Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues

Barcelona stumbled in Spain as Real Madrid moved well clear in the title race, while it’s as you were in Italy and there was FA Cup drama in England.

Spanish La Liga

Weekend Results, Saturday; Real Madrid 5 Granada 1, Levante 0 Mallorca 0, Racing Santander 1 Real Zaragoza 0, Real Sociedad 0 Osasuna 0, Malaga 0 Atletico Madrid 0, Sunday; Rayo Vallecano 2 FC Sevilla 1, Getafe 0 Athletic Bilbao 0, Villarreal 2 Valencia 2, Real Betis 2 Sporting Gijon 0, Espanyol 1 Barcelona 1

In a weekend where there were four goalless draws, Real Madrid provided the big highlight with a 5-1 thrashing of Granada, where Karim Benzema grabbed a brace. Elsewhere, Barcelona once again stumbled in the title race after a 1-1 draw with Catalan rivals Espanyol. Alvaro’s 86th-minute equaliser denied the Spanish champions.

Racing Santander were the big winners of the weekend with a 1-0 triumph over Real Zaragoza who slumped to their sixth consecutive La Liga defeat. New Villarreal boss Jose Francisco Molina saw his side blow a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Valencia, while Rayo Vallecano snapped a four-game La Liga losing streak and moved well clear of the drop zone with a 2-1 win over Sevilla.

Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 21 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 17 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 13 goals, Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 11 goals, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 10 goals

Italian Serie A

Weekend Results, Saturday; Siena 4 Lazio 0, Internazionale 5 Parma 0, Sunday; Udinese 4 Cesena 1, Atalanta 0 AC Milan 2, Bologna 2 Catania 0, Cagliari 3 Genoa 0, Lecce 0 Juventus 1, Novara 0 Fiorentina 3, AS Roma 2 Chievo Verona 0, Palermo 1 Napoli 3

The top three in Italy all won over the course of the weekend, with Juventus flattering to deceive in their 1-0 triumph at Lecce. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin-Prince Boateng both scored as AC Milan claimed a fine 2-0 victory at Atalanta Bergamo, while Internazionale’s resurgence continued with an emphatic 5-0 win over Parma, earning them their fifth consecutive three points.

Siena’s 4-0 demolition of title challengers Lazio was the big story down in the relegation battle, but Bologna were also winners claiming a 2-0 victory over Catania, with Marco Di Vaio scoring. Lecce’s woes continued despite new boss Serse Cosmi being in charge, as they slumped to a 1-0 loss to Juventus.

Topscorers, German Denis (Atalanta) 12 goals, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 12 goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 12 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 10 goals, Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) 9 goals

English FA Cup

Third Round results,

There were few Premier League sides exiting the FA Cup in the third round, however Blackburn and reigning champions Manchester City both bowed out in the two all-EPL encounters. Wigan went down to League One side Swindon Town 2-1, while Bolton were held by lowly Macclesfield and QPR, who sacked Neil Warnock on Sunday, will have a replay against MK Dons after a 1-1 draw.

Fourth Round draw,