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European round-up: Ronaldinho puts the pressure on Inter

Graham Fisher in Editorial, General Soccer News 19 Jan 2010

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The old master

  • Serie A
  • Inter have just a six point lead over their city rivals AC Milan and the red half of the city also have a game in hand on the blues.

    Whilst Inter were being held 2-2 at mid-table Bari, Milan were continuing their impressive form with a 4-0 win over bottom club Siena.

    Ronaldinho followed up last week’s brace with a hat-trick and Borriello scored the other goal. In fairness, Milan should have had a relatively easy ride against Siena even without the visitors being reduced to ten men as early as the tenth minute.

    For Inter, Pandev and a Milito penalty rescued a point for them after they had gone 2-0 down after sixty-three minutes. In fact, all four goals were scored in a fourteen minute spell just after the hour.

    Roma moved into third place with a pair from Toni and another from Perrotta giving them a 3-0 win over Genoa.

  • La Liga
  • Barcelona have gone five points clear at the top in Spain and look as though they could be on the verge of another great season. They brushed aside the challenge of European hopefuls Sevilla in a 4-0 win at the Camp Nou.

    To be fair to Sevilla they stayed on level terms until the fiftieth minute when an own goal gifted the champions the lead. Pedrito added a second on seventy minutes and two goals from Messi in the last five minutes gave the scoreline a slightly flattering look for Barcelona.

    Meanwhile Real Madrid dropped three crucial points as they lost to a third minute goal at Athletic Bilbao.

    The only other team with an outside chance of joining the title race party appears to be third placed Valencia who thrashed ten man Villarreal 4-1. David Villa bagged another two goals with Silva and Banega completing the scoring.

  • Bundesliga
  • Bayer Leverkusen lead the way by a point from Schalke in Germany with Bayern Munich just another point further back. Five points cover the top five in what could be a really exciting end to the season.

    The top three all won. Leverkusen beat Mainz 4-1 with Kadlec, Barnetta, Kroos and Derdiyok all finding the target.

    Schalke had a second half Kuranyi goal to thank for their 1-0 win over Nurnberg, whilst Bayern Munich saw of Hoffenheim 2-0. Demechelis and Klose scored the goals.

  • Eridivisie
  • FC Twente are three points clear at the top in Holland but they dropped two valuable points in a goalless draw at FC Utrecht.

    PSV have a game in hand which they play this evening at Roda AC.

    Third placed Ajax failed to close the gap after they could only draw 1-1 at NAC.

  • Ligue 1
  • Bordeaux are seven points clear at the top in France whilst Lille and Montpellier seemingly battle it out for second place.

    The two chasing sides did manage to close the gap a little at the weekend as Bordeaux were held 1-1 at home by Marseille. Chamakh gave the leaders a first half lead on the stroke of half-time but after they had Planus sent off on the hour, Marseille came back into the game and scored an equaliser ten minutes from the end.

    Lille had an easy 3-1 win over PSG, whilst a Camara goal gave Montpellier the points at home to Nice.

  • Portugal
  • Braga and Benfica remain locked together six points clear of the rest in Portugal.

    Braga had a comfortable 2-0 win at Academica with a goal in each half from Meyong and Matheus.

    Benfica brushed aside Maritimo 5-0 with Saviola, Pereira, Cardoza and Luisao adding to an own goal.

    Porto are clear in third place despite being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Pacos Ferreira.

  • SPL
  • Things go from bad to worse for Celtic as they fell nine points behind Rangers at the top of the league. Tony Mowbray may well be on borrowed time as his side stuttered to a 1-1 draw at home to bottom club Falkirk. Samaras scored the goal that saved them from humiliation.

    Rangers needed a late Novo goal to see off struggling Hamilton.

    Dundee United moved above Hibernian into third place after they beat them with a first half Swanson goal.

  • Greece
  • Panathinaikos look as though they may run away with it in Greece. They moved seven points clear at the top after they beat Panthrakikos 2-0 and only challengers Olympiakos were held to a 0-0 draw at Kavala.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Graham Fisher


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