Italy Euro 2016 hopeful Simone Zaza produced a dramatic late strike as champions Juventus went one point clear at the top of Serie A with a 1-0 win over Napoli on Saturday (Feb 13).

Napoli, suffering only their third defeat of the campaign, travelled north looking for a league double over the champions for the first time since the 2009-2010 campaign.

But just as the match looked to be heading for a draw, Zaza finished off a great Juve counter in the 88th minute with a powerful shot from 22 yards that took a slight deflection before beating Pepe Reina in the Napoli net.

“I hope this turns out to be a title-winning goal,” said Zaza, who was one of several Italy fringe players being watched by Azzurri coach Antonio Conte in Turin.

Juve are now top of the table with Napoli, who are seeking their first title since 1990 when Diego Maradona steered the southern club to just their second title, now second and a point adrift.

After applauding the “solid” defence that kept a tight rein on Napoli’s 24-goal hero Gonzalo Higuain, Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted: “We got our revenge.”

But he expects a tight battle with Maurizio Sarri’s men in the title run-in and added: “Compared to last year at this point we have one point less, so the title fight will be tight and there won’t be just Napoli but also Inter and Fiorentina.

“Despite the fact we’ve put together 15 consecutive wins, Napoli were always in front of us.”

Napoli coach Sarri all but admitted Juve’s defence had been key: “We were lacking something in the final 20 yards, which is only normal when you’re up against such a strong side.

“Eight months ago they were 24 points behind us, now we’re almost tied.”

Juve fans, however, will be hoping for vast improvements against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16 in just over a week’s time.

The chances for both sides were few and far between in a nervous opening half in which not conceding a goal seemed to be the order of the day.

Juan Cuadrado and Paul Pogba, with a 25-yard freekick, had come closest for Juve in an opening half in which Napoli really only came to life on the cusp of the interval.

First, Gianluigi Buffon produced a fine reflex save from Raul Albiol’s close-range volley from a corner.

Higuain then held the ball up well to find Lorenzo Insigne with a blind pass, only for the Italian to over-hit his return as the Argentinian rushed to the back post.

Napoli resumed where they had left off and Juve looked asleep as the diminutive Insigne somehow muscled his way across the left byline to force a block from Buffon in the opening minute after the restart.

Juve won a corner and a well-worked move saw Claudio Marchisio send a high ball over the defence to Sami Khedira, but Patrice Evra blasted the cutback over from six yards.

But home manager Massimiliano Allegri seemed alert to the danger and soon made two changes, Daniele Rugani replacing Leonardo Bonucci and Zaza coming on for Alvaro Morata.

Zaza’s impact was almost immediate, the Italian battling for possession deep on the right to set up Dybala on the edge of the area before the Argentinian was closed down.

Minutes later Pogba, from deep on the left, set up Dybala at the same spot but the striker flashed his first-time effort just over.

Finally, the Juve crowd were up on their feet but it took the hosts another quarter-hour — in between seeing Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik fire a 25-yard strike just wide — to produce their next chance.

Pogba held off several players on a pacey run up the middle, but despite Cuadrado screaming for service, the Frenchman hit a shot that bobbled towards a thankful Reina.

Allegri appeared to have signalled that he was happy with a share of the spoils when he replaced Dybala with Brazilian defender Alex Sandro in the dying minutes.

But after an exchange of passes, Zaza took two strides ahead of his marker to unleash the shot from outside the area that left Reina powerless, and sent Juventus Stadium into raptures.

Collated Italian Serie A results on Saturday:

Empoli 1 Frosinone 2

Chievo 1 Sassuolo 1

Juventus 1 Napoli 0

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Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice as Real Madrid overcame a stiff test from Athletic Bilbao to move within a point of Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a 4-2 win on Saturday (Feb 13).

Meanwhile, Gary Neville registered his first La Liga win as Valencia boss at the 10th attempt as they came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1.

