European review

Real: Rampant

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Real Madrid hit their opponents for six, Rangers closed the gap on Celtic while Inter Milan returned to winning ways in Italy.

Elsewhere, Bordeaux stretched their lead at the summit in France to eight points, Bayer Leverkusen continue to top the table in Germany while Sunday's five games in Holland were all postponed.

Primera Division

Real Madrid were 6-0 winners as they closed to within two points of Club World Cup champions Barcelona. Higuain and Rafael van der Vaart both scored braces while Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema also got in on the scoring act against Real Zaragoza.

Elsewhere, Sevilla fell to a 2-1 loss against Getafe, Valencia were held by Deportivo, Malaga recorded just their second win of the season as they stunned Real Mallorca while Espanyol claimed a first success in eight outings as Hugo Sanchez was sacked by Almeria.

SPL

Celtic suffered a shock loss as Rangers moved four points clear at the summit. Gers were emphatic 6-1 winners against Motherwell on Saturday. Celtic, though, struggled 24 hours later as Gary Caldwell was dismissed and Hearts ran out 2-1 victors at Tynecastle.

Hibernian remain in third and just a point behind Celtic after Anthony Stokes' brace helped them defeat Aberdeen while bottom-of-the-table Falkirk gave their survival hopes a boost with a 2-1 success at Kilmarnock.

Serie A

Inter Milan returned to winning ways after a minor blip as Samuel Eto'o's 14th-minute goal proved enough to defeat Lazio at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. But the pressure continues to increase on Juventus boss Ciro Ferrara as his side fell to a late home defeat against Catania.

Elsewhere, Roma climbed to fourth in the table with a 2-0 success over Parma whilst Sampdoria's slump continues as lowly Livorno made it back-to-back victories with a 3-1 scalp of Luigi Del Neri's previously high-flying side.

Ligue 1

Bordeaux stretched their lead at the top of the French first division to eight points as they cruised to a 4-1 victory against Lorient. Second-placed Marseille, meanwhile, could only draw with St Etienne despite the latter being reduced to 10 men on eight minutes.

Lille notched a fifth consecutive three-point haul as they saw off Le Mans 3-0 while Lyon played out a 1-1 draw with Monaco after Michel Bastos' opening goal was cancelled out by Chu-Young Park.

Bundesliga

League leaders Bayer Leverkusen were made to fight hard for a 3-2 success against Borussia Monchengladbach while Schalke remain just a point behind the pace-setters after they downed Mainz 1-0 on Friday.

Bayern Munich put five goals past Hertha Berlin in a scintillating win at the Allianz Arena to keep them in third, Hamburg climbed to fourth after edging a 2-1 win versus Werder Bremen while Borussia Dortmund continued their fine form as they saw off SC Freiburg.

Eredivisie

Sunday's five fixtures were all postponed in Holland due to freezing conditions, meaning just four matches took place over Friday and Saturday.

Feyenoord recorded a fourth win on the spin with Sekou Cisse's goal proving the difference against Willem II. Elsewhere, AZ won 3-0 against struggling ADO Den Haag, RKC beat Sparta and Heracles downed VVV.

Best of the rest

Panathinaikos leapfrogged Olympiakos at the top of the Greek table after the latter were beaten by Aris, Benfica and Braga remain level on points at the top of the tree in Portugal while Turkish leaders Fenerbahce edged out Trabzonspor to ensure they maintain their one-point advantage at the summit.