Chelsea Loan Round-up: Van Ginkel can't stop scoring; Christensen holds off Bayern; Delac returns from ACL; others

ENGLAND:

Nathan Ake was left on the bench over the weekend, with manager Quique Sanchez Flores choosing to mix things up and play Ikechi Anya at left-back instead against Aston Villa. Villa being Villa managed to lose the game after leading 2-1 in the 90th minute, conceding two goals in three added-on minutes, both scored by Watford captain and (Villa-rivals) Birmingham City fan Troy Deeney.

Enjoying my day off w/ bro in #London wearing my #NEW @Lumi3reclothing Beige #Bomber #Jacket check them out! pic.twitter.com/UhtWz8RrBX

— Nathan Aké (@NathanAke) May 2, 2016

Looking good, though. (Ed. note: Lumi3re is "innovative fashion for the above average people".  LOL.)

Victor Moses was an 81st minute substitute in West Ham's 3-0 win against West Brom. Patrick Bamford, sadly, did not feature in Norwich's match-day squad.

Tomas Kalas wasn't involved as Middlesbrough saw their path to promotion become a little more rocky with a 2-2 draw against Birmingham City. Going into the week, all three of Boro, Brighton and Burnley were level on points but Burnley were the only ones to bag another three points this weekend, meaning that they have now been assured of promotion. Next week, which is the final week of the Championship, Middlesbrough host Brighton, needing either a draw or a win to clinch promotion for themselves.

John Swift made his first start since his return from injury and played 61 minutes in a midweek 2-0 loss at the KC Stadium in Hull. He spoke to Get West London afterward, talking about his return from injury and Brentford's hopes of finishing in the top 10. Brentford then followed up with a sound 3-0 thrashing of London neighbours and rivals, Fulham over the weekend. Swift, however, was an unused substitute for that game.

Jordan Houghton played the whole game for Plymouth Argyle, who snatched a last-gap 2-2 draw against Cambridge United. Plymouth will now look to secure promotion to League One via the play-offs.

GERMANY:

Andreas Christensen and Borussia Monchengladbach traveled to Munich to take on reigning Champions, Bayern who were looking to clinch another title with a win.  But Gladbach did no harm to their impressive record against the Bavarians in recent times, and held them to a 1-1 draw. Against a heavily rotated Bayern side (with an eye on Tuesday's Champions League tie), Gladbach conceded a rather sloppy goal early on, with Thomas Muller somehow finding his tame headed effort from a corner in the back of the net. The Foals continued to press on though, and their resilience eventually paid off, in the form of an Andre Hahn equaliser.

Christensen played an important part, as usual, with excellent positional play and teamwork with his defensive partners Havard Nordveit and Nico Elvedi keeping Bayern's clear-cut chances to a minimum. Having picked up a point in Munich and seeing Hertha Berlin lose to Bayer Leverkusen, Gladbach currently occupy the last Champions League qualifying place in Bundesliga. Hertha and Schalke remain hot on their heels however, and Gladbach must look to win their remaining two games, the first of which comes against 3rd-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

Papy Djilobodji played the whole of Werder Bremen's emphatic 6-2 win against VfB Stuttgart.

SPAIN:

Real Betis faced the daunting prospect of hosting Barcelona this weekend, but elected to do it without starting Charly Musonda. The youngster was brought on in the 55th minute, but couldn't help Betis get anything out of the game.

Christian Atsu was a 62nd minute substitute for Malaga, who beat Levante 3-1.

THE NETHERLANDS:

With Ajax and PSV level on points and neither looking like slipping any time soon, all PSV could do was to simply win big to try to reduce their goal-differential deficit. To their credit, they put 6 past SC Cambuur but also conceded two, to match Ajax's 4-0 victory over FC Twente. Marco van Ginkel started and scored two of his side's goals.

PSV thus remain behind Ajax by a goal difference of six. In the last round of the championship this coming weekend, Ajax take on De Graafschap (second from bottom), while PSV travel to PEC Zwolle who are fighting to stay in the last Europa League playoff spot.

Vitesse continue to go from one low to another, this time losing 3-1 to Utrecht and finding themselves in the bottom half of the league. Lewis Baker and Dominic Solanke both started, the latter being hauled off after 72 minutes. Izzy Brown was an 87th minute substitute, and Nathan, who is currently injured, is back home in Brazil from the looks of his Snapchat stories.

FRANCE:

Looks like there won't be any sort of European football for Rennes next season, who were thoroughly whopped by champions PSG. Jeremie Boga was a 60th minute substitute in the 4-0 loss.

Mario Pasalic (AS Monaco) remained out with a back injury.

ITALY:

Stipe Perica saw some rare minutes as a 62nd-minute substitute in Udinese's 1-5 loss to Torino, while Juan Cuadrado played 74 minutes in Juventus' 2-0 win against lowly Carpi.

Nathaniel Chalobah was an unused substitute for Napoli.

SCANDINAVIA:

Jamal Blackman didn't have a particularly good week, letting in four goals as his side fumbled their way to a 2-4 loss against Orebro SK in midweek, and then 3-0 loss to Djurgardens IF on Sunday.

Alex Davey sustained an injury and was taken off early in Stabaek's cup victory earlier in the week, and hence did not make the squad for their game against Odds BK.

TURKEY:

Marko Marin did not feature in the Trabzonspor squad, but Kenneth Omeruo played the whole of Kasimpasa's 1-1 draw against Osmanlispor.

OTHERS:

Victorien Angban and Cristian Cuevas played 76 and 90 minutes, respectively, in STVV's 1-1 draw against Yellow-Red KV Mechelen.

Wallace did not feature for Gremio.

Last but far, far from the least, hearty congratulations to Matej Delac, who made his return after sustaining an ACL injury in October. The goalkeeper played the second half of FK Sarajevo's 3-0 victory against Velez Mostar.

Very happy to play match after 6 months. It's a moment I'll never forget. Thanks to everyone who helped me in rehab pic.twitter.com/oTFCtdRpNY

— Matej Delač (@MatejDelac) May 1, 2016

Oh, and Leicester City won the Premier League.  We loaned them a lovely Eden Hazard goal.