European round-up: Inter and Barca state their case

Mourinho and Leonardo

The battle between the top two and the two Milan giants ended with Inter opening a nine point lead over AC Milan.

Inter’s 2-0 win in their home game at the San Siro was remarkable when you consider that they went down to ten men as early as the 26th minute when influential Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder talked his way into getting sent off. Milito had already given Inter an early lead and with ten men, Pandev doubled the advantage in the second half.

There was still time for Lucio to collect a second yellow card and leave Inter to play out the last couple of minutes with nine men.

Roma and Napoli maintain third and fourth position after they both had good away wins. Roma had a great 2-1 win at Juventus. Del Piero had put the home side ahead in the second half but a Totti penalty and a goal deep into injury-time from Riise gave Roma the points.

Napoli had a 2-0 win at Livorno with Maggio and Cigarini scoring in injury-time of both halves.

The gap at the top of the Spanish League remains at five points after Barcelona and Real Madrid both collected maximum points at the weekend.

Barcelona stayed at the top after their 3-0 win at Vallodolid. First half goals from Xavi and Daniel followed by one after the break by Messi gave them an easy three points.

Meanwhile at the Bernabeu Cristiano Ronaldo continues to make the headlines. His two first half goals gave Real a comfortable 2-0 win over Malaga, but his elbow to the face of a Malaga defender on seventy minutes saw him shown the red card.

Valencia are clear in third place although they lost ground with a goalless draw at Tenerife. Fourth place looks like being a battle between Mallorca, Deportivo and Sevilla.

Bayer Leverkusen are still unbeaten and continue to force the pace in Germany. They are two points clear and had an easy 3-0 win at Hoffenheim on Sunday. Hyypia, Kroos and Barnetta scored the goals.

Bayern Munich kept up the pressure and maintained their great form in a win at Werder Bremen. In the end they needed a wonder goal from Arjen Robben to five them the win by the odd goal in five. Muller and Olic had earlier found the net.

Schalke slip to third, a point behind Bayern, after they were held to a 2-2 draw at VfL Bochum. Sanchez and Kuranyi had put them into a comfortable 2-0 lead but the home side scored twice in the last ten minutes to take a share of the spoils.

Bordeaux are eight points clear at the top after winning 3-1 at hapless bottom club Grenoble. They were given a bit of a fright by the club who have just seven points from their twenty-one games, as they trailed 1-0 at the break. Second half goals from Gouffran, Chamakh and Cavenaghi gave the score a more expected look.

Second placed Montpelier needed a late Montano goal to give them a 1-0 win at Lens, whilst Lille slipped to third place losing 2-1 at Sochaux.

Four teams are tied on 36 points just 1 point behind Lille.

The battle between PSV and Steve McClaren’s FC Twente took another twist at the weekend. Both sides remain unbeaten and just two points apart but for the first time, PSV have moved ahead.

Whilst PSV were comfortably winning 3-0 against NEC with goals from Amrabat and a pair from Toivonen, Twente were being held to a goalless draw at Groningen.

Third placed Ajax look to be out of the race but kept up their slight interest with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar.

Braga and Benfica continue to match each other step for step at the top in Portugal as they stay six points clear of Porto.

Braga had a 2-0 win at ten-man Academica, whilst Benfica had a thumping 5-0 win at nine-man Maritimo.

Porto could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to ten-man Pacos Ferreira.

Rumours that Celtic’s season is over may have been a little premature! They closed the gap at the top to seven points this weekend and they still have a game in hand.

Rangers needed a goal from Little in injury-time to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Hearts, whilst Celtic had a 4-1 win at St Johnstone.

St Johnstone led 1-0 at half-time but they went down to ten men just after the break and eventually Celtic overwhelmed them with a pair from Fortune and goals from Samaras and McCourt.

Dundee United remain third after they won 4-1 at bottom club Falkirk.

Panathinaikos extended their lead at the top despite being held 0-0 at Aris Salonika.

Second place Olympiakos were beaten 1-0 at home by third placed PAOK, who draw level with their opponents some eight points behind the leaders.

Leaders Fenerbahce remain four points clear of Galatasaray after both teams won at the weekend.

Fenerbahce won 3-1 against Denizlispor on Friday whilst Galatasaray beat Gaziantepspor through the only goal of the game. Bursaspor drop to third place through not having a game.