Soccer: Real Madrid looking like Champions

Soccer: Real Madrid looking like Champions

Real Madrid are five points clear at the top of the Spanish League, taking advantage of a series of drawn among the other members of the pack, as Barcelona slip further behind. The goal tally of José Mourinho's Real reaches a staggering 61 in 17 matches and the mark of the Portuguese genius in his second year seems to be stamped all over the club. Real are now Los Galácticos!!

Spain - Primera Liga

The Barcelona Derby ended Espanyol 1 Barcelona 1. Levante and Mallorca drew 0-0, the same result as the game between Málaga and Atlético. Sevilla was the only team in the pack chasing Real to lose, 2-1 at Rayo Vallecano, while Valencia went to Villarreal to draw 2-2.

Spanish Primera Liga after 17 games

1. Real Madrid 40
2. FC Barcelona 38
3. Valencia CF 34  
4. Levante UD 30
5. CA Osasuna 26
6. Málaga CF 25
7. Sevilla FC 24

Italy - Serie A
Wins for all the top seven except for Lazio, who lost three points in a 4-0 drubbing away to Siena. Inter Milan continued a spectacular revival with a 5-0 thrashing of Parma; Udinese beat Cesena 4-1; Juventus went to Lecce and won 1-0; Roma beat Chievo 2-0 and AC Milan beat Atalanta 2-0 away. Napoli beat Palermo in Sicily 3-1.

Italian Serie A after 17 games
1. Juventus 37
2. AC Milan 37
3. Udinese Calcio 35
4. SS Lazio 30
5. Inter Milan 29
6. AS Roma 27
7. SSC Napoli 27

Portugal - Primeira Liga

Benfica leapfrogs over FC Porto, which came to Lisbon and got a 0-0 draw at Sporting; Benfica's result was 4-0 against Leiria away. Académica de Coimbra drew away 1-1 with Vitória FC (Setúbal); Marítimo won in Madeira against Olhanense; Vitória SC (Guimarães) beat Feirense 1-0.

Primeira Liga after 14 games
1. SL Benfica 36
2. FC Porto 34
3. SC Portugal 28   
4. SC Braga 25 (13 games)
5. CS Marítimo 25
6. A. A. Coimbra 18
7. Vitória SC (Guimarães) 17

Germany - Bundesliga

German Bundesliga after 17 games
1. FC Bayern Munchen 37
2. Borussia Dortmund 34
3. FC Schalke 04 34
4. VfL Borussia Moenchengladbach 33
5. Werder Bremen 29    
6. Bayer 04 Leverkusen 26
7. VfB Stuttgart 23

France - Ligue 1
French Ligue 1 after 19 games
1. Paris Saint-Germain FC 40
2. Montpellier Hérault 37
3. LOSC Lille Métropole 36
4. Olympique Lyonnais 35
5. Stade Rennais 32
6. Olympique de Marseille 31
7. Toulouse FC 31

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

England Premier League
The English leagues were involved this weekend in the FA Cup Third Round (see below)

English Premier League after 20 games
1. Manchester City 48
2. Manchester United 45
3. Tottenham (19 games) 42
4. Chelsea FC 37
5. Arsenal 36
6. Liverpool FC 34
7. Newcastle United 33

FA Cup Third Round

Manchester City 2 Manchester United 3 was the result of this five-goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester. The first half belonged to the visitors, the second to the home team. The shock of the day came as Wigan Athletic was eliminated by lowly Swindon Town, three divisions below. Roman Pavlyuchenko scored one of Tottenham's three goals against Cheltenham.

Rooney (10 and 40') and Welbeck (30') put the visitors three goals ahead in the third round match of the FA Cup at City's Etihad Stadium. In the second half, City struck back through Kolarov (48') and Aguero (65'). City are contesting the controversial sending-off of club Captain Vincent Kompany after Rooney's first goal.

Chelsea FC beat Portsmouth (Championship, ex-Division 2) 4-0; Sunderland went to Peterborough (Championship) to win 2-0; Sheffield Wednesday (League 1, ex-division 3) beat West Ham United, one league above (Championship), 1-0; Swansea beat Barnsley (Championship) away 4-2 and Birmingham (Championship) drew 0-0 with premiership team Wolves. Wrexham (Blue Square, Division 5, went to Championship side Brighton and drew 1-1; Aston Villa travelled to League 2 side Bristol Rovers (ex-Division 4) and won 3-1 while Championship teams Coventry and Southampton played together, the match won 2-1 by Southampton.

In the League Two (ex-Division 4) tie, Crawley beat Bristol City 1-0; Dagenham and Redbridge (League 2) drew 0-0 at home with Championship team Millwall; Derby beat Crystal Palace 1-0 (both Championship); Doncaster (Championship) lost at home to Notts County, one league below; Premiership team Everton beat Tamworth (Div. 5) 2-0; Fleetwood Town (Div. 5) lost at home to Blackpool (Championship) 1-5; Fulham beat League One side Charlton 4-0 and Premiership team Stoke City travelled to Gillingham (League 2) and won 3-1.

In an all-Championship match, Hull City beat Ipswich Town 3-1; Macclesfield (League 2) drew with Championship team Bolton 2-2 at home and Middlesbrough (Championship) beat Shrewsbury (League 2) 1-0. QPR manager Neil Warnock was sacked after the Championsip team drew away at League 1 side MK Dons; Newcastle United beat Blackburn (both Premiership) 2-1; Championship team Norwich City beat Championship side Burnley 4-1; in the all-Championship tie, Nottingham Forest and Leicester drew 0-0.

Reading (Championship) lost to Stevenage (League 1) 0-1; Sheffield United (League 1) beat Salisbury (Conference South, Div. 6) 3-1; Swindon Town (League 2) beat Wigan (Premiership) 2-1; Tottenham dispatched Cheltenham (League 2) 3-0; Watford (Championship) Bradford City (League 2) 4-2; WBA 4 - Cardiff City (Championship) 2; Liverpool 5 Oldham (League 1) 1

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda.Ru