Their 49 games without defeat had threatened AC Milan’s all time record of 58, but Inter’s 3-1 win at the weekend means that they remain second and on Juve’s heels at the top of Serie A. Napoli drew 1-1 with Torino at home, Roma crushed Palermo 4-1 and Fiorentina won by the same score against Cagliari. A weekend of big winning margins saw Catania crush Lazio 4-0, while AC Milan’s season picked up with a 5-1 win over Chievo.
Manchester United moved to the top of the Premier League for the first time this season after they won 2-1 against Arsenal at Old Trafford. That moved them ahead of Chelsea, who had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Swansea, while Manchester City were also held, 0-0 by West Ham. Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Wigan, and Everton had to settle for a 2-2 draw at Fulham. Liverpool drew 1-1 with Newcastle.
There was a major shock in France as Paris St Germain lost their unbeaten record this season, going down 2-1 at home to St Etienne. That meant Marseille pulled level with the Parisians after they beat AJ Ajaccio 2-0. Toulouse missed the chance to join them as they were beaten 1-0 by Bordeaux, who strengthened their own title hopes. Lyon remain in the fray too after beating Bastia 5-2. Lille’s recovery continued as they won 2-0 at Evian, and champions Montpellier had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Troyes.
In Spain Barcelona moved clear at the top of the table after a 3-1 home win against Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid lost their first game of the season, 2-0 at Valencia, to slip three points behind at the top, but they are still five clear of fierce city rivals Real, who beat Real Zaragoza 4-0. Malaga lost 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano.
Bayern Munich strengthened their grip on the Bundesliga with a 3-0 win at Hamburg on Saturday, meaning they are X points clear of second place Schalke, who were beaten 3-2 by Hoffenhaim. Eintracht Frankfurt are still third after a 1-1 home draw with Greuther Furth. Champions Borussia Dortmund’s title challenged took another blow as they failed to beat Stuttgart, settling for a 0-0 home draw, meaning they were overtaken by Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-2.
CSKA Moscow remain top in Russia after winning 2-1 against Moscow rivals Lokomotiv, with Anzhi Makhachkala in hot pursuit after beating Terek Grozny 3-1. Zenit St Petersburg won 2-1 against Rostov to continue their own recovery.
Benfica beat Victoria Guimaeres 3-0 to stay level on points with Porto, who won 5-0 against Maritimo. Braga beat Gil Vicente 3-1 and Sporting Lisbon lost 2-1 to Vitoria Setubal. Galatasaray remain top of the pile in Turkey after winning 3-1 at Buyuksehir. Olympiakos won 2-0 against OFI to stay top of the Greek standings, and in Ukraine Shakhtar Donetsk’s long winning run continued with a 2-0 win against Metalurg Zaporizhzhya, their 14th in a row this season alone.
In the Netherlands Ajax lost 2-0 at home to Vitesse to damage their hopes of retaining the title. Twente beat Feyenoord 3-0 and PSV crushed Heracles 4-0.
Across the Atlantic in Brazil, Fluminense were held 1-1 by Sao Paulo, but closest rivals Atletico Mineiro were unable to take advantage as they lost 1-0 by Coritiba. Gremio beat Ponte Preta 1-0 to retain any faint hopes they had of the title. Botafogo drew 2-2 with Palmeiras, Internacional lost 3-0 at Nautico, Flamengo overcame Figueirense 1-0, Santos crushed Cruzeiro 4-0 and Corinthians beat Goianense 2-0. Vasco de Gama were beaten 3-0 by Sport.
