Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra’s altercation may have stole all the headlines, but there was plenty of exciting action on the field this weekend too, as Real Madrid pulled 10 points clear in Spain.
Spanish La Liga
Weekend Results, Saturday; Real Betis 2 Athletic Bilbao 1, Osasuna 3 Barcelona 2, Racing Santander 0 Atletico Madrid 0, Sunday; Real Madrid 4 Levante 2, Valencia 4 Sporting Gijon 0, Rayo Vallecano 2 Getafe 0, Malaga 3 Real Mallorca 1, Espanyol 0 Real Zaragoza 2, Monday; Real Sociedad v Sevilla
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 58 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 48 |
| 3 | Valencia | 40 |
| 4 | Levante | 32 |
| 5 | Espanyol | 32 |
Real Madrid moved 10 points clear over the weekend with their 4-2 triumph over Levante opening up the gap, following Barcelona’s shock 3-2 loss to Osasuna. Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show for Real, with a hat-trick, while Valencia claimed an emphatic 4-0 win over Gijon which solidifies their grip on third spot.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Granada | 25 |
| 17 | Real Sociedad | 24 |
| 18 | Racing Santander | 23 |
| 19 | Sporting Gijon | 19 |
| 20 | Real Zaragoza | 15 |
Real Zaragoza claimed their first victory since October and revived their hopes of survival with a 2-0 triumph at fifth-placed Espanyol. They weren’t the only strugglers to claim a much-needed three points, with Villarreal also defeating Granada 3-1 to move up to 14th. Gijon remain in the mire after their 4-0 loss at Valencia.
Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 27 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 23 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 14 goals, Radomel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 14 goals, Roberto Soldado (Valencia) 12 goals
English Premier League
Weekend Results, Saturday; Manchester United 2 Liverpool 1, Blackburn 3 QPR 2, Bolton 1 Wigan 2, Everton 2 Chelsea 0, Fulham 2 Stoke City 1, Sunderland 1 Arsenal 2, Swansea City 2 Norwich City 3, Tottenham 5 Newcastle 0, Sunday; Wolverhampton 1 West Bromwich 5, Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | 60 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 58 |
| 3 | Tottenham | 53 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 43 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 43 |
Joleon Lescott scored the only goal of the game to keep Manchester City two points ahead of Manchester United with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday. That came after the Red Devils had beaten Liverpool 2-1 on Saturday thanks to Wayne Rooney’s double. Tottenham continued to remain in the hunt with a commanding 5-0 thrashing of Newcastle with Emmanuel Adebayor shining.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | QPR | 21 |
| 17 | Blackburn | 21 |
| 18 | Wolverhampton | 21 |
| 19 | Bolton | 20 |
| 20 | Wigan | 19 |
The bottom six in England’s top flight all met one another over the weekend, with West Bromwich, Blackburn and Wigan all the winners. WBA smashed Mick McCarthy’s Wolverhampton 5-1, while Rovers got past QPR 3-2 and Wigan stunned Bolton 2-1.
Topscorers, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 22 goals, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 17 goals, Demba Ba (Newcastle) 16 goals, Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 15 goals
German Bundesliga
Weekend Results, Friday; VfL Wolfsburg 3 SC Freiburg 2, Saturday; Borussia Dortmund 1 Bayer Leverkusen 0, Bayern Munich 2 Kaiserslautern 0, Werder Bremen 1 Hoffenheim 1, FSV Mainz 1 Hannover 96 1, Stuttgart 5 Hertha BSC 0, Borussia Monchengladbach 3 Schalke 04 0, Sunday; Augsburg 0 Nurnberg 0, FC Koln 0 Hamburg SV 1
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 46 |
| 2 | Bayern Munich | 44 |
| 3 | Borussia Moenchengladbach | 43 |
| 4 | Schalke 04 | 41 |
| 5 | Werder Bremen | 33 |
Borussia Dortmund remain top of the pile in Germany with Shinji Kagawa’s strike earning them a 1-0 win over Leverkusen, although Bayern Munich defeated Kaiserslautern 2-0 and Moenchengladbach won 3-0 over Schalke to stay in the hunt. Schalke’s defeat is a blow to their title hopes, while Werder Bremen drew for the fourth straight game and remain fifth.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | FC Nurnberg | 22 |
| 15 | Hertha BSC | 20 |
| 16 | Kaiserslautern | 18 |
| 17 | FC Augsburg | 18 |
| 18 | SC Freiburg | 17 |
Nurnberg and Augsburg drew 0-0 on Sunday in a result which doesn’t do much for either sides’ hopes of avoiding the drop. Hertha Berlin sacked coach Michael Skibbe after their woeful 5-0 loss to Stuttgart, their fourth straight loss. Hamburg SV were the big movers with their 1-0 triumph at Koln on Sunday.
Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 18 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Hamburg SV) 16 goals, Lukas Podolski (FC Koln) 15 goals, Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 15 goals
Italian Serie A
Weekend Results, Saturday; Cagliari 2 Palermo 1, Udinese 1 AC Milan 2, Sunday; Bologna PSTP Juventus, Parma PSTP Fiorentina, Inter Milan 0 Novara 1, Catania 4 Genoa 0, Atalanta 0 Lecce 0, Monday; Siena v AS Roma, Napoli v Chievo Verona
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 47 |
| 2 | Juventus | 45 |
| 3 | Lazio | 42 |
| 4 | Udinese | 41 |
| 5 | Internazionale | 36 |
AC Milan moved into top spot with a 2-1 victory over Udinese which came thanks to alte goals from Maxi Lopez and Stephen Al Shaarawy. Juventus slipped from the summit as their match against Bologna was postponed, while Inter Milan’s title hopes completely faded after a 1-0 loss at home to struggling Novara.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Bologna | 22 |
| 17 | Siena | 20 |
| 18 | Lecce | 18 |
| 19 | Cesena | 16 |
| 20 | Novara | 16 |
Novara were the big winners of the weekend thanks to their shock 1-0 triumph at Inter which came via Andrea Caracciolo’s strike. Catania moved well away from the drop zone with a Pablo Barrientos’ inspired 4-0 victory over Genoa, while struggling Lecce claimed a useful point with a goalless draw at Atalanta.
Topscorers, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 17 goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 15 goals, German Denis (Atalanta) 12 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 12 goals, Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) 12 goals, Diego Milito (Internazionale) 12 goals, Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa) 12 goals