European review

Barca march on as Beckham makes Milan debut

Last updated: 12th January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

European review

Beckham: Back in European football

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Barcelona kept up their stunning form in Spain while David Beckham made his Serie A debut.

Hearts knocked Edinburgh rivals Hibernian out of the Scottish Cup and in France, Bordeaux closed the gap on leaders Lyon to one point.

Primera Liga

Barcelona continued their relentless march towards the title with a sixth successive victory. Pep Guardiola's side came from behind to beat Osasuna 3-2, with Samuel Eto'o, Xavi and Lionel Messi on the scoresheet.

Arjen Robben, Raul and Sergio Ramos found the target as Real Madrid crushed Real Mallorca 3-0 to move second.

Valencia and Villarreal shared six goals in a thriller on Saturday and Sevilla defeated Deportivo La Coruna 3-1.

Serie A

Beckham, on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy, was a surprise starter as AC Milan drew 2-2 at Roma, with Alexandre Pato netting a brace for the Rossoneri and Mirko Vucinic scoring both of the home side's goals.

Also on Sunday, Juventus moved to within four points of leaders Inter Milan as Alessandro Del Piero's free-kick gave them victory over Siena.

Inter had been held to a surprise 1-1 draw by Cagliari on Saturday, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's strike cancelling out Robert Acquafresca's opener.

Scottish Cup

Hearts beat 10-man Hibs 2-0 thanks to goals from Christian Nade and Gary Glen, while Dundee United also moved into the fifth round with an emphatic 4-0 win against East Stirlingshire.

Celtic stayed on course for a domestic double as they came from behind to see off Dundee 2-1. Aberdeen, Hamilton, Inverness and Falkirk also advanced in the competition.

Ligue 1

Lyon could only play out a 1-1 draw with Lorient, while in-form Rennes claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Grenoble.

Bordeaux took advantage of Lyon's dropped points on Sunday as they thumped Paris St Germain 4-0. Souleymane Diawara, Fernando Cavenaghi, Yoann Gourcuff and Fernando Menegazzo grabbed the goals.

Best of the rest

Porto slipped from first to third in Portugal as they were held to a goalless draw by Trofense. Benfica and Sporting Lisbon occupy the top two spots after wins over Braga and Maritimo respectively.

Europe's other top leagues remain on winter break. The Eredivisie resumes on Friday but the Bundesliga is not back until the end of the month.