European review

The battle for Spain's top spot is heating up after the winter break, while Inter claimed derby honours.

Title race heating up in Spain, Juve lead Serie A

The battle for top spot in Spain is heating up with Barcelona maintaining the pace with Real Madrid, while Inter claimed the Milan derby honours in Serie A. Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti kicked off his Paris Saint Germain reign with success at home to Toulouse. Celtic continue to lead the way in Scotland ahead of Rangers thanks to an 11th consecutive league success. Top-flight football in Germany resumes this weekend with leaders Bayern Munich travelling to Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday, while second-placed Borussia Dortmund take on Hamburg two days later. Holland's Eredivisie, like the Bundesliga, resumes this weekend with leaders AZ Alkmaar playing host to in-form Ajax in a mouth-watering fixture on Sunday.

Primera Liga

Barcelona were given a fright by Real Betis on Sunday, however, Pep Guardiola's men kept pace with in-form Real Madrid with a hard-fought 4-2 success. Roque Santa Cruz levelled the score at two apiece in the second half, the first goals Barca have conceded on home soil in league action all season, before late efforts from Alexis Sanchez and a Lionel Messi penalty finally decided the destination of the points. On Saturday, Real upped the ante on their arch-rivals by moving eight points clear at the top of the table after coming from behind to beat Real Mallorca 2-1. Jose Callejon struck what proved to be a crucial winner in the 82nd minute after Gonzalo Higuain had equalised to record their seventh straight away success.

Serie A

Lazio were the big winners over the Serie A weekend as none of the top three clubs picked up maximum points. The Biancocelesti beat 10-man Atalanta thanks to goals from Anderson Hernanes and Miroslav Klose. Juventus are the outright leaders in Italy despite being held at home by Cagliari after Andrea Cossu's second-half goal cancelled out Mirko Vucinic's early opener. AC Milan missed out on moving above the Old Lady following a 1-0 home defeat to rivals Inter Milan. Diego Milito scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute.

Ligue 1

Ancelotti won his first Ligue 1 game in charge of leaders Paris St Germain but Montpellier kept the pressure on at the top of the table with victory over Lyon. Nene scored twice as the big-spenders claimed a 3-1 success over Toulouse, although second-placed Montpellier remain three points behind courtesy of Olivier Giroud's goal. Lille suffered just their second defeat of the league campaign following a 2-0 loss to Marseille. In-demand Loic Remy scored both goals of the game at Stade Velodrome.

SPL

It is as you were at the top of the SPL table with Celtic and Rangers both winning over the weekend. The Bhoys beat Dundee United 2-1 while Rangers won away at St Johnstone. First-half goals from Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama ensured an 11th consecutive win on Saturday while Croatian marksman Nikica Jelavic scored both goals as Gers won 2-1 at McDiarmid Park. Lowly Dunfermline's miserable run continued after a 3-2 home loss to Hibernian made it five consecutive league defeats. Leigh Griffiths' 83rd-minute winner settled the five-goal contest.

Best of the rest

In Greece leaders Olympiakos maintained their four-point lead over Panathinaikos following a 3-1 home win against Levadiakos. Benfica remain perfect on home soil following an emphatic 4-1 success over Vitoria Setubal. Second-placed FC Porto made light work of Rio Ave by winning 2-0. There were no surprises at the summit of the Turkish Super Lig table with Galatasaray, Besiktas, Trabzonspor and Genclerbirligi all securing maximum points.

Ranking	Player	Team	Competition	Rating (10)	Key stats
1	Falcao	Atlético de Madrid	La Liga	10	Attempted 8 shots (incl. 2 goals) vs Villarreal, more than any other player in this last La Liga match-day.
2	Eden Ben Basat	Brest	Ligue 1	10	Attempted 8 shots, more than any other player on match-day 20 of the Ligue 1, scoring a goal
3	Christian Stuani	Racing	La Liga	10	Scored a brace, created 2 goal scoring chances
4	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	La Liga	10	Attempted 5 shots, scored his 28th brace in La Liga
5	Xavi	Barcelona	La Liga	10	Scored a goal and assisted another, completed 118 passes
6	Javier Pastore	Paris Saint Germain	Ligue 1	9	Attempted three shots on target, scored his seventh goal of the season
7	Loïc Remy	Marseille	Ligue 1	9	Attempted five shots, scored a brace
8	Luka Modric	Tottenham Hotspurs	Premier League	9	Attempted seven shots, scored a goal
9	Danny Welbeck	Tottenham Hotspurs	Premier League	9	Attempted five shots, scored a goal
10	Marco Parolo	Cesena	Serie A	8	Completed 84% of his 44 passes, creating three goals scoring chances