Round-up of the weekend's action from Europe's leading leagues:
SPAIN
Leaders Barcelona dropped points for only the second time this season when they drew 1-1 at 10-man Athletic Bilbao in an entertaining Spanish Primera Liga clash.
African Player of the Year Samuel Eto'o scored his eighth goal of the campaign to put the visitors ahead but Bilbao hit back almost immediately thanks to a spectacular volley from midfielder Fran Yeste.
Michael Owen scored his fourth goal in as many games as Real Madrid continued their pick-up in form with a 2-0 win over Getafe. Ronaldo grabbed the second 11 minutes from time.
Champions Valencia, who had lost their last four games in all competitions, gave a nervous performance as they allowed 10-man Atletico Madrid to fight back from a goal down to claim a 1-1 draw in a disjointed match at the Mestalla.
- - - -
ITALY
Juventus maintained their five-point cushion at the top of Serie A when they crushed Chievo Verona 3-0 at the Stadio delle Alpi.
| |||||||||||
Lecce, on 15 points, lie an increasingly distant third after their defence disintegrated in a 4-0 defeat at Fiorentina.
- - - -
ENGLAND
A superb injury-time goal by substitute Robin van Persie saved Arsenal from a second successive defeat, the young Dutchman earning the champions a 2-2 home draw with Southampton.
The London club had lost 2-0 at rivals Manchester United last Sunday to end a 49-game unbeaten league run but United flopped this weekend, going down 2-0 at improving Portsmouth.
Arsenal top the table only on goal difference from Chelsea, who won 4-1 at West Bromwich Albion with goals by William Gallas, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Damien Duff and Frank Lampard.
The action was overshadowed by a horrific leg break suffered by Liverpool's French striker Djibril Cisse in their 2-2 draw against Blackburn. Cisse will almost certainly miss the rest of the season.
- - - -
GERMANY
Bulgarian striker Martin Petrov scored all four of VfL Wolfsburg's goals as the surprise Bundesliga leaders completed a thrilling 4-3 comeback win against FSV Mainz.
Schalke 04, on a five-match winning streak under new coach Ralf Rangnick, leapt into second on 21 points with a 3-2 win over Stuttgart, who slipped back to third on 20.
Bayern Munich also began the weekend on 20 points but were upset 2-0 by lowly Borussia Moenchengladbach who sacked coach Holger Fach the previous week.
Champions Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Hamburg SV to lie in sixth.
- - - -
FRANCE
Olympique Lyon kept their Ligue 1 lead thanks to a 1-0 victory over Racing Strasbourg but lost two important players at a key moment of the season.
The French champions took their unbeaten run to 16 games courtesy of a 67th-minute goal by Pierre-Alain Frau, but lost captain Claudio Cacapa and striker Sylvain Wiltord to injury.
AJ Auxerre and Paris St Germain's match promised much but ended in a dull 1-1 draw, Pauleta netting for PSG before the home side grabbed a second half equaliser through Ivory Coast's Bonaventure Kalou.
PSG substitute Vedad Ibisevic was sent off in injury time.