European round-up: Real close the gap as Barcelona falter

Raul - still banging in the goals

Real Madrid got back to winning ways and closed the gap on the leaders Barcelona this weekend.

In an exciting first half Real went 2-0 up against Valladolid early on through a Raul brace. The visitors pulled a goal back but Marcelo restored Real’s two goal advantage in first half stoppage time.

In the second half Valladolid again reduced the deficit but Higuain gave Real a relatively comfortable three points.

Meanwhile, Barcelona were being held to a goalless draw at Valencia.

Deportivo caught up with Sevilla in third place after beating them 1-0. A thirty-eighth minute Juan Rodriguez goal was enough to take the points.

At the other end of the table new boys Xerez are beginning to find their feet and they gained a crucial 2-1 win at home to Villarreal who remain without a win and are sat rock bottom.

Inter moved two points clear of Sampdoria at the top of the Italian league after they had a thumping 5-0 win at Genoa. Five different names appeared on the team sheet, Cambiasso, Balotelli, Stankovic, Vieira and Maicon.

Second placed Sampdoria were held to a 1-1 draw at Lazio and they had their disappointment was compounded by the sending off of Padalino.

Juventus and Fiorentina are in joint third place after they played out a 1-1 draw in Turin. Vargas gave Fiorentina an early lead but Amauri equalised for the hosts.

Elsewhere, Milan won their mid-table battle with Roma 2-1 but battle was the operative word. Milan had six players booked and Thiago Silva sent-off.

Bayer Leverkusen remain joint top with Hamburg in Germany after they visited Hamburg and came away with a goalless draw.

Schalke and Werder Bremen remain hot on the heels of the leading two after Schalke had a good 2-1 win at Stuttgart and Werder Bremen had a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Hoffenheim.

Champions Wolfsburg continue to climb the table after they beat Borussia Munchengladbach 2-1 and Bayern Munich are still in the hunt after a 2-1 win at SC Freiburg.

Hertha Berlin remain at the bottom after they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at struggling Nurnberg.

FC Twente remain top in Holland after they won by the odd goal in a five goal thriller against champions AZ. Perez and Ruiz had seen AZ equalise their goals before Nkufo popped one in during the last minute to give the home side the points.

The next three places in the league are taken by PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord. PSV got a late winner to see of Heerenveen, Ajax had an easy 4-0 win over Willem II but Feyenoord came unstuck losing 2-1 at Sparta.

Montpellier join Lyon at the top in France after they beat ten man St Etienne 2-1. Lyon suffered a rare home defeat, going down 2-0 to Sochaux.

Monaco closed the gap on Lyon by winning 2-0 against Lens courtesy of a brace from Nene. Meanwhile Bordeaux missed the chance of going clear at the top by losing 1-0 at Auxerre.

Spare a thought for Grenoble who are still pointless after nine games. They went down 2-0 at Valenciennes.

The lead has changed hands in Scotland as Rangers have moved a point clear of their great rivals Celtic.

Rangers took the momentum of their victory over Celtic into the game at St Johnstone, winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Kris Boyd and Papac. Meanwhile, Celtic suffered a hangover from that game to only manage a 0-0 draw at home to Motherwell.

Olympiakos and Panathinaikos are seven points clear of the rest in Greece. Olympiakos are the happier of the two after they beat Asteras Tripoli 3-0 whilst Kavala became the first side to take a point from Panathinaikos when they held them to a 2-2 draw.

Fenerbahce’s lead has been cut to five points after they lost 2-1 at Gaziantepspor and second placed Galatasaray won a seven goal thriller against Trabzonspor by the odd goal.