Aston Villa’s winning streak in the Championship was cut short at three games on Tuesday night following defeat to Huddersfield Town.

Steve Bruce’s men seemed to be on the up when they claimed victories over Derby County, Bristol City and Rotherham United, but taking on third-placed Huddersfield proved to be too much of a challenge.

Twenty-two points separate Villa and the Terriers in the table, with Bruce’s side residing 15th with little or no hope of reaching the playoffs this season.

The Midlands outfit headed into the match at John Smith’s Stadium as underdogs and they were unable to upset the odds as Tom Smith nabbed the one and only goal in the 69th minute for Huddersfield.

Bruce blamed his team’s failure to find that clinical touch, and many fans thought the same after the final whistle.

Plenty took to Twitter to give their views, and while some were upset by the result, others decided to look at the big picture.

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The Euro Roundup is very excited when it gets to this time of year, because after Christmas, when the Champions League starts to hot up, European football takes centre stage.Not only are there title races going on all over the continent, but there are some huge midweek games over the next few weeks, too. This week, we’ll see if Barcelona can pull off a miracle, and the same can be said for Arsenal. Though in reality, it’ll probably be next week, when Manchester City travel to Monaco and Leicester host Sevilla, what we see sparks really fly.There’s still league action to sink our teeth into, though. And here’s what happened this week.

Spain

This weekend in Spain acted like many other weeks in Spain, at the top of the table at least. And yet this season is far from the most predictable of Spanish seasons.

Barcelona and Real Madrid both managed big wins (an aggregate score of 9-1 to the Clasico teams when both their matches is taken together), to stay side by side in the table, although Barcelona have played a game extra.

The Catalan side are one point clear, and although Madrid have that game in hand, the last few weeks have meant that the lead at the top for Zinedine Zidane’s side isn’t as clear cut as it once was. It looked like Barcelona were in meltdown in the league and would struggle greatly to put any real pressure on Madrid, but that’s no longer the case. And if they do go out of the Champions League, they’ll only be playing league games from here on in: their Copa del Rey final against Alaves is a week after the end of the league season. Two goals and two assists from Lionel Messi and a goal from Neymar saw them win 5-0 this weekend, though. Do that again and the miracle will be achieved.

Both Madrid sides, meanwhile, will definitely have European competition to contend with. Real might have to put up with the extra fixtures if Barcelona go out, but so will Atletico if they go through themselves. In their battle for the final Champions League spot, they still have to fight off Real Sociedad and Villarreal, neither of whom have any other commitments outside of La Liga. And even Athletic Bilbao could be a threat given their current form. They are managed by potential Luis Enrique successor at Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde.

Germany

RB Leipzig’s 2-2 draw with Augsburg on Friday night was a dagger through the heart of anyone hoping for a Bundesliga title race, most of all Leipzig themselves. That draw, coupled with Bayern’s functional 3-0 win away to Koln puts the Bavarian behemoth seven points clear and surely out of sight.

In fact, it was a doubly bad weekend for Leipzig as Borussia Dortmund below them scored a 6-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen – a victory which cost Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt his job. That leaves Dortmund six points behind Leipzig, but poised to pounce if they can put their inconsistencies behind them and finish the season strongly.

Bayern, though, with no more challenge from below, can concentrate on blazing a trail in the league to give them form for the Champions League. Over the years, they have been unchallenged domestically, and unprepared in Europe. This season, they’ve been pushed up until recently, and that might see them through in the Champions League when it matters most.

Italy

It’s a similar story in Italy in terms of the Champions League places, but the big story of the weekend certainly didn’t involve Juventus dropping points.

It looked last week like Roma were the only challengers to Juve dominance, but Napoli’s victory over Luciano Spalletti’s side this week has changed the vibe. In part, their victory was down to Pepe Reina’s age-defying save right at the death.

No longer are Roma looking assured of that second spot in defeat, but now bitter rivals Lazio will be hoping a good run will not only end with a Champions League place, but also dumping Roma into the Europa League places.

This week, though, Roma face Lyon in the Europa League last 16. Victory would see a big rival for that competition out of the way and leave them as favourites for the title along with Manchester United. Let’s hope they don’t meet in a quarter final.

