Weekend review: Madrid take a fall

Internazionale FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen marched on towards title success with weekend wins but Real Madrid CF let their lead slip in a 3-1 defeat at Club Atlético Osasuna.

Helguera off
The Primera División title race swung in favour of Valencia after struggling Osasuna shocked Madrid. The Basques put on an excellent performance at their El Sadar stadium, helped all the more by a sending-off for Madrid's influential Iván Helguera just before half-time.

Huge significance
Valencia's point at RCD Mallorca on Saturday now takes on huge significance, as it edges them just in front of the reigning champions. The new leaders take on third-placed RC Deportivo La Coruña, who beat RCD Espanyol 3-1, in a crunch match next weekend.

Ronaldo hit two
Ronaldo was the man of the weekend in Italy, after scoring both goals in Inter’s 2-1 victory at Brescia Calcio on his first start of the year. The leaders, who actually trailed to a penalty from Josep Guardiola, are now two points clear with three games left. At the top, Inter have 65 points, AS Roma, who beat Parma AC 3-1, are on 63 and third-placed Juventus FC, who beat Milan AC 1-0, are a further point behind.

Golden chance spurned
In Germany, UEFA Cup finalists BV Borussia Dortmund squandered a golden chance to narrow the gap on 1. Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen after a 1-0 defeat at 1. FC Kaiserslautern on Sunday. Leverkusen had drawn 1-1 with Hamburger SV on Saturday but still managed to push ahead.

Bayern capitalise
It was an unlikely defeat for Dortmund as Kaiserslautern had not won in five games. On Saturday, FC Bayern München capitalised on a 3-0 defeat for FC Schalke 04 by moving up to third place - which carries a UEFA Champions League qualification spot - with a 2-1 victory over over 1. FC Nürnberg.

All-London final
Arsenal and Chelsea will meet in Cardiff’s Millennium stadium to battle it out for the FA Cup on 4 May after semi-final victories over Middlesbrough FC and Fulham FC respectively on Sunday. Arsenal progressed after an own goal from Gianluca Festa at Old Trafford, while Chelsea went through after defender John Terry scored the winning goal at Villa Park. In the English FA Premiership, Liverpool FC moved up to second with a 1-0 win over Sunderland AFC on Saturday.

Dramatic finish likely
The Dutch Eredivisie is set for a dramatic finish after PSV Eindhoven beat Feyenoord 2-0 on Sunday with two goals from Mateja Kezman. The result lifted the defending champions up into second place in the table, four points behind AFC Ajax, but with a game in hand. Ajax strolled to a 4-0 win at Sparta Rotterdam thanks to a hat-trick from Mido.

Lyon miss their chance
Olympique Lyonnais missed the chance to take top spot in France after being held 0-0 at home by Montpellier Hérault SC. Lyon's chances were not helped by the second-half dismissal of Philippe Violeau but they are now just a point behind RC Lens, who lost a first-half lead as they went down 3-1 away to SC Bastia.

Sporting extend lead
In Portugal, Mario Jardel hit two more as Sporting Clube de Portugal beat Varzim SC 3-1. Sporting are now three points clear of Boavista FC. KRC Genk have retaken top spot in Belgium from Club Brugge KV after a 1-0 victory at K. Sint Truidense.

Omonia hit eleven
In Norway, champions Rosenborg BK made the worst possible start to the new Tippeligaen season as they lost 1-0 at home to Odds BK while in Cyprus, Omonia FC beat Doxa Katakopia FC 11-3 at the GSZ stadium in Larnaca. Striker Rainer Rauffman hit six for the title holders.