Weekend Developments From Europe's Top Leagues 19/3

Real Madrid dropped points in the race for the Spanish title and boss Jose Mourinho didn’t like it, while AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund stayed solid in their title defences.

Spanish La Liga

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

Real Madrid dropped points in the title race after slipping to a 1-1 draw with fifth-placed Malaga as Santi Cazorla equalised late. Jose Mourinho was left to lament some refereeing decisions he felt went against his side. Meanwhile, Barcelona closed to within eight points with their 2-0 win at Sevilla with Xavi and Lionel Messi getting the goals.

Granada crucially won the battle of the strugglers with their 2-1 triumph over lowly Sporting Gijon. Meanwhile after Villarreal slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Levante the club sacked coach Jose Molina who only took up the job in December. Miguel Angel Lotina is set to take over. Mallorca also eased their relegation concerns with a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid.

Topscorers, Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 32 goals, Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) 31 goals, Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid) 17 goals, Radomel Falcao (Atletico Madrid) 17 goals

Italian Serie A

Weekend Results, Saturday; Fiorentina 0 Juventus 5, Parma 0 AC Milan 2, Sunday; Udinese 2 Napoli 2, Siena 0 Novara 2, Lecce 1 Palermo 1, Inter Milan 0 Atalanta 0, Catania 1 Lazio 0, Bologna 2 Chievo Verona 2, Cagliari 3 Cesena 0

AC Milan and Juventus both won comfortably over the weekend, while Lazio’s defeat away to Catania confirmed it is now a two-horse race. Juve’s big win away to Fiorentina was particularly impressive after their run of four straight draws. Fourth-placed Napoli came from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw with fifth-placed Udinese thanks to Edinson Cavani’s late brace.

Novara continued their recent resurgence under returning boss Attilio Tesser as they recorded an important 2-0 victory away to Siena, who had their own recent good run of form. Fiorentina and Parma’s losses on Saturday has them slipping into the bottom five, while Mauricio Pinilla netted a crucial hat-trick as Cagliari kicked away from the drop zone with a 3-0 win over bottom club Cesena.

Topscorers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) 20 goals, Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) 19 goals, Edinson Cavani (Napoli) 18 goals, German Denis (Atalanta) 15 goals, Rodrigo Palacio (Genoa) 14 goals, Diego Milito (Inter Milan) 14 goals

German Bundesliga

Weekend Results, Friday; Hoffenheim 1 Stuttgart 2, Saturday; Borussia Dortmund 1 Werder Bremen 0, Bayer Leverkusen 1 Borussia Moenchengladbach 2, Hamburg SV 1 SC Freiburg 3, FC Nurnberg 1 VfL Wolfsburg 3, FC Augsburg 2 FSV Mainz 1, Hertha BSC 0 Bayern Munich 6, Sunday; Kaiserslautern 1 Schalke 04 4, Hannover 96 4 FC Koln 1

Borussia Dortmund remain top of the pile by five points after their hard-fought 1-0 victory over Werder Bremen, while in-form Bayern Munich continue to pile on the goals with a 6-0 rout of struggling Hertha BSC. Borussia Moenchengladbach and Schalke both also won to keep the top four tight.

Hamburg SV’s dismal 3-1 home loss to SC Freiburg has suddenly put them back in the relegation mire, while FC Augsburg continued their recent climb with a fine come-from-behind 2-1 win over FSV Mainz. Kaiserslautern and Hertha BSC both suffered heavy defeats and look in some serious trouble.

Topscorers, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) 22 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Hamburg SV) 20 goals, Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), 16 goals, Lukas Podolski (FC Koln) 16 goals, Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen) 16 goals

English Premier League

Weekend Results, Saturday; Wigan 1 West Bromwich 1, Fulham 0 Swansea 3, Sunday; Newcastle 1 Norwich 0, Wolverhampton 0 Manchester United 5

The big result of the weekend was Manchester United’s 5-0 triumph at Wolves which opened up a four-point buffer at the summit. The result also sent Wolverhampton into bottom spot, as Wigan went above them on goal difference after their 1-1 draw with West Bromwich where they were wasteful in front of goal.

English FA Cup

Quarter-final results,

Liverpool and Chelsea both progressed and on different sides of the draw. Tottenham’s clash with Bolton was abandoned after Fabrice Muamba collapsed. The winner of that match will face Chelsea, while the winner of the Sunderland-Everton replay takes on Liverpool.