Elsewhere, Juventus drew with Udinese, but with defeat for Roma, they actually extended their lead. There’s surely no way anyone else wins the title now.

France

There very much is a title race in France, though.

As PSG look to finish the job against Barcelona this week, Monaco have an extra week off before they try to overturn a two goal deficit at home to Manchester City. In the meantime, though, they are matching each other’s results, if not scorelines: Monaco’s 4-0 victory over Nantes brought their goal tally to 82, whilst PSG’s 1-0 win over Nancy just keeps that points tally ticking over. Manchester City know all about Monaco’s attacking prowess, but if they didn’t already, another four goals should persuade them that their Champions League tie isn’t yet over. They know all about Kylian Mbappé already.

PSG are the big beast, of course, so it makes sense that much of the focus is on them, and as Monaco are in such impressive form, it makes sense that they are the two teams most talked about in the title race. But that makes it easy to forget that Nice are still keeping the pace, their 1-0 victory over Dijon keeping them level on points with PSG, and only three behind Monaco.

Elsewhere, Marseille bounced back from their humiliation at home to PSG last weekend to beat Lorient 4-1, including a sensational performance from Florian Thauvin, and this beauty from Dimitri Payet:

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Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that Arsenal are monitoring Everton midfielder Ross Barkley ahead of a summer transfer window that could see monumental change in north London.

Often accused of inconsistency, the England international has enjoyed a fine last few months in the Premier League, amassing one goal and five assists in his last nine Premier League appearances for Everton to earn a place in Gareth Southgate’s latest squad and raise suggestions that he may be on the cusp of realising his full potential.

But safe to say, Gunners supporters aren’t exactly excited about the news – and particularly the insinuation that Barkley could go on to replace Mesut Ozil at the tip of Arsenal’s midfield, with the German World Cup winner’s contract due to expire at the end of the season.

In fact, the response on Twitter has been almost overwhelmingly negative. Football FanCast’s Tom Skinner takes a look at some of the funniest tweets…

Tottenham Hostpur star Dele Alli was once again among the goals as he helped inspire his team to a remarkable win against Swansea City on Wednesday night.

Trailing 1-0 with just two minutes of normal time left to play, Spurs’ Premier League title aspirations looked set to be ending with leaders Chelsea winning 2-1 against Manchester City – until Alli stepped up.

The 20-year-old scored in the 88th minute, but Mauricio Pochettino’s men weren’t ready to settle for the point and after Heung-min Son scored in injury-time, Alli set up Vincent Janssen to complete the amazing win with one of the last kicks of the game.

The England international took to social media prior to the victory to say that the club isn’t giving up on the title just yet, and fans were quick to reply telling Alli how impressed they have been with his performances and how they want him to stay at White Hart Lane.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction to his performance…

According to Calciomercato.com, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in bringing Sampdoria forward Patrick Schick to the Premier League at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

What’s the story?

It is widely accepted that Tottenham have one of the best starting lineups in the Premier League, with the capital side packed full of defensive strength and attacking talent in their first XI.

On the flip side, Spurs’ strength in depth cannot match their rivals. Mauricio Pochettino simply does not have a squad capable of challenging across the board, which was shown by the club’s disappointing Champions League and latterly Europa League exits.

There is still a chance that Pochettino could snatch the Premier League title away from Chelsea this summer, but even if that happens, it is expected to be a busy summer at Spurs, with chairman Daniel Levy prepared to open his cheque book in a bid to boost the squad.

Defensively, Tottenham are covered, certainly in the full-back positions, but injuries to the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli or Christian Eriksen would leave them short of quality in the final third of the field.

A number of players have been linked with a switch to White Hart Lane, and according to Calciomercato.com, Sampdoria striker Schick is of interest to the Premier League side.

What are Schick’s credentials?

The 21-year-old came through the youth system at Sparta Prague, but only made four league appearances for the Czech outfit before making the move to Sampdoria in the summer of 2016.

Largely unknown in the European game, Schick actually scored 10 times in nine appearances for Czech Republic’s Under-21 outfit, whilst he has scored once in three senior appearances for his country.

Despite only starting nine Serie A matches this season, the attacker has scored 10 goals, whilst he has also found the back of the net on two occasions in the 2016-17 Coppa Italia.

