Contenders send mixed messages

Pair stutter
Reports from FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC will be the most confused as the leaders in Spain and England endure rare blips. Barça's single-goal defeat by Valencia CF on Sunday was their third in five games and saw their Primera División lead cut to six points. Still 12 points clear of nearest rivals Manchester United FC, Chelsea's advantage is less precarious, yet José Mourinho suffered his worst defeat since arriving in London at the weekend, 3-0 at Middlesbrough FC.

Madrid rise
Arsenal FC put seven goals past Middlesbrough in January, but that was a solitary high in a severe depression. The Gunners have lost four of their last eight matches, hardly the best preparation for a meeting with a Real Madrid CF side rejuvenated by the arrivals of Cicinho and Antonio Cassano, winning their last five league games. A shock 6-1 Spanish Cup defeat at Real Zaragoza took some of the gloss off that run, with inconsistency seemingly the order of the day for some UEFA Champions League teams.

McLeish leaving
Sunday's 4-0 victory against FC Penafiel was SL Benfica's first in three matches, while last-16 opponents Liverpool FC have triumphed just once in five Premiership outings. Scotland's Rangers FC saw a sequence of seven wins in eight games end with a three-match losing streak which led to the announcement that manager Alex McLeish will leave this summer. Villarreal CF are also experiencing a lull - with one victory in five in Spain - while Olympique Lyonnais have seen their French Ligue 1 lead cut to seven points after struggling to regain their majestic form of the first half of the campaign.

Bullish Bianconeri
PSV Eindhoven and Juventus are having no such problems in the Netherlands and Italy, respectively. Yet to drop a point in 2006, the Dutch team have a five-point cushion over title rivals AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord, while Alessandro Del Piero's last-gasp goal at nearest challengers FC Internazionale Milano on Sunday extended the Bianconeri's advantage to 12 points. Juve have lost only one of their last 22 fixtures, and Inter and AC Milan look unlikely to catch them.

Milan form
Inter's weekend defeat was their second in succession, and allowed Milan to move alongside them as the Rossoneri continue to exorcise their shock 3-0 Italian Cup defeat by US Città di Palermo. Carlo Ancelotti's side have scored nine goals in two outings, with Filippo Inzaghi contributing four to send a timely warning to first knockout round opponents FC Bayern München.

Bayern lead
The Bundesliga pacesetters are in fine fettle after stretching their unbeaten run to 15 games with Sunday's 2-1 success against 1. FC Nürnberg. That increased their lead to ten points over Hamburger SV, with Werder Bremen a further point adrift after losing two of their last five matches, an identical sequence to the one that leaves AFC Ajax marooned in mid-table in the Netherlands.