Ronaldo’s early opener was cancelled out by Javi Eraso before a two-goal burst just before half-time from James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos put Madrid in control.

Real were reduced to 10 men late on as Raphael Varane received a red card, but Ronaldo made sure of the points before Gorka Elustondo grabbed a consolation in stoppage time.

Barca have two games in hand on Madrid and face Celta Vigo in the first of those on Sunday.

Ronaldo had been much criticised for his poor performance as Madrid struggled past Granada last weekend.

Yet, back on home soil, he was back on top form as he turned inside from Karim Benzema’s pass and smashed home his 31st goal of the season.

“The press are here to opine on whether Ronaldo plays well or badly, if he is finished, but today he has showed he is bloody brilliant,” added Zidane.

However, Athletic reacted well to going behind in a hugely entertaining first half with chances flowing at either end.

The visitors were level on 10 minutes when Varane’s errant backpass was only parried by Keylor Navas into the path of Eraso to slot home.

Navas then had to produce a brilliant save to parry Aritz Aduriz’s powerful downward header and Aduriz came close again on the half-hour when his deflected shot came back off the crossbar.

However, the Basques were made to pay for their profligacy as Madrid showed their firepower with two goals in eight minutes before half-time.

Rodriguez regained the lead with a trademark drive into the bottom corner from outside the box for just his fifth goal of the season.

Kroos then put the game beyond Athletic as he received Ronaldo’s pass just inside the area and saw his shot flick off Aymeric Laporte on its way past Iraizoz.

Madrid had to see out the final seven minutes with 10 men as Varane saw a second yellow card for leading with his elbow in an aerial clash with Aduriz.

Yet, even with a man less, Ronaldo got his second of the afternoon to move ahead of Luis Suarez as La Liga’s top goalscorer by controlling Lucas Vazquez’s cross before firing home from close range.

Athletic did eventually get the second goal their performance deserved in stoppage time when Elustondo rounded off the scoring from Oscar de Marcos’s cross.

Valencia’s first league win since November eases their relegation fears and the growing pressure on Neville’s job.

“I’m happy with it, but it’s just one small step forward. There is a big job still to do,” said Neville.

“Relief is probably a good word (to describe it).”

The former Manchester United captain made the bold decision to recall goalkeeper Diego Alves for the first time in nine months after suffering cruciate ligament damage.

That decision paid dividends early on as the Brazilian made a brilliant reaction save to deny Felipe Caicedo before Mamadou Sylla inexplicably headed the rebound wide.

However, Alves was caught flatfooted for the opening goal seven minutes after half-time as Oscar Duarte flew in unmarked to head home Burgui’s corner.

Alves made amends moments later with an incredible double save to deny Duarte and then Pape Diop.

Neville sent on Alvaro Negredo in search of an equaliser and, unlike in recent games when the former Spanish international has missed key chances, he came up with the goods as his deflected shot after a terrific run by Joao Cancelo trickled in 20 minutes from time.

And the game was turned on its head six minutes later as Sofiane Feghouli’s cross from the right was powerfully met by Denis Cheryshev at the back post for his first Valencia goal.

Villarreal stretched their lead over Sevilla in fourth to 11 points thanks to Roberto Soldado’s solitary goal in a 1-0 win over Malaga.

Collated Spanish La Liga results on Saturday:

Real Madrid 4 Athletic Bilbao 2

Villarreal 1 Malaga 0

Valencia 2 Espanyol 1

Deportivo la Coruna 2 Real Betis 2

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Sevilla set up a meeting with Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey after a 2-2 draw away to Celta Vigo on Thursday saw them win their semi-final 6-2 on aggregate.

Unai Emery’s side had done the damage in last week’s first leg at home, winning 4-0 to leave Celta with a mountain to climb in the return at Balaidos.

However, in the driving Galician rain, Celta did make Sevilla fret as they went 2-0 up on the night thanks to a brace either side of half-time by Iago Aspas.

