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European League round-up

March 06, 2006 10:14 IST

Many of the teams who will be gunning for Champions League quarter-final berths in midweek won their domestic games at the weekend.

Bayern Munich, however, had a 19-match winning streak at home dating back to 2004 ended by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hamburg SV.

GERMANY

Hamburg SV upset Bayern Munich 2-1 to hand the Bundesliga champions their first home defeat of the season and cut their lead to eight points.

Third-placed Hamburg's surprise victory in a Bavarian snowstorm was their first win in Munich in 24 years and ended Bayern's 19-match winning streak at home dating back to 2004.

Hamburg, who scored through Guy Demel and Nigel de Jong, are the only team to beat Bayern this season having also overcome Felix Magath's men 2-0 at home in September.

Werder Bremen held on to second place on 50 points despite a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen. Hamburg are third on goal difference.

Schalke 04, who won 2-1 at Hanover 96, are fourth a further two points back.

ENGLAND

Goals from Didier Drogba and Joe Cole gave Premier League leaders Chelsea a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion in a bad-tempered clash in which they had Arjen Robben sent off.

Drogba struck just after the break and, following Robben's dismissal, Cole wrapped up the points for the champions with a close-range effort 10 minutes after replacing Damien Duff.

Chelsea moved on to 72 points from 28 games, stretching their lead to 17 points after Liverpool could only draw 0-0 with Charlton Athletic.

The point allowed Liverpool to rise above Manchester United into second place with 55 points, although United (54) play at Wigan Athletic on Monday.

Fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur edged closer to Champions League football next season after Egyptian striker Mido scored the winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers.

SPAIN

Real Madrid put a week of turmoil behind them, after Florentino Perez's shock resignation as club president, with a 2-1 win over city rivals Atletico Madrid with goals from Antonio Cassano and Julio Baptista.

Although the victory moved Real up to second place it did little to further their title hopes as champions Barcelona extended their lead to 10 points with an exhilarating 3-2 win at home to Deportivo Coruna.

Barca have 61 points from 26 matches. Third-placed Valencia, on 51 points along with Real, drew 0-0 at bottom club Malaga.

After goals by Ronaldinho and Henrik Larsson, Samuel Eto'o clinched Barca's win with his 19th goal this season when he prodded the ball over the line after a Ronaldinho corner.

Osasuna clung to fourth place despite a 2-0 defeat at Celta Vigo, who are now only one point behind.

ITALY

Juventus maintained their 10-point lead in Serie A when Pavel Nedved scored in a 1-0 victory at Sampdoria.

The result gave Juventus 73 points from 28 matches. Second-placed AC Milan continued their distant pursuit by beating Empoli 3-0.

Without injured strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Trezeguet, Juve coach Fabio Capello fielded an attacking partnership of Marcelo Zalayeta and the in-form Alessandro Del Piero.

Midfielder Nedved struck in the 68th minute when he rose above his marker to head in an Adrian Mutu free kick.

Filippo Inzaghi scored twice in AC Milan's win over relegation-threatened Empoli to continue his push for a place in Italy's World Cup squad.

AS Roma's record-breaking run of 11 successive Serie A wins was ended when a late goal by Marco Materazzi gave third-placed Inter a 1-1 draw.

Fiorentina, in fourth spot, defeated Siena 2-1.

FRANCE

Brazilians Juninho, with a trademark free kick from nearly 40 metres, and Fred scored a goal apiece and teenage striker Karim Benzema added a late third as champions Olympique Lyon won 3-1 at AC Ajaccio to move nine points clear in Ligue 1.

Lyon, who had won just one of their previous five league games, bounced back from a 4-1 thrashing by Stade Rennes last weekend.

The leaders have 62 points from 28 matches. Second-placed Girondins Bordeaux's game at Sochaux was postponed because of snow.

Lille climbed to third, 12 points off the pace, courtesy of a spectacular 4-0 home win over Le Mans.

Paris St Germain's home game against Olympique Marseille, who sent a B team and no fans because of security fears, went off without incident and ended 0-0.

NETHERLANDS

PSV Eindhoven notched their ninth consecutive win, crushing Heerenveen 4-1 to go seven points clear.

Second-placed Feyenoord beat Utrecht 3-0 while AZ Alkmaar are third with 58 points following a 2-0 win at NEC Nijmegen. A Klaas-Jan Huntelaar hat-trick helped fourth-placed Ajax Amsterdam destroy Sparta Rotterdam 6-0.

Source: REUTERS
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