Photographs: Getty Images
Manchester City secured a dramatic 3-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur to stay three points clear of Manchester United in England.
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The two Manchester clubs pulled away from the chasing pack as leaders City beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 and United won 2-1 at Arsenal.
City needed a last-gasp penalty from Mario Balotelli to grab the three points after seeing an earlier two-goal lead evaporate against third-placed visitors Spurs.
Manchester United edge past Arsenal
Photographs: Getty Images
Second-placed United added to the north London misery with goals from Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck sealing victory at the Emirates stadium after Robin van Persie had given Arsenal hope.
The results left City three points clear of United with 54 points from 22 games, while Spurs sit third on 46 points. Chelsea are fourth with 41 points after being held to a 0-0 draw at promoted Norwich City.
Messi hits hat-trick
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La Liga leaders Real Madrid ended a miserable week with a morale-boosting 4-1 comeback win at home to 10-man Athletic Bilbao on Sunday which preserved their five-point lead over Barcelona.
Barca, who beat Real in the King's Cup in the week, had trimmed Real's lead to two points when Lionel Messi's hat-trick helped the champions to a 4-1 win at Malaga.
With half the season played, Real have 49 points from 19 games with Barca on 45. Valencia are nine behind in third after they conceded a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Osasuna and Levante are four points behind their city rivals in fourth after a 0-0 draw at bottom club Real Zaragoza.
Milan, Udinese keep pressure on Juve
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Second-half goals from Stephan Lichtsteiner and Emanuele Giaccherini kept Juventus clear at the top in Serie A.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted a brace as AC Milan triumphed at bottom side Novara 3-0 to stay a point behind Juve while third-placed Udinese edged past Catania and Inter Milan beat Lazio 2-1 to leapfrog the Romans into fourth.
Francesco Totti also struck twice to set a league scoring record as resurgent AS Roma climbed to sixth by crushing Cesena 5-1.
Schalke makes the most of Bayern's slip-up
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League leaders Bayern Munich's surprise 3-1 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday as the Bundesliga re-started after the winter break gave the chance to champions Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 to join them on 37 points.
Visitors Dortmund ruthlessly demolished Hamburg SV 5-1 with two goals each from Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski to cut Bayern's lead to mere goal difference.
Schalke also made the most of Bayern's slip-up, beating VfB Stuttgart 3-1 on Saturday to remain in the title hunt.
Fourth-placed Gladbach cut the gap to the top to just one point with their win, continuing a dazzling season for a team that needed a relegation playoff last season to stay up.
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