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European round-up – Barcelona and Inter get there at last, whilst things are really interesting in Germany

Graham Fisher in Editorial, General Soccer News 19 May 2009

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  • Serie A
  • Jose Mourinho’s Inter confirmed their title win with a comfortable 3-0 win over Siena. Cambiasso, Balotelli and Ibrahimovic provided the goals.

    Whist Inter were winning easily, their city rivals Milan were going down 2-1 at Udinese. An injury time goal by Ambrosini was not even a consolation.

    Juventus failed to take full advantage and remain three points behind Milan as goals from Iaquinta and Zanetti were only enough to earn them a 2-2 draw at home to Atalanta.

  • La Liga
  • Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona won La Liga at the weekend before they even kicked a ball. Real Madrid’s miserable season continued with a 3-2 defeat at Villarreal. Van der Vaart and Higuain twice equalised for Real, but a last minute Capdevila goal for Villarreal confirmed Real’s fate.

    With the pressure off, Barcelona too went down to defeat 2-1 at Mallorca. Eto’o gave them a first half lead, but second half goals from Arango and Cleber Santana were enough for the Island side to win.

    With two games to go Sevilla look safe in third place, three points clear of the rest after being held to a goalless draw at Osasuna. Atletico Madrid moved into third place courtesy of a 1-0 win over Valencia through a Diego Forlan penalty. Atletico are two points clear of Valencia and Villarreal.

  • Bundesliga
  • In what is probably the most exciting finish in Europe the last weekend sees Wolfsburg in the driving seat but Bayern Munich, Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin all still in with a chance of taking the title.

    Wolfsburg are two points clear and they sent a strong message to the others with an emphatic 5-0 win at Hannover. Dzeko scored a hat-trick and the unstoppable Grafite bagged the other two.

    Two points back are Bayern Munich and Stuttgart who play each other in their last game. Bayern may have thrown away their chances at the weekend when they could only draw 2-2 at Hoffenheim with Ribery and Toni providing the goals. Stuttgart kept up their challenge with Hitzlsperger and Cacau giving them a 2-0 win over Cottbus.

    Still in with an outside chance, three points behind Wolfsburg with the same goal difference are Hertha Berlin who could only draw 0-0 at home to Schalke.

    You would have to fancy that Wolfsburg will get what they need at home to mid-table Werder Bremen next week.

  • Ligue 1
  • Whilst Lyon can no longer retain their title they may well have played a major part in deciding the actual destination of the title this season. Their 3-1 win at Marseille at the weekend left their opponents three points behind Bordeaux with two games to go. A couple from Benzema and one from Juninho showed Lyon what might have been.

    Bordeaux took advantage with a narrow 3-2 win at home to Le Mans. Chamakh, Gourcuff and Planus scored the all important goals.

    Bordeaux now have games against Monaco and Caen, both in the lower half of the table, to hang on to their lead.

  • Portugal
  • Porto have already wrapped up the Portuguese title and they continued with their emphatic form at the weekend. A 4-1 win at Trofense kept Porto well clear of Sporting and Benfica, who also both recorded victories.

  • Turkey
  • Besiktas are still out in front by two points with two games yet to play. They won 3-1 at Ankaragucu to stay ahead but Sivasspor and Trabzonspor both won as well to keep the title race interesting.

    Galatasaray may be sitting in a disappointing fourth place but they still have a big part to play as their last two games are against Besiktas and Sivasspor.

  • SPL
  • Celtic may have handed the SPL title to rivals Rangers after they failed to win at Hibernian. The 0-0 draw followed Rangers’ 2-1 win over Aberdeen and left the blue half of Glasgow two points ahead with one game to play. Celtic knew that two victories would see them to retaining their title but they were unable to break down a stubborn Hibernian defence.

    Rangers had an own goal and a Kenny Miller header to thank for their win although a 77th minute reply from Aberdeen gave Rangers a very nervy last quarter of an hour or so.

    Next Sunday sees Celtic at home to third placed Hearts and Rangers away at fourth placed Dundee United. It will be an exciting finale once again in the SPL. There may only ever be two teams in the running, but they do at least usually keep it close.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Graham Fisher


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