Monaco and Valencia state intent

AS Monaco FC took a giant stride towards winning the French championship on a weekend where Valencia CF replaced defeated Real Madrid CF at the Spanish summit and AS Roma returned to winning ways in Italy.

Giuly inspirational
Ludovic Giuly was the inspiration behind Monaco's comprehensive 3-0 victory against Olympique Lyonnais on Friday. The France midfield player, who spoke exclusively to uefa.com last week, scored two goals either side of a Fernando Morientes strike as Monaco moved ten points clear of the defending champions after 19 games. Paris Saint-Germain FC beat Lille OSC 1-0 on Saturday to climb above Lyon, yet remain seven points adrift of the leaders.

López penalty
The Spanish Primera División is much closer with the new leaders Valencia just a point clear of deposed Madrid. Valencia saw off Albacete Balompié yesterday thanks to Jorge López's eighth-minute penalty after Francisco Peña felled Argentinian playmaker Pablo Aimar. Madrid were beaten 1-0 by last season's runners-up Real Sociedad de Fútbol on Saturday, Valeri Karpin scoring the only goal on the hour.

Points dropped
It was also a disappointing weekend for the chasing pack. Third-placed RC Deportivo La Coruña were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Racing Club Santander, while CA Osasuna dropped from fourth to sixth after they too drew 1-1, at home against Sevilla FC. Other notable results saw Club Atlético de Madrid beat Athletic Club Bilbao 3-0 and FC Barcelona defeat Real Zaragoza by the same scoreline.

Bounced back
The Serie A leaders, Roma, bounced back from their midweek defeat by AC Milan to triumph 1-0 at AC Perugia yesterday. Brazilian defender Alessandro Mancini settled the game with a sparkling volley just three minutes in at the Stadio Renato Curi. Milan sit three points behind with a game in hand after their own Brazilian, Kaka, scored twice in a 3-1 win against Reggina Calcio.

Juve in touch
Like Milan, Juventus have 36 points. Antonio Conte's clinical finish helped the defending champions defeat UC Sampdoria 2-1 in Genoa. The midfield player converted a back-heel from Pavel Nedved's centre to add to Mauro Camoranesi's first-half header, which had been cancelled out by Francesco Flachi. Fourth-placed FC Internazionale lost 1-0 to Parma AC, who climb to fifth.

United top
Arsenal FC defeated Middlesbrough FC 4-1 at Highbury on Saturday to move level with the Premiership leaders Manchester United FC on points and goals scored. The defending champions edged back in front yesterday, though, despite being held to a 0-0 Old Trafford draw by Newcastle United FC. Third-placed Chelsea FC are five points off the summit after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored twice in Sunday's 4-0 success at Leicester City FC.