European round-up: Messi keen to keep his title

Still the best?

Does anyone think that Lionel Messi might have been getting a little annoyed by the talk of Wayne Rooney taking over as the world’s best player? His second hat-trick in a row and his eighth goal in three games at the weekend suggested that he is pretty keen to hold on to his title.

Despite Messi’s three goals and winning the penalty for a fourth, it was no change at the top in Spain as Real Madrid remain top by two goals on goal difference. Valencia are third, some eighteen points behind and Mallorca are leading the race for fourth.

Real Madrid won 3-1 at home to Sporting Gijon on Saturday but were given a bit of a scare after the visitors took the lead at the Bernabeu early in the second half. Two goals in a minute from Van Der Vaart and Alonso, followed by a later inevitable goal from Higuain gave Real the win.

Barcelona had a 4-2 win at Real Zaragoza on Sunday but they too were given a little scare. Things looked comfortable after a Messi’s hat-trick put them 3-0 up but the home side scored twice in the last five minutes to raise some concern. A penalty from Ibrahimovic in injury-time wrapped up the win.

Goals from Mata and Silva gave Valencia a 2-0 win at home to Almeria whilst Mallorca hammered ten-man Atletico Madrid 4-1 to move into fourth ahead of Sevilla who went down 2-0 at Espanyol.

Inter remain a point clear of AC Milan at the top in Italy, with Roma keeping up the pressure clear in third place.

Neither of the two Milan sides managed to win this weekend whilst Roma closed the gap with a 4-2 win over Udinese.

Inter drew 1-1 at Palermo. A Milito penalty gave them an early lead but the home side equalised mid-way through the first half.

AC Milan were held 1-1 at the San Siro by Napoli. The visitors scored first but the evergreen Inzaghi equalised for Milan.

Bayern Munich are a point clear of Schalke at the top in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen sitting two points further back.

The leaders went down 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt. Things looked pretty good for them as they led through an early Klose goal until three minutes from the end, but two goals in quick succession dealt a major blow to Bayern’s title hopes.

Schalke closed the gap, but only by a point as they drew 2-2 at Hamburg. Kuranyi scored an equaliser for them and a Rakitic penalty put them briefly ahead before they had to settle for a point.

To complete a poor weekend for the top sides, Bayer Leverkusen were humbled 3-0 at Borussia Dortmund. All the goals came in the second half.

FC Twente are four points clear at the top in Holland whilst Ajax move a point ahead of PSV into second place.

The leaders earned a valuable 1-1 draw at their then nearest rivals PSV. Koevermans gave PSV the lead shortly after half-time but Nkufo scored seventeen minutes from the end to give Steve McClaren’s men a crucial draw.

Ajax moved second after they thrashed PFC Waalwijk 5-1 with goals from De Jong, Rommedahl, an own goal and two from Suarez.

Bordeaux remain top on goal difference from Montpellier and still have a game in hand. Auxerre are a point behind with Marseille just two pints behind them.

Bordeaux beat fifth placed Lille 3-1 at home. Lille took the lead but Ciani equalised before half-time. A Jussie penalty that saw Lille reduced to ten men gave them the lead and Gourcuff made the points safe.

Goals from Montano and Joris Marveaux gave Montpellier a 2-1 win at home to Valenciennes, whilst Marseille had a fine 2-1 win over Lyon. Kabore gave Marseille the lead but Lyon equalised ten minutes before the end. A minute later Marseille hit back and Taiwo gave them the three points.

Whilst nine man Rangers were winning the Co-operative insurance Cup Final, their rivals Celtic were narrowing their lead at the top of the SPL to ten points. Thompson, Keane and Samaras gave them a 3-0 win over St Johnstone.

Dundee United remain third after drawing 2-2 at Aberdeen.

Panathinaikos are four points clear of Olympiakos and five points clear of PAOK Salonika.

On a great weekend for Olympiakos they won 1-0 at the leaders to close the gap and keep them in the hunt for the title. Meanwhile, PAOK Salonika lost 1-0 at home to AEK Athens to see them slip to third.

Bursaspor now find themselves two points clear at the top in Turkey with a game in hand on their rivals. Galatasaray are second with Besiktas and Fenerbahce a point behind them.

Whilst the leaders didn’t have a game, Galatasaray were losing 1-0 at Trabzonspor and Besiktas could only draw 2-2 at Kasimpasa. Fenerbahce were the only winners, beating Gaziantepspor 1-0.