European review

Real rampant; Gers down Celtic; Juve lose; Bayern top

By James Dall   Last updated: 1st March 2010  

European review

Ribery: Fired Bayern top

Also see

Real Madrid continued their free-scoring form in Spain, Rangers won the Old Firm derby while Inter Milan returned to winning ways.

Elsewhere, Montpellier moved level on points with Bordeaux, Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga table while the top four all won in Holland.

Primera Division

Real Madrid were again rampant in Spain as they scored five goals past Tenerife, with Gonzalo Higuain bagging a brace. But Barcelona maintained their two-point lead at the top thanks to a late strike from Lionel Messi against Malaga.

Third-placed Valencia were stunned by Atletico Madrid, who triumphed 4-1 at the Vicente Calderon while Almeria's revival continued as they extended their unbeaten run to five matches with a 2-0 win at Racing Santander.

SPL

Rangers took a giant stride towards retaining their SPL crown after they defeated Old Firm rivals Celtic 1-0. The Hoops had Scott Brown controversially sent off before Maurice Edu bagged in the dying moments to extend Gers' lead at the summit to 10 points.

Elsewhere, Dundee United moved to within six points of second-placed Celtic after they cruised to a 3-0 win over Falkirk as Morgaro Gomis helped himself to a brace. Motherwell, meanwhile, kept up their fine form after seeing off Kilmarnock.

Serie A

Pace-setters Inter Milan were forced to work hard for a 3-2 triumph at Udinese while their rivals AC Milan kept up the heat as they achieved a 3-1 win over Atalanta as Brazil forward Alexandre Pato scored twice.

Juventus suffered a 2-0 loss at home to Palermo, meaning the latter leapfrogged the former into fourth place. Roma were denied a the death at Napoli, there were seven goals at Genoa while Catania boosted their survival hopes.

Ligue 1

Montpellier moved level on points with leaders Bordeaux, who boast two games in hand, after they overcame Rennes 3-1 at Stade de la Mosson. Lyon were also victorious as Claude Puel's in-form men downed Nice 2-0.

Elsewhere, Marseille notched a fourth straight win as they thumped PSG 3-0, Auxerre battled for a 2-1 success against fellow high-flyers Lille while Grenoble claimed their third win of the season.

Bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen's failure to find a way past Cologne presented Bayern Munich with a chance to claim pole position in Germany. And that Bayern did as Franck Ribery's goal defeated Hamburg on Sunday.

On Friday, Schalke inflicted a fourth defeat in five games on Borussia Dortmund. Elsewhere, Hannover lost for a ninth match on the spin while Stuttgart beat Frankfurt 2-1 courtesy of two goals from Cacau.

Eredivisie

The top four positions remain as you were after the leading quartet all won. PSV Eindhoven continue to lead the way following an emphatic 5-1 triumph against RKC while Ajax also made light work of 10-man FC Utrecht.

FC Twente had to rely on a late goal from Bryan Ruiz to seal them a 2-1 win over NEC while a 90th minute strike from Ron Vlaar helped Feyenoord defeat FC Groningen.

Best of the rest

Arsenal's UEFA Champions League opponents Porto suffered a 3-0 loss to Sporting in Portugal's top tier, RB Salzburg opened up a five-point lead at the top in Austria, Galatasaray kept up their fine form in Turkey with a 4-1 success over Kasimpasa SK, while Anderlecht moved nine points clear at the summit in Belgium.