Soccer: Latest European scores and tables

The hot match of the weekend was Real Madrid versus Barcelona, in which yet again the Catalan team came away from Madrid with the three points after a convincing 3-1 away victory, putting Barça in top spot equal on points with Real, which missed the opportunity to put some space between themselves and their main rivals.

England Premier League

Manchester United took full advantage of Matchday 15, winning three points from a 4-1 drubbing of Wolves, while Manchester City travels to Chelsea tonight and third-placed Tottenham Hotspur dropped three points at Stoke (2-1). Arsenal consolidates fourth place with a 1-0 win over Everton, while Livepool beat QPR 1-0 at home. Newcastle United continues a downward spell with a 4-2 thrashing away to Norwich City.

 English Premier League after 15 games

1. Manchester City 38 (14 games)

2. Manchester United 36

3. Tottenham (14 games) 31

4. Arsenal 29

5. Chelsea FC 28 (14 games)

6. Liverpool FC 26

7. Newcastle United 26

Spain - Primera Liga

Big change at the top, with am emphatic 3-1 win by Barcelona away at arch-rivals Real Madrid, which has a game in hand. There were three direct games among the top seven, the others being Malaga 1 Osasuna 1 and Levante 1 Sevilla 0. Valencia went down 2-1 at Betis.

Spanish Primera Liga after 15 games

1. FC Barcelona 37 (one game more)

2. Real Madrid 37

3. Valencia CF 30  

4. Levante UD 29

5. Sevilla FC 24

6. Málaga CF 24

7. CA Osasuna 22

Italy - Serie A

Udinese goes top with a 2-1 home win against Chievo while Juve travels to Roma today. In the other games Lazio and Genoa were winners against Lecce (2-3 away) and Siena (0-2 away) respectively. AC Milan drew 2-2 away at Bologna, Napoli drew 1-1 at Novara and Palermo lost at home 0-1 to Cesena.

Italian Serie A after 14 games

1. Udinese Calcio 27

2. Juventus 29 (13 games)

3. AC Milan 27

4. SS Lazio 22

5. SSC Napoli 20

6. US Città di Palermo 20

7. Genoa CFC 18 (13 games)

Germany - Bundesliga

Bayern won away at Stuttgart, while Dortmund could do no better than a home draw with Kaiserslauters (1-1). Schalke came away from Hertha Berlin with a 2-1 win while Moenchengladbach lost away 1-0 to Augsburg. In the other games among the pack, Bremen dispatched Wolfsburg 4-1 and Bayer Leverkusen drew away with Hannover 0-0.

German Bundesliga after 16 games

1. FC Bayern Munchen 34

2. Borussia Dortmund 31

3. FC Schalke 04 31

4. VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach 30

5. Werder Bremen 29   

6. Bayer 04 Leverkusen 26

7. VfB Stuttgart 22

France - Ligue 1

A defeat for Montpellier in Valenciennes (1-0) and a victory for PSG by the same result at Sochaux puts the Parisian team back level on points. Third-placed Lille keeps up the pressure with a 2-0 win against Dijon, Lyon won away at Lorient 1-0. Rennes drew 1-1 with Brest. Toulouse beat Évian 2-1 and Saint-Étienne enters the fray with a 2-0 defeat of Caen.

French Ligue 1 after 17 games

1. Montpellier Hérault 36

2. Paris Saint-Germain FC 36

3. LOSC Lille Métropole 34

4. Olympique Lyonnais 32

5. Stade Rennais 29

6. Toulouse FC 29

7. AS Saint-Étienne 27

Portugal - Primeira Liga

The first three teams in Portugal won - FC Porto (1-2 away at Beira-Mar), Benfica (0-1 at Marítimo), Sporting (1-0 at home to Nacional). Braga moves up into fourth with a 5-2 thrashing of Paços de Ferreira. There is considerable difference already from the sixth-placed team, Olhanense (playing Académica de Coimbra tonight) and Gil Vicente (losing 2-0 away at Rio Ave).

Primeira Liga after 12 games

1. FC Porto 30

2. SL Benfica 30

3. SC Portugal 26  

4. SC Braga 25

5. CS Marítimo 22

6. SC Olhanense 14 (11 games)

7. Gil Vicente FC 14

Russian Premier League - Final standings (League closed for winter)

Russian Premier League after 30 games

1. FC Zenit St. Petersburg 61

2. PFC CSKA Moskva 59

3. FC Dinamo Moskva 55

4. FC Spartak Moskva 53

5. FC Lokomotiv Moskva 53

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

Pravda.Ru