Schick’s performances, particularly over the last couple of months, are said to have attracted the attention of Tottenham, although it is understood that Sampdoria will not sell the forward unless his release clause of £21m is met in this summer’s transfer window.

There is no question that Tottenham will be in the market for at least one new attacker this summer, but for £21m, there will be better and more viable options.

Schick might well develop into one of the best talents in Serie A over the next couple of seasons, but Spurs need players for the short-term as they bid to challenge on all fronts next term.

From seemingly heading to the Chinese Super League to becoming a favourite of Jose Mourinho, it has been some couple of months for Manchester United’s Ashley Young.

The 31-year-old hardly kicked a ball in the first half of the 2016-17 campaign, but the Englishman has been a regular for the Red Devils in recent weeks, showing his versatility by operating in a number of positions.

The former Aston Villa attacker was named Man United captain for Sunday’s Premier League clash at home to Chelsea, meanwhile, and he again impressed in a 2-0 victory for the Red Devils, who continued their long unbeaten run in England’s top flight.

Any tweet from Young, on any subject matter, in the latter stages of 2016 would have brought a furious reaction from Man United’s fanbase, especially considering the substantial wages that the versatile operator has collected over the last few seasons.

It is amazing how quickly things can change, however, and after taking to social media to reveal his delight at wearing the Man United armband at the weekend, the club’s fanbase responded with praise for the 30-time England international.

Swansea City lie two points from safety with just three Premier League fixtures of the season remaining and as well as winning their own fixtures, they will know that they may be relying on others to help them out too.

Paul Clement’s men kept to within two points of 17th-placed Hull City following their 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend, and they play host to Everton at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening.

However, prior to that the Tigers will come up against already-relegated Sunderland at the KCOM Stadium in what looks set to be a huge clash in the relegation battle.

With six wins from seven home matches since taking the helm, Marco Silva’s men will be the favourites but, of course, in football you never know.

Swansea supporters have been having their say on the afternoon clash in east Yorkshire via social media, and they are hoping that David Moyes’ men can do them a huge favour, but not everyone believes they will.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin celebrates his 26th birthday on Saturday, and the club sent out a message on social media wishing him well, but it wasn’t met with the kindest of responses from Gunners fans.

Despite making 36 appearances in all competitions this season and only extending his stay at the Emirates until 2021 in January, the Frenchman has struggled to impress in the middle of the park in what has been a largely disappointing campaign for Arsene Wenger’s side.

The north London outfit’s still face an uphill task if they are to qualify for the Champions League and they will know that they will need to beat Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday evening to keep the pressure up on Manchester City and Liverpool.

Arsenal supporters were quick to give their reaction to news of Coquelin’s birthday themselves via Twitter, with many hoping the club gets rid of the midfielder this summer.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Manchester United manager Jose Mouirnho has made it no secret that he has been very unhappy with certain members of his squad over the last season.

The former Real Madrid and Chelsea manager has hung full-back Luke Shaw out to dry on more than one occasion and around the same time was persistently questioning the physical and mental strength of defender Chris Smalling.

Now, with just one game left to go this season – the all important Europa League final against Ajax, the England international is being linked with a move away from Old Trafford.

Reports in The Sun claim that Premier League duo West Ham and West Brom are both in for the 27-year-old, rated at £17m, and that Mourinho is more than ready to sell having seen the centre-half fall down the pecking order during his first term as manager.

Whilst most United fans are transfixed on the final this evening, some have taken to Twitter to voice their delight at Smalling’s potential departure…

According to reports in Portuguese publication A Bola, Newcastle United look set to lose out to La Liga side Villarreal in the €14m (approximately £12.2m) race to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Ruben Semedo.

Magpies manager Rafa Benitez is looking to bring in at least one new centre-back – and probably two – this summer as he looks to significantly strengthen his squad to ensure that they aren’t in a relegation battle next season following their return to the Premier League.

The Spaniard had been targeting a move for the 23-year-old – along with top flight rivals Southampton – but it appears as though the Portuguese player has opted to move to Spain instead.

Newcastle supporters were quick to have their say on the transfer update via social media, with many glad that they weren’t signing him as he clearly doesn’t want to play for the club, while others questioned Semedo’s ambition.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…