Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues 20/2

Lionel Messi netted four goals for Barcelona but they didn’t close ground on Real Madrid, while Borussia Dortmund moved clear in Germany.

Spanish La Liga

Weekend Results, Saturday; Sevilla 2 Osasuna 0, Real Madrid 4 Racing Santander 0, Getafe 1 Espanyol 1, Sunday; Granada 4 Real Sociedad 1, Athletic Bilbao 3 Malaga 0, Real Mallorca 4 Villarreal 0, Sporting Gijon 1 Atletico Madrid 1, Levante 3 Rayo Vallecano 5, Barcelona 5 Valencia 1, Monday; Real Zaragoza v Real Betis

It was goals galore this weekend in Spain, with Real Madrid piling on four against Racing Santander to remain 10 points clear. Lionel Messi actually also scored four goals in Barcelona’s 5-1 rout of third-placed Valencia. Athletic Bilbao moved into the Champions League spots with a 3-0 win over big-spending Malaga, who are down in ninth.

Struggling Zaragoza and Real Betis meet in a crucial relegation battle on Monday and the importance of game claim has been made all the more after the results of sides around them who stumbled. Gijon’s run without a win continued but they managed a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid to boost their survival hopes. Villarreal copped a 4-0 loss at Real Mallorca.

Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 28 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 27 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 14 goals, Radomel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 14 goals, Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 13 goals

Italian Serie A

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

AC Milan stayed top in Italy with a 3-1 victory at struggling Cesena, while Juventus also enjoyed a 3-1 win over Catania. Inter Milan are one of the biggest stories though after they suffered a dismal 3-0 home loss to Bologna, with calls for Claudio Ranieri to leave. Lazio’s faint title hopes took a blow after a 5-1 loss away to Palermo.

Bologna claimed a big win in their fight against the drop, destroying Inter Milan 3-0 at the San Siro with Marco Di Vaio netting a double. Lecce also enjoyed an important 4-1 victory over fellow strugglers Siena which boosts their survival hopes. Novara also moved off bottom with a 0-0 draw with Atalanta.

Topscorers, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 17 goals, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 15 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 15 goals, German Denis (Atalanta) 12 goals, Stevan Jovetic (Fiorentina) 12 goals, Diego Milito (Internazionale) 12 goals, Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa) 12 goals

German Bundesliga

Weekend Results, Friday; Hoffenheim 1 FSV Mainz 1, Saturday; Freiburg 0 Bayern Munich 0, Nurnberg 2 FC Koln 1, Kaiserslautern 1 Borussia Monchengladbach 2, Hertha Berlin 0 Borussia Dortmund 1, Hamburg SV 1 Werder Bremen 3, Bayer Leverkusen 4 Augsburg 1, Sunday; Hannover 4 Stuttgart 2, Schalke 4 Wolfsburg 0

Bayern Munich stumbled to a shock goalless away to struggling SC Freiburg to slip down to third, as Borussia Dortmund stretched their lead to three points after edging past Hertha BSC 1-0. Moenchengladbach are up to second after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Kaiserslautern, while Schalke kept up the pressure with an emphatic 4-0 win over Wolfsburg.

Only SC Freiburg claimed a point out of the bottom five, with their goalless draw at home to Bayern Munich more than commendable. Nurnberg’s 2-1 victory over FC Koln was a significant result for the struggling sides, with Tomas Pekhart popping up with the winner, while Hertha BSC suffered their fifth straight loss, although new coach Otto Rehhagel is set to take over.

Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 18 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Hamburg SV) 18 goals, Lukas Podolski (FC Koln) 15 goals, Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 15 goals

English FA Cup

Fifth Round results,

Big guns Tottenham and Chelsea both drew, meaning they’ll need to face a replay to go through to the next round. Liverpool were thankful for three own goals as they flew past Brighton 6-1. Last season’s beaten finalists Stoke City also progressed with a 2-0 win at Crawley.

Quarter-final draw,