It was a crazy weekend in England with plenty of goals and plenty of upsets, while Barcelona were setting new records in Spain and Inter Milan turned up the heat in Italy.
English Premier League
| Pos | Team | Pts | Pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 54 | 25 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 50 | 25 |
| 3 | Manchester City | 49 | 26 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 44 | 25 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 44 | 25 |
It was an incredible weekend in England’s Premier League with a record number of goals scored on Saturday. That fact almost overshadowed struggling Wolverhampton’s shock 2-1 win over Manchester United. Second-placed Arsenal dramatically missed the chance to close to within two points of the Red Devils after blowing a 4-0 half-time lead to draw 4-4 with Newcastle.
Meanwhile, Fernando Torres’ Chelsea debut didn’t end the way he hoped as the Blues went down 1-0 against former club Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. The result is a significant blow to Chelsea’s title aspirations. Manchester City were the big winners this weekend, after a 3-0 win over West Bromwich who sacked boss Roberto Di Matteo.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Wigan Athletic | 26 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 24 |
| 20 | West Ham United | 24 |
There were wins this weekend for struggling duo Wigan (4-3 over Blackburn) and Wolverhampton (2-1 over Manchester United), while West Ham slumped to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham City who move to 16th on 27 points. Blackpool’s 5-3 loss at Everton means they’ve lost their past five matches and are on the slide down to 15th.
Spanish La Liga
FC Barcelona claimed a Spanish La Liga record of 16 consecutive victories after Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick to guide them to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday. It really is an incredible achievement and hints this side deserve to be crowned Spanish champions this term.
Of course, Real Madrid won’t go down without a fight and Cristiano Ronaldo inspired them with a brace in their 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. Meanwhile, third-placed Villarreal surprisingly lost their unbeaten home record after a shock 1-0 loss to struggling Levante, allowing fourth-placed Valencia to move within a point of them after a 2-0 win over Hercules.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Levante | 21 |
| 19 | Almeria | 20 |
| 20 | Malaga | 18 |
Levante stunning win at Villarreal breathes new life into their survival hopes as they close to within a point of 17th-placed Deportivo who lost 4-1 at Getafe. A first-half onslaught helped Almeria stun Espanyol 3-2, while last-placed Malaga could only pick up one point after a credible 0-0 draw at Sevilla.
Italian Serie A
Champions Inter Milan ominously moved within five points of leaders and rivals AC Milan after a thrilling 5-3 victory over AS Roma on Sunday night. Wesley Sneijder was back on the scoresheet, while Samuel Eto’o grabbed a double in the win.
Inter’s win was all the more important after AC Milan dropped points again, drawing 1-1 at Genoa, but coach Massimiliano Allegri insists he’s not worried. Napoli closed on Milan too, after a 2-0 win over struggling Cesena.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Brescia | 22 |
| 19 | Cesena | 21 |
| 20 | Bari | 14 |
Brescia moved above Cesena after a well-deserved 2-0 win over bottom-club Bari, with Alessandro Diamanti and Andrea Caracciolo getting the goals. Cesena also lost at Napoli, while 16th-placed Lecce lost 4-2 to Palermo and 17th-placed Catania lost 1-0 at Bologna.
German Bundesliga
Leaders Borussia Dortmund had all the chances but simply couldn’t beat rivals Schalke 04 on Friday night as it ended 0-0. The result opened the door for challengers Leverkusen and Bayern Munich to close the gap, but they both failed falling to defeat. Leverkusen were beaten 1-0 by Nurnberg, while Bayern let a two-goal lead slip as they went down 3-2 to struggling FC Koln thanks to a Milivoje Novakovic double.
Those results kept alive the Champions League aspirations of unlikely duo FSV Mainz and Hannover 96. Hannover defeated Wolfsburg 1-0 to move into fourth, while Mainz conceded late to draw 1-1 with Werder Bremen.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | FC Koln | 22 |
| 17 | VfB Stuttgart | 19 |
| 18 | Moenchengladbach | 16 |
There were wins for two of the bottom three in Germany this weekend, which was bad news for bottom-club Moenchengladbach who let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 to fellow strugglers VfB Stuttgart. Koln’s win over Bayern boosts their survival hopes, while 13th-placed Werder Bremen claimed an important 1-1 draw at Mainz thanks to Claudio Pizarro’s late goal.
Random League: Turkish Super Lig
Turkish leaders Trabzonspor failed to win for the third match in a row after a disappointing goalless draw at home to midtable Antalyaspor. That results has allowed champions Bursaspor to draw level on points with them, after Kenny Miller’s late goal gave them a 2-1 win over Sivasspor.
But Fenerbahce are looming ominously two points behind the top two after they recorded their fourth straight win with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory at Manisaspor. Besiktas’ charge – after some big spending in January – appears doomed to fall short after a 1-1 home draw with Karabukspor.