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   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

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England - Premiership

Top two win

There was a Portuguese representative involved in both of this Sunday’s eagerly awaited top-of-the-table clashes in the Premiership, with Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United and Chelsea’s Paulo Ferreira enjoying contrasting fortunes.

Ronaldo played the full ninety minutes for United as the champions beat fierce rivals Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, while Nani was again left out of the match squad by manager Alex Ferguson. Ferreira played at right-back for Chelsea, who are still missing Ricardo Carvalho, but was on the losing side as the Blues went down 1-0 at Arsenal.

Elsewhere, Pedro Mendes’ Portsmouth saw their recent good run of form ended with a 1-0 home defeat to Ricardo Rocha’s Tottenham. Mendes continued in central midfield for Pompey but was replaced at half time, while the game came too soon for Rocha, who is recovering from ankle surgery.

The clubs of two more Premiership-based Portuguese faced off at Upton Park, but Luis Boa Morte was not available for West Ham as the Londoners were beaten 1-0 at home by Everton, who were without hamstring victim Nuno Valente.

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France - Ligue 1

Pedro Pauleta scored a late consolation from the penalty spot for Paris Saint-Germain in their 2-1 home defeat to Toulouse, a result that leaves the side from the capital 18th in Ligue 1. The Azorean started the match. Marco Ramos played the full match as Lens lost 2-0 at Monaco.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Ricardo Costa on the mark

Werder Bremen drew level on points with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich going into the winter break in Germany, after hammering Bayer Leverkusen 5-2 at home without the services of Hugo Almeida. Meanwhile, champions Stuttgart, captained by Fernando Meira, had two men sent off as they lost 2-0 at Arminia Bielefeld.

Ricardo Costa scored his first goal for new club Wolfsburg in a 4-0 home victory over Borussia Dortmund. Elsewhere, Hannover ended a good opening half of the season with a disappointing 5-1 hammering at Energie Cottbus.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter increase lead

Champions Inter were comfortable 2-0 winners away at Cagliari on Sunday, with Vitor Pele coming on for the final ten minutes. Second place Roma slipped seven points behind the Nerazurri as, without Vitorino Antunes, they were held to a goalless draw at Torino.

Juventus are a further point back, having won 3-2 at Lazio with Tiago coming on at the break. Fernando Couto came on for the last half hour of Parma’s 3-0 home victory over Reggina.

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Spain - La Liga

Champions Real Madrid will go into next weekend’s match with Barcelona four points clear at the top of La Liga, thanks to a 2-0 win over Osasuna at the Bernabeu on Sunday. Pepe played in defence for Madrid, while Hugo Viana was introduced as a second-half substitute by the visitors.

Barcelona had inflicted further misery on Valencia the previous evening, with Deco given a rest, only coming on in the second half with the 3-0 win already secure. Miguel played at right-back for Valencia, who left Manuel Fernandes on the bench an unused substitute while Marco Caneira was unfit.

There are a total of six Portuguese players in the squads of Recreativo Huelva and Atletico Madrid, but only three were involved as the sides played out a goalless draw in Andalucia. Hosts Recre, without Silvetsre Varela and Roberto Beto, started with Carlos Martins in midfield, while Atletico handed a start to Simao Sabrosa and left Ze Castro on the bench. Maniche was suspended for the clash.

Jose Nunes was sent off for Mallorca as the Islanders drew 0-0 at home with Athletic Bilbao. Injured goalkeeper Ricardo missed out on Betis’ crucial 3-1 home win over Almeria, which moves them up to 18th in La Liga. Duda came on for Sevilla in their stalemate at Valladolid.

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Others

Cyprus

There was a Portuguese goalscorer on either side as AEL Limassol and APOEL Nicosia drew 1-1 in Cyprus on Saturday. Helio Pinto, who started for APOEL along with Ricardo Fernandes, scored the opener, before Tiquinho’s 62nd minute equalised for AEL, who also fielded Helio Roque and Joca.

Elsewhere in Cyprus, forward Paulo Costa scored one of the goals for bottom placed Aris Limassol in their 3-0 win over Olympiakos Nicosia.

Greece

AEK Athens are still top in Greece, despite losing the big top-of-the-table showdown with Olympiakos. Geraldo Alves was left out of the AEK starting line-up, while former Benfica midfielder Manu was not in the squad as the sides go into the winter break level on points.

Panathinaikos could have joined them on 27 points, but Jose Peseiro’s men were beaten 1-0 by Panionios. Fernando Santos’ PAOK remain in mid-table obscurity, with Daniel Fernandes selected in goal for their 0-0 draw against Atromitos Athens.

Holland

PSV, the Dutch champions and club of Manuel da Costa, saw their eagerly anticipated clash with Ajax on Sunday afternoon called off, as public security could not be guaranteed due to industrial action by police officers.

Poland

Winter break.

Romania

CFR Cluj lost their unbeaten record in Romania and head into the winter break with their lead at the top cut to eight points following a 1-0 defeat at Politehnica Timisoara.

Scotland

There was a Portuguese on either side as Hibernian and Falkirk played out a 1-1 draw, with Filipe Morais in the home side and Pedro Moutinho starting for the visitors. Jose Goncalves was in the Hearts side that lost 2-1 at Rangers on Saturday.

Serbia

Partizan Belgrade increased their advantage at the top of the Serbian Superliga with a 4-0 home win over Mladost Lucani, with Almani Moreira playing 74 minutes for the runaway leaders. The gap at the top grew because city rivals Red Star Belgrade could only draw 1-1 with Vojvodina Novi Sad, with midfielder Joao Lucas out suspended.

Switzerland

Winter break.

Turkey

Konyaspor missed the influence of Portuguese midfielder Neca as they lost 2-1 at Gaziantepspor, while the Green Lightnings also left summer recruit Ze Gomes on the bench.

Star Performer

Ricardo Costa (Wolfsburg)

Having returned ahead of schedule from a serious knee injury, summer recruit Ricardo Costa is beginning to make his mark for German club Wolfsburg. The former Porto defender celebrated his first win for his new side with a goal in their 4-0 victory over Dortmund.

Earlier Round-ups