan Bakayoko did get PSV's third with seven minutes to go, before a Ladislav Krejci own goal wrapped up the rout in the 88th minute. The result leaves Girona 26th in the table on three points, while PSV are 19th with five points.
Odegaard returns to full Arsenal training ahead of Inter tie
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has returned to full training after spending two months out of action with an ankle injury.
Odegaard has missed 12 matches for the Gunners in all competitions after damaging his ankle ligaments against Austria while on international duty with Norway in September.
The 25-year-old midfielder trained with Arsenal ahead of their trip to the San Siro to face Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side have, however, struggled in Odegaard's absence recently, failing to win any of their last three games in the Premier League.
In the seven games that Odegaard has missed in the top-flight, Arsenal's win percentage dropped from 66.7% to 42.9% after going unbeaten in their first three games.
The Gunners have also averaged 1.6 points per game without Odegaard, compared to 2.3 points won with the Norwegian in their ranks.
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