Spain

Real Madrid, minus the suspended David Beckham, extended their lead over second-placed Valencia at the top of La Liga to five points on Saturday in what could prove to be a significant weekend in the title race.

The champions won 4-2 at relegation-threatened Espanyol ahead of their midweek European trip to Bayern München, while ten-man Valencia went down 1-0 at home to resurgent Barcelona, the Catalans’ fifth successive league win arriving via Gerard López’s 78th-minute header, a result that moves Barça to within seven points of third-in-the-table Deportivo La Coruña.

Meanwhile in the Montjuic, both sides traded early penalties, with the visitors then taking control through strikes from defenders Roberto Carlos and Raul Bravo, before Ronaldo scored his second to effectively seal the win.

Also in action on Saturday were Deportivo, whose goalless draw at high-flying Atlético Madrid left the Galicians virtually out of the championship race, six points off top spot, while struggling Celta Vigo warmed up for the visit of Arsenal in the European Cup on Tuesday in the worst possible way by losing at home to Málaga.

New Celta coach Radomir Antic saw his team reduced to ten men after just 12 minutes in an incident that resulted in ex-Bolton Wanderers striker Salva Ballesta giving the visitors the lead from the spot, before Diego Alonso’s late strike made it 2-0.

And mid-table Real Sociedad will also be going into Champions League action, against Lyon on Wednesday, on the back of a defeat following their 1-0 loss at Sevilla, German Hornos’s last-minute header seeing off the Basques.

Player of the weekend: Gerard López  The midfield player has had a disappointing time of it since leaving Valencia for Camp Nou, but on Saturday he returned to the Mestalla, coming off the bench to net his sides’ crucial winner.

Italy

AC Milan maintained their five-point lead over second-placed Roma at the top of Serie A on the weekend as the top three all enjoyed victories. However, the European champions were forcedto come from two goals down at home to city-rivals Internazionale on Saturday night, before emerging as 3-2 victors at San Siro.

The visitors found themselves 2-0 up through goals from new signing Dejan Stankovic, direct from a corner, and Cristiano Zanetti, before the Rossoneri struck back in style thanks to two goals in as many minutes from substitute Jon Dahl Tomasson and Kaká and Clarence Seedorf won the contest with a sensational strike five minutes from time.

But on Sunday afternoon, Roma hit Siena for six courtesy of Antonio Cassano’s treble, with Francesco Totti, Brazilian Amantino Mancini and substitute Marco Delvecchio also getting on the scoresheet in a match that saw both sides reduced to ten men, as well as Roma skipper Totti missing a penalty.

Meanwhile third-in-the-table Juventus, who visit Deportivo in the European Cup on Wednesday, also won yesterday to remain six points off top spot, defender Mark Iuliano’s second-half strike proving enough to see off mid-table Bolonga on their travels.

Other results on the weekend saw fifth-placed Parma move to within a point of Lazio in the crucial fourth Champions League berth for next season with a 2-1 win at Sampdoria, while the Romans could only manage a goalless draw at ten-man Chievo after Claudio López saw his second-half penalty repelled by ex-Lazio keeper Luca Marchegiani.

Player of the weekend: Antonio Cassano  The diminutive striker scored a fabulous hat-trick yesterday afternoon to keep Roma in the title race, still five points adrift of Milan at the top of the table following week 22 of the season.

Germany

Second-placed Bayern cut Werder Bremen’s gap at the top of the Bundesliga to seven points on Saturday following a late strike from substitute Martin Demichelis, which was enough to see off a stubborn challenge from mid-table Hamburg in Bavaria, while Bremen drew a blank at high-flying Schalke.

Third-in-the-table Stuttgart, who entertain Chelsea in the European Cup on Wednesday, lost further ground in the title race when they lost 3-1 at home to lowly Kaiserslautern, former Spurs midfielder José Dominguez with the winner after only four minutes.

Also playing on Saturday were ten-man Bayer Leverkusen, whose 3-1 home defeat to fifth-placed Bochum moved the visitors level on points with their hosts in the table, but below them on goal difference.

Meanwhile yesterday, sixth-placed Borussia Dortmund overcame bottom-of-the-table Cologne thanks to Brazilian striker Ewerthon’s 26th-minute strike.

Player of the weekend: Martin Max  Yet another two league goals on Saturday for the Hansa Rostock forward as his team beat Hannover 3-1 at home in week 21 of the first division season.

France

The leading trio all won in Ligue 1 this weekend, meaning that Monaco remain four points ahead of second-placed Lyon after week 25 of the campaign.

The pace-setters recovered from their shock home defeat to Lille last week by scoring four times in the second period against struggling Montpellier on Friday thanks to a treble from Manuel Adebayor, with strike partner Fernando Morientes grabbing the other on the South Coast.

However 24 hours later, Lyon and Paris-Saint Germain, a point behind the champions in third, both enjoyed 2-0 home wins against lowly Le Mans and Guingamp respectively.

Goals either side of the break from Florent Malouda and Sidney Govou gave Lyon the points against their ten-man opponents, while the Parisians went a 13th match undefeated thanks to strikes from Modeste Mbami and Danijel Ljuboja.

Other results on Saturday saw fourth-in-the-table Auxerre draw a blank at Bastia, giving Sochaux the opportunity to move level on points with Guy Roux’s side, which they duly did with a 2-0 win at Strasbourg.

Meanwhile yesterday, ten-man Nantes drew 1-1 at sixth-placed Marseille courtesy of former Coventry City striker Viorel Moldovan, who cancelled out Didier Drogba’s 29th-minute strike, a result that leaves the Canaries four points behind their hosts in seventh.

Player of the weekend: Manuel Adebayor  The Principality’s second-choice front man was called up to replace injured captain Ludovic Giuly, and he responded to his promotion in style by netting a hat-trick in Monaco’s 4-0 win over ten-man Montpellier, the ideal performance before Tuesday’s daunting trip to Moscow in the Champions League.