European round-up: Barcelona triumph in the battle of the big two

Instant hero

El Classico turned out to be just that as the Barcelona and Real Madrid played an entertaining game full of skill at the Camp Nou.

Barcelona took the points and returned to the top of the table after substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the only goal of the game just five minutes after coming on for Thierry Henry in the second half.

Real Madrid had their chances but couldn’t take them even when Barca were reduced to ten men on the hour when Busquets was sent off. The numbers were evened out in injury time when a very frustrated Diarra was dismissed for a ridiculous tackle.

Sevilla and Valencia both failed to fully capitalise on Real’s defeat by both being held to draws at home. Sevilla needed a brace from Luis Fabiano in the second half to recover from a two goal half-time deficit against Malaga, whilst a late Mallorca penalty cancelled out David Villa’s opener for Valencia.

Deportivo have joined Sevilla and Valencia in third place after they won 1-0 at Racing Santander.

Inter bounced back from Champions League defeat at Barcelona by increasing their lead at the top in Italy to seven points.

They were hardly impressive in their 1-0 win over Fiorentina but a late Milito penalty was enough for them to strengthen their grip on the title.

Milan moved into second place, two points above Juventus, as a remarkable Huntelaar double gave them a 2-0 win at Catania. The reason that the win and the two goals from Huntelaar were remarkable is that the goals came in the third and fourth minutes of stoppage time at the end of the game.

Juventus slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Cagliari.

Bayer Leverkusen are three points clear at the top in Germany after showing Glasgow Rangers just how poor they are by beating Stuttgart 4-0 and keeping them deep in relegation trouble. Kiessling scored a hat-trick for the leaders with Derdiyok grabbing the other goal.

Werder Bremen remain second despite being held to a 2-2 draw at home by champions Wolfsburg. Hugo Almeida and Mertesacker twice equalised for Bremen after Dzeko had twice given the visitors the lead.

Schalke stay third but missed out by losing 1-0 at Borussia Munchengladbach. Bayern Munich improve to fourth place after a comfortable 3-0 win Hannover.

Bordeaux are now two points clear of Lyon and Auxerre at the top of the French league.

Menegazzo, Wendell and Gouffran gave the leaders a 3-0 win at Nancy, whilst Lyon were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Rennes.

Last week’s temporary leaders Auxerre were unable to handle the unusual pressure of being at the top and they lost to the only goal of the game at PSG.

Bottom club Grenoble are still awaiting their first win but they picked up their third point with a highly creditable 2-2 draw at high flying Lorient.

In Holland FC Twente, PSV and Ajax are pulling away from the rest as they all won again this weekend.

Twente are two points clear at the top as Brama, Stoch and Ruiz gave them a 3-1 win at Willem II. PSV come next and they kept the pressure on the leaders by winning by the odd goal in five in a thriller at Sparta on Friday evening.

Ajax are a further four points back but their good form continued as Pantelic bagged a hat-trick in the 5-1 drubbing of Vitesse on their home ground.

Benfica, Braga and Porto lead the way in Portugal. Leaders Benfica moved a point clear despite being held to a goalless draw at Sporting although Braga will be hoping that they got the right result yesterday evening against Uniao Leiria to mean that they have moved back to the top.

Third placed Porto beat Rio Ave 2-1 thanks to Hulk and Valeri.

It would seem that neither Celtic nor Rangers are particularly keen on winning the SPL this season. This week it was Rangers’ turn to slip up as they were beaten 1-0 at Aberdeen.

Celtic moved back to the top, by two points having played a game more, by beating St Mirren 3-1 with goals from Samaras and McDonald as well as an own goal.

Hibernian and Dundee United are both making a genuine challenge and they remain in touch after Hibs beat Falkirk 2-0 and Dundee United earned a 2-2 draw at Motherwell.

Olympiakos have moved a point clear of Panathinaikos in the two horse race in the Greek league.

The big two took each other on this weekend and the home side Olympiakos scored a goal in each half to win the crucial game 2-0.

It is really tight at the top of the Turkish league as just four points separate leaders Fenerbahce and Besiktas in fourth place.

The leaders had a surprise 3-1 defeat at home to struggling Kasimpasa.

Bursaspor moved above Galatasaray into second place after they won the clash between the two with the only goal of the game.

Manchester United’s conquerors Besiktas closed the gap on the leaders with a 1-0 win at Sivasspor and they are just four points behind Fenerbahce with a game in hand.