Euro football roundup 12/5
Monday, 12 May 2008 17:33
Diego Forlan's goal helped Villarreal cement second place in La Liga
A comprehensive roundup of all the action from the top leagues in Spain, Italy, Germany and France begins with news from southern Europe.
In Spain's Primera Liga all the talk surrounds Barcelona, who remain in freefall. On Sunday they lost 3-2 at the Camp Nou to Real Mallorca, although the fans are safe in the knowledge that Champions League football is all but guaranteed.
Only a defeat for them, a win for Sevilla and an eight-goal swing away from the Catalan side would see them miss out on the top four, although the supporters will be keen to fend off the challenge of Atletico Madrid to keep third place – if only for pride's sake.
Atletico won 1-0 at home to Deportivo - Diego Forlan with the only goal on the stroke of half-time to maintain the pressure inside the top four.
Runaway league winners Real Madrid secured a 2-2 draw at Real Zaragoza thanks to goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robinho, and second-placed Villarreal beat Barcelona's local rivals Espanyol 2-0 to move ten points clear of Barca, but still trailing Real by eight points.
The Serie A title race will go down to the final day after Inter Milan dropped more points – this time with a surprise home draw against midtable Siena.
Patrick Vieira gave Inter an early lead but they were soon pegged back by Massimo Maccarone's goal on the half-hour. Mario Balotelli reestablished the lead on the stroke of half-time but Houssine Kharja netted in the 69th minute to salvage a point for the visitors.
That draw meant AS Roma have now pulled to within one point of the top side thanks to a 2-1 win over Atalanta - Christian Panucci and Daniele de Rossi with the goals.
Juventus, who are guaranteed a third-place finish, drew 1-1 at home to struggling Catania – a point that deepens Parma's relegation fears as they are now two points adrift of safety with one game left.
They lost 3-1 at Fiorentina on Saturday and must now win their final league game to stand any chance of avoiding the drop into Serie B.
With Bayern Munich already confirmed as Bundesliga champions, the race is now on for the runners up spot.
Werder Bremen are in pole position thanks to two wins out of two last week – a midweek 1-0 victory at fifth-placed Hamburger SV and a 6-1 demolition of Hannover on Saturday.
FC Schalke are the only team capable of catching Bremen, but they trail by two points and will be hoping for a final-day slip-up to leapfrog into second. Schalke beat Frankfurt 1-0 on Saturday, thanks to defender Mladen Krstajic's goal after 65 minutes.
French champions Lyon are now just one win away from a seventh consecutive Ligue 1 title after collecting only their second victory in the last six matches at home to third-placed Nancy – Brazilian defender Silva Andre Luiz's own goal separating the teams.
That win meant second-placed Bordeaux's 2-0 win over Sochaux failed to draw them any closer to the summit with the final round of matches scheduled for this weekend.
The Eredivisie finished at the end of April with PSV Eindhoven wrapping up their fourth consecutive title, and 21st in total, ahead of rivals Ajax.