But Ever Banega quickly pulled one back for Sevilla and Swedish striker John Guidetti struck the post with a penalty for Celta after he had been brought down in the box by goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

Sevilla then equalised on the night when Vitolo set up Yevhen Konoplyanka for an easy finish late on.

Sevilla and Barcelona, who met in the final of the UEFA Super Cup in Tbilisi at the start of the campaign with Barca winning 5-4 in extra time, will now clash again in the final of the Copa del Rey, with the game scheduled for May 21 at an as yet undecided venue.

Barcelona are the holders while Sevilla last lifted the trophy in 2010, when they defeated Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the final at the Camp Nou.

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Barcelona equalled a club record of 28 games unbeaten to move three points clear at the top of La Liga with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Levante on Sunday (Feb 7).

Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid remain four points behind the leaders in third thanks to Luka Modric’s stunning strike five minutes from time to snatch a 2-1 win at Granada.

Meanwhile, the pressure continues to build on Valencia boss Gary Neville after his winless La Liga streak stretched to nine games with a 1-0 defeat at fellow strugglers Real Betis.

Barca were far from their best in coach Luis Enrique’s 100th game in charge, but David Navarro’s first-half own goal and Luis Suarez’s strike in stoppage time was enough to secure a 10th consecutive win in all competitions.

The European champions now lead Atletico Madrid by three points and have a game in hand on both Atletico and Real.

“More than statistics, I am interested in the collective objectives that we have and we can only reach them at the end of the season,” said Enrique. “We are very well-positioned in all competitions, but there is a long way to go.”

Barca needed a slice of luck to open the scoring on 21 minutes as Jordi Alba burst down the left and his ball into the box was deflected into his own net by Navarro.

Levante remain rooted to the foot of the table, but deserved to be at least level at the break as they outplayed the Catalans in the latter stages of the first-half.

Jose Luis Morales came closest to equalising when his low effort came back off the post eight minutes before the break.

However, Barca took the sting out of the game in the second-half and sealed the points with the last move of the match as Lionel Messi picked out an unmarked Suarez to fire home his 36th goal of the season.

Real were also very fortunate to remain in the title hunt as they were outplayed in large spells and rescued by Modric’s fantastic late strike into the top corner from 20 yards.

“Modric scored a great goal that has given us life and, above all, three points,” said Zidane. “You have to fight until the end and I’m happy that is what we did.”

Karim Benzema continued his fine form since French compatriot Zidane took charge last month as he converted Dani Carvajal’s cross for his seventh goal in five games after half an hour.

Granada’s fine build-up play lacked a cutting edge before half-time, but they got a break to level on the hour mark as Modric crashed into the referee, sparking a counter-attack which ended with Youssef El Arabi slotting home the equaliser.

Real looked jaded and off-form throughout, with Cristiano Ronaldo particularly anonymous, but their best player on the night, Modric, salvaged the three points when he fired home his first goal of the season five minutes from time.

At the other end of the table, Valencia remain just four points above the relegation zone as Neville failed to produce the reaction he hoped for following a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in the Copa del Rey in midweek.

“What matters are results. We knew this would be about one or two moments and they have not gone our way,” said Neville.

“It’s just not going for us at the moment. That was a pretty solid away performance. I continue to work, I continue to have belief and any conversations with the owners are between me and the owners.”

Betis hadn’t won for nine league games either, but eased their relegation worries as Ruben Castro took advantage of some statuesque Valencia defending to tap home his 10th goal of the season four minutes after half-time.

Alvaro Negredo had a great chance to equalise moments later, but Juan Manuel Vargas got back to clear his effort off the line before Valencia were reduced to 10 men late on as Jose Luis Gaya saw a second booking.

Collated Spanish league results on Sunday:

Levante 0 Barcelona 2

Real Betis 1 Valencia 0

Celta Vigo 1 Sevilla 1

Granada 1 Real Madrid 2

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