Mourinho needs better eggs to make omelettes
Another defeat for Real leaves José Mourinho's team in third place, behind Atlético and Barça...or is the Portuguese soccer magician aiming at the Champions League and Intercontinental Cup next season?
Premier League 25 games
It's Manchester United 9 points clear on 62, over City (53) and London duo Chelsea (46) and former Chelsea boss André Villas-Boas' Tottenham on 45. Chelsea went down 3-2 at Newcastle, provoking the tongues wagging about the future of Rafa Benitez at Stamford Bridge; a Rooney goal gave Man. United victory at Fulham 1-0, Tottenham winning by the same margin away at West Bromwich Albion. Manchester City drew two apiece at home with Liverpool.
La Liga 22 games
FC Barcelona 59 points from 22 games; Club Atlético de Madrid 50 points and Real Madrid CF 43 points. Real lost 1-0 at Granada, with an own goal by Ronaldo; Barça drew 1-1 at Valencia (penalty from Messi) and Atlético beat Betis (Seville) 1-0.
Serie A 23 Games
In the top three, Lazio lost ground to Juventus, 2-1 at Chievo (52) and Napoli, 2-0 winners over Catania (49); Lazio (43), 2-3 loser at Genoa. To note: the brace of goals from Mário Ballotelli after his return to Italy from Manchester City FC, giving AC Milan victory over 2-1 Udinese and retaining fourth place.
Bundesliga 20 games
Dortmund leap-frogs over Bayer Leverkusen with a 3-2 away win but it's still Bayern ahead on (51); Dortmund (39), Leverkusen (37). Bayern beat Mainz 3-0 away.
Ligue 1 23 games
Paris Saint-Germain, 48; Olympique Lyonnais on 45 points, Olympique de Marseille three points behind in third place. PSG beat Toulouse 4-0 away; Lyon went down 3-1 at Ajaccio and Marseille lost at home to Nancy 0-1. A good weekend for PSG, winning in effect 9 points.
Russian Premier League 19 games
CSKA (43), Anzhi Makhachkala (41) and Zenit St. Petersburg (38) are 1,2,3 in the Russian Premier League. CSKA beat Mordovia 2-1 in Moscow; Zenit and Anzhi drew 1-1 in St. Petersburg.
Portuguese Premier League 17 games
FC Porto ahead of Benfica on goal difference (45 points) and SC Braga in third on 30. FC Porto thrashed Guimarães away 4-0, Jackson Martínez scoring a hat-trick; Benfica had a comfortable 3-0 home win against Setúbal and Braga drew 3-3 at Beira-Mar.
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru
