Spanish La Liga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 43 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 41 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 33 |
| 4 | Valencia | 28 |
| 4 | Espanyol | 28 |
The Barcelona masterclass rolled on this weekend with a 5-1 derby demolition over Espanyol. Barca coach Pep Guardiola said: “It’s the hardest away game of the season and we passed with distinction. We beat a very good team, not just a rival from our city, and that’s important.”
Real Madrid maintained the pressure after a hard-fought and at-times-ugly 1-0 win over Sevilla. Elsewhere, Villarreal firmed up third spot with a 3-1 victory over Mallorca, while Valencia moved into fourth after defeating Real Sociedad 2-1 thanks to Aritz Aduriz’s late goal.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Malaga | 13 |
| 19 | Sporting Gijon | 12 |
| 20 | Real Zaragoza | 10 |
Manuel Pellegrini’s rescue mission at Malaga is struggling after a 3-0 home defeat to Atletico Madrid. Diego Castro scored late to earn battling Gijon a 1-1 draw at Deportivo Coruna, while last-placed Zaragoza drew 0-0 at Osasuna.
Italian Serie A
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 36 |
| 2 | Napoli | 33 |
| 3 | Lazio | 33 |
| 4 | Juventus | 31 |
| 5 | AS Roma | 29 |
Leaders AC Milan had their lead cut after a 1-0 home defeat to AS Roma on Saturday. Ex-Milan man Marco Borriello got the winner for Roma who claimed a vital victory to move into fifth and keep the title race open. Napoli cashed in with a 1-0 win over Lecce, while Lazio stay close after beating Udinese 3-2.
Juventus couldn’t make significant ground on the leaders after slipping to a 1-1 draw with the impressive Chievo Verona.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Cesena | 15 |
| 19 | Lecce | 15 |
| 20 | Bari | 11 |
Cesena grabbed a crucial 1-0 win over Cagliari to boost their survival prospects after Luis Jimenez’s goal. Brescia lost 1-0 at Catania to stay in the battle in 17th on 15 points, while Lecce’s loss at Napoli didn’t help their cause. Ten-man Bari managed a 1-1 home draw with Palermo which must be encouraging.
German Bundesliga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 43 |
| 2 | FSV Mainz | 33 |
| 3 | Bayer Leverkusen | 33 |
| 4 | Hannover 96 | 31 |
| 5 | Bayern Munich | 29 |
Leaders Dortmund suffered just their second defeat of the campaign, with a 1-0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt which came about after an 85th-minute Theofanis Gekas goal. Mainz moved back into second after a 4-2 win at St Pauli with Andre Schurrle grabbing a double, while Leverkusen couldn’t make major inroads on the leaders after a 2-2 draw with SC Freiburg.
Champions Bayern are ominously placed in fifth after a 5-3 win at VfB Stuttgart. Mario Gomez continued his fine goalscoring form with a hat-trick at his former club while Franck Ribery found some form. Meanwhile, Schalke 04 moved up to 10th after a 3-0 win over FC Koln thanks to Raul’s hat-trick.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | FC Koln | 15 |
| 17 | VfB Stuttgart | 12 |
| 18 | Moenchengladbach | 10 |
There was no change down the bottom with all bottom five clubs losing. Among those was 14th-placed Werder Bremen who slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against Kaiserslautern, which has them heading towards an unexpected relegation battle. That’s how it stands as the Bundesliga heads for the winter break.
English Premier League
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 34 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 32 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 32 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 27 |
| 7 | Bolton | 26 |
With a hosts of matches postponed around England due to the bad weather, there were only three games played in the Premiership over the weekend. Manchester City’s 2-1 home defeat to Everton means they missed the chance to go top. It also dents their title hopes.
Sunderland defeated Bolton 1-0 in a clash between two sides who have overachieved this season. The Black Cats winner came from Danny Welbeck who continues to impress in a young side who are up to sixth.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Everton | 21 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 15 |
| 20 | West Ham United | 13 |
Everton move well clear of the drop zone after their Tim Cahill-inspired win at Eastlands, while bottom-club West Ham claimed a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers to boost their survival hopes. Blackburn, who sacked Sam Allardyce last week, are in 12th.
Random League: Greek Super League
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olympiacos | 36 |
| 2 | Panathinaikos | 31 |
| 3 | PAOK | 23 |
| 4 | AEK Athens | 23 |
| 5 | Kavala | 21 |
Title-fancies Olympiacos moved five points clear in Greece after a 1-0 victory at bottom-club Larissa. Incredibly, around Olympiacos all the chasing pack suffered defeats this weekend, the most significant a 1-0 home loss by Panathinaikos against Olympiakos Volos.
Panathinaikos have now claimed just one point from their past two matches, allowing Olympiacos to open up a gap at the top of the table. Elsewhere, third-placed PAOK lost 2-1 at Kerkyra while fourth-placed AEK Athens were beaten 2-0 by Iraklis.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Panserraikos | 14 |
| 15 | Panionios | 15 |
| 16 | Larissa | 11 |
Larissa’s defeat against Olympiacos made it five losses in a row and it is hard to see them escaping the bottom three now. Panionios drew 0-0 at home to fellow battlers Asteras Tripolis, while Panserraikos’ 2-0 lost at Ergotelis doesn’t help their cause.