Can't stop scoring
Real Madrid are still top in Spain by just two goals over Barcelona. Valencia and Sevilla are a long way back but continue to lead the way for third and fourth position.
Real had a decent 4-1 win at struggling Vallodolid to bounce back from European disappointment. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring but then, not for the first time this season, it became the Higuain show. He added a hat-trick whilst the second from bottom club could only reply through an Albiol own goal.
Barcelona kept things exactly as they were by also winning by three goals. They saw off third placed Valencia 3-0 at the Camp Nou, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
It took until the 56th minute for Messi to give the champions the lead but then after Valencia had Maduro sent off, Messi added two more in the last nine minutes to complete his hat-trick and make the win look more comfortable than it was.
Sevilla failed to take full advantage of Valencia’s defeat as they were held 1-1 at home by Deportivo. Fazio gave the fourth placed side the lead in the first half but the visitors equalised three minutes later to complete the scoring.
AC Milan have moved to within one point of Inter at the top in Italy. Roma are clear in third place some five points further back.
Inter, presumably with one eye on Chelsea, went down 3-1 at Catania. Milito gave Inter a second half lead but the home side equalised fifteen minutes from the end. Muntari was then sent off in giving Catania a penalty that they subsequently scored. A last minute goal rubbed salt in Inter’s wounds.
AC Milan took advantage by beating Chievo. They lost David Beckham in the process, of course, and it took a goal from Seedorf in stoppage time at the end of the game to give them the 1-0 win that heaped the pressure on their city rivals.
Roma missed a chance to stay more in touch as they had a thrilling 3-3 draw at Livorno. Remarkably, Roma were 3-2 up in that game within twenty-seven minutes!
The top three are clear of the rest in Germany. Bayern Munich lead the way by two points from Schalke, whilst Bayer Leverkusen are a point behind them in third.
Two late goals, including a penalty, from Arjen Robben rescued the three points for Bayern after they had been 1-0 down at home to SC Freiburg.
Schalke also won 2-1 at home. Goncalves Edu and Kuranyi scored the goals that beat VfB Stuttgart.
Bayer Leverkusen were the most impressive of the top three, beating Hamburg 4-2. A brace from Kiessling and further goals from Derdiyok and Castro kept them in with a great chance.
FC Twente are five points clear at the top in Holland. PSV are second by a point from Ajax with the rest losing ground.
The leaders had a relatively straight forward 3-1 win over ADO Den Haag on Friday. The goals came courtesy of a pair from Ruiz and another from Perez.
Second placed PSV had a nightmare at third placed Ajax as the home side ran out 4-1 winners.
De Jong, Emanuelson, Pantelic and Suarez found the net for Ajax whilst PSV could only reply with a Dzsudzsak penalty.
It is really close in France. Bordeaux and Montpellier are locked together at the top with Auxerre just a point behind. Then, within two points of them are Lille, Lyon and Marseille. Bordeaux do have a game in hand on the rest.
Bordeaux were held to a goalless draw at home to Monaco but Montpellier failed to take advantage as they drew 1-1 at home to third placed Auxerre. They needed a second half Facundo Costa goal to equalise one from Oliech that had given Auxerre the half-time lead.
Lille beat Grenoble 1-0 but both Lyon and Marseille were held to 1-1 draws.
In Portugal Benfica lead the way by three points from Braga. FC Porto are third but are too far back to be serious contenders.
The leaders had a second half Cardozo goal to thank for their 1-0 win at Nacional, whilst Braga also struggled to a 1-0 win at home to Rio Ave. Madrid scored the Braga goal early on in the game.
Third placed Porto came back from 1-0 down at Academica to win 2-1 thanks to Bruno Alves and Rodriguez.
Rangers are thirteen points clear at the top from Celtic and can already put the champagne on ice. Dundee United are winning the race for third place from Motherwell and Hibernian.
With the other teams involved in the Scottish FA Cup, only Motherwell of the top five were in action at the weekend, beating Hearts 3-1.
Panathinaikos are now five points clear PAOK Salonika at the top in Greece. Olympiakos are two points further back in third.
The leaders had a narrow 1-0 win at Asteras Tripoli, whilst second placed PAOK went down 2-1 in the derby against Aris Salonika.
Olympiakos narrowed the gap a little on PAOK but could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to Giannina.
It is close at the top in Turkey where Galatasaray lead by a point from Bursaspor who have a game in hand. Besiktas are two points back with Fenerbahce a point behind them.
Galatasaray were easy 3-0 winners over Ankaragucu, whilst Bursaspor won 2-0 at home to Manisaspor.
Besiktas kept up the pressure with a 1-0 win at Denizlispor, but Fenerbahce lost ground in a 0-0 draw at Genclerbirligi.
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