The title race in England was blown right open on Sunday, while there were some unexpected losses in Spain and some expected wins in Italy, as Dortmund were crowned champions in Germany.
English Premier League
Weekend Results Saturday; Blackburn 1 Bolton 0, Blackpool 0 Stoke City 0, Sunderland 0 Fulham 3, West Bromwich 2 Aston Villa 1, Wigan 1 Everton 1, Chelsea 2 Tottenham 1. Sunday; Birmingham 1 Wolverhampton 1, Liverpool 3 Newcastle 0, Arsenal 1 Manchester United 0, Manchester City 2 West Ham 1
| Pos | Team | Pts | Pl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester United | 73 | 35 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 70 | 35 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 67 | 35 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 62 | 34 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 55 | 35 |
The Premier League title race is back on ahead of next weekend’s huge clash between Manchester United and Chelsea. Arsenal’s 1-0 win over the Red Devils on Sunday means we could have a new league leader after next weekend’s game. The Blues’ 2-1 win over Tottenham wasn’t without controversy either, with both of Chelsea’s goals coming in dubious fashion, but them’s the breaks. Liverpool moved above Spurs into fifth too.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Blackburn | 38 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 35 |
| 18 | Wigan | 35 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 34 |
| 20 | West Ham | 32 |
Draws were the order of the day for Blackpool, Wigan and Wolverhampton but perhaps they need more than that at this stage. Blackburn moved three points clear of the drop zone with their first league win in months, 1-0 over Lancashire rivals Bolton.
Topscorers Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United) 21 goals, Carlos Tevez (Manchester City) 19 goals, Robin van Persie (Arsenal) 15 goals, Darren Bent (Aston Villa/Sunderland) 15 goals, Peter Odemwingie (West Bromwich) 14 goals
German Bundesliga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borussia Dortmund | 72 |
| 2 | Bayer Leverkusen | 64 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 59 |
| 4 | Hannover 96 | 57 |
| 5 | FSV Mainz | 52 |
Borussia Dortmund are German champions. Goals from Lucas Barrios and Robert Lewandowski earned BVB a 2-0 win over Nurnberg and with Leverkusen going down 2-0 at FC Koln it clinched the title for the German giants. Meanwhile in the race for third, Hannover 96 lost 1-0 at home to Moenchengladbach, while Bayern won 4-1 over Schalke.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | FC Koln | 38 |
| 15 | VfL Wolfsburg | 35 |
| 16 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 34 |
| 17 | Moenchengladbach | 32 |
| 18 | St Pauli | 29 |
VfL Wolfsburg’s win over Werder Bremen moved them out of the drop zone, while Eintracht Frankfurt simply can’t buy a win at the moment as they slipped into 16th after losing at Mainz. Moenchengladbach’s shock win at Hannover gives them hope of survival, while St Pauli appear relegated.
Topscorers Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 24 goals, Papiss Demba Cisse (SC Freiburg) 22 goals, Theofanis Gekas (Eintracht Frankfurt) 16 goals, Milovoje Novakovic (FC Koln) 16 goals, Srdjan Lakic (Kaiserslautern) 14 goals, Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund) 14 goals
Spanish La Liga
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FC Barcelona | 88 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 80 |
| 3 | Valencia | 63 |
| 4 | Villarreal | 60 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 52 |
After three El Clasicos, Spain’s top two slumped to shock defeats. Barcelona conceded twice in the final 15 minutes to lose 2-1 at Sociedad, while Real Madrid went down 3-2 at home to Zaragoza making boss Jose Mourinho’s proud home record at distant memory after three defeats at the Bernabeu in barely a month. Atletico Madrid moved up to fifth with Sergio Aguero finding the back of the net again.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Osasuna | 38 |
| 17 | Deportivo Coruna | 38 |
| 18 | Getafe | 37 |
| 19 | Hercules | 33 |
| 20 | Almeria | 26 |
Defeats to all of Deportivo, Getafe, Hercules and Almeria has them now as the bottom four, but for Hercules, who went down 3-1 at Malaga it was a major blow. Almeria have lost their past six matches and are all but relegated now following their 1-0 home loss to Sevilla. Osasuna’s shock 1-0 win over Valencia eases their worries.
Topscorers Lionel Messi (Barcelona) 31 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 29 goals, David Villa (Barcelona) 18 goals, Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal) 18 goals, Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid) 17 goals
Italian Serie A
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AC Milan | 77 |
| 2 | Internazionale | 69 |
| 3 | Napoli | 68 |
| 4 | Lazio | 60 |
| 5 | Udinese | 59 |
AC Milan edged within a win of the Scudetto after Mathieu Flamini scored to earn them a 1-0 win over Bologna. Inter Milan kept the pressure up by defeating Cesena 2-1 on Saturday, while Napoli kept alive their faint hopes defeating Genoa 1-0. Meanwhile, Udinese’s incredible 5-2 loss to Fiorentina gives Lazio a great chance to push for the final UEFA Champions League spot when they meet Juve on Monday.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Cesena | 37 |
| 17 | Sampdoria | 36 |
| 18 | Lecce | 35 |
| 19 | Brescia | 31 |
| 20 | Bari | 21 |
Victories for Chievo, Parma and Catania has eased their relegation fears, while Sampdoria have Daniele Mannini to thank for keeping them a point clear of the drop zone after his stoppage-time goal earned them a 3-3 draw with struggling Brescia. Bologna slipped down to 15th after losing for the fifth time in a row.
Topscorers Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 26 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 26 goals, Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale) 20 goals, Marco Di Vaio (Bologna) 19 goals, Alessandro Matri (Juventus/Cagliari) 18 goals
Random League: Ukrainian Premier League
Shakhtar Donetsk’s title celebrations were put on hold this weekend after they slumped to a stunning 3-0 loss at rivals Dynamo Kyiv with Andriy Shevchenko among the scorers. Shakhtar could have officially clinched the Ukrainian title with victory in the capital on Sunday, but will have to wait to do so, as they now hold an eight-point lead with three games to play. For Dynamo, it’s some consolation after a disappointing season.