Inter Milan’s lead at the top of Serie A has been cut to just seven points after they drew and Juventus won.
Inter were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Roma on Sunday. Mario Balotelli bagged a brace as Inter twice battled back from a two-goal deficit to claim a share of the points. Rarely used Hernan Crespo bagged a late equaliser and led to him stating that he hopes to feature more often in Mourinho’s plans from now on.
On Saturday, Juventus had just about maintained the pressure on the leaders with a 1-0 success over Napoli at home. The only goal came in the last minute of the first half from Marchisio.
Following their Uefa Cup exit in the week, the pressure is mounting on AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti after they went down 2-1 at Sampdoria. Pato’s late goal was little more than a consolation as they fell five points behind Juventus and twelve behind Inter.
For all the world just a few weeks ago Barcelona looked absolutely certain to win La Liga. I had them down as red hot favourites for the Champions League as well. Now, all of a sudden, Pep Guardiola’s men look to be struggling. On Sunday Barcelona went down 4-3 at Atletico Madrid meaning that they have suffered back to back defeats in La Liga and a draw at Lyon in Europe. Three games without a win looked very unlikely a couple of weeks ago.
In a game in which they took a 2-0 and 3-2 lead with a couple of goals from Henry and one from Messi, their defensive frailties were there for all to see.
Real Madrid, who were so very poor against Liverpool, once again failed to impress at Espanyol, but their 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Guti and Raul, have moved them to within four points of their great rivals.
Sevilla remain third after a 2-1 win in Bilbao with the in form Kanoute notching another pair, whilst Villarreal keep hold of fourth despite being held 2-2 by Real Betis after taking a 2-0 lead.
Hertha Berlin are the new Bundesliga leaders following a 2-1 success over Borussia Monchengladbach. On-loan Andriy Voronin and Pal Dardai scored the goals for the home side.
A win for Hamburg would have seen them top of the table, but they suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to in-form Wolfsburg who have climbed up to fourth place.
Former table-toppers Hoffenheim are still third although they have now gone four games without success. At the weekend they managed a goalless draw at Borussia Dortmund, although they had Tobias Weis sent off. Dortmund’s Sebastian Kehl was also able to take an early shower.
Like Inter, Barcelona and Hamburg, the leaders in France also dropped points this week. Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Rennes. Kim Kallstrom’s 66th minute goal looked to have won the game for the leaders but an injury time equaliser put a hold on their celebrations.
PSG moved to within four points of Lyon with a comfortable 4-1 win over Nancy. A double from Hoarau and one each from Giuly and Sessegnon saw off the struggling visitors.
Marseille and Bordeaux remained in touch with the top two after they both recorded 1-0 wins.
AZ Alkmaar remain nine points clear in Holland after they achieved their twentieth win in twenty-five games. An easy 3-0 win over sixth placed Groningen was secured with a brace from Pele and one from Dembele.
Steve McClaren’s FC Twente kept up their hopes with a Nkufo goal giving them a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened ADO Den Haag.
Ajax remain third after goals from Van Der Wiel and Vertonghen gave them a 2-0 win at Utrecht.
Celtic and Rangers remain locked together on sixty points, some fifteen clear of the rest, after they both won at the weekend.
The manner of victory for the two Glasgow clubs could not have been more different however as a first half Ferguson goal gave Rangers a 1-0 win at eighth placed Hamilton, whilst Celtic dismissed tenth placed St Mirren 7-0. Celtic’s tally included a hat-trick from Nakamura.
Yet another team leading their league to drop points this week were Porto who were held to a 0-0 draw at home by a Sporting team who must have made a quick recovery from their midweek Champions League mauling.
Benfica had a 2-1 win over Leixoes, with Nuno Gomes scoring the winner, to close the gap at the top to two points.
In Greece, leaders Olympiakos (yes, you’ve guessed it!) were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Panathinaikos.
That meant PAOK Salonica’s 2-1 win at Panionios has moved them up to second in the table, but they are still nine points behind.
Just to stay with tradition, the Turkish leaders, Sivasspor, lost to fourth-placed Fenerbahce. The margin of defeat was 4-2.
Trabzonspor went level with the leaders on points after winning 1-0 at Antalyaspor.
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