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England - Premiership

Ronaldo at the double

The FA Cup took centre stage in England this weekend, with Cristiano Ronaldo continuing his love affair with the competition by scoring a brace as Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Old Trafford. Nani was an unused substitute for the Premiership champions.

Elsewhere, Ricardo Carvalho started and Paulo Ferreira played the last ten minutes for Chelsea in their 2-1 success at Wigan, while Pedro Mendes was in Portsmouth’s midfield as the south-coast side came from behind to beat Plymouth 2-1 and Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion beat Peterborough 3-0 with Filipe Teixeira in the team.

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France - Ligue 1

Pedro Pauleta, who recently picked up an injury, was unavailable for Paris Saint-Germain’s trip to Lille, which ended in a 0-0 draw. Defender Marco Ramos also missed out on the weekend action in Ligue 1, with his Lens side being held 2-2 at home by Strasbourg in his absence.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Winter break.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter held

New life was breathed into the Italian title race after Roma close the gap on leaders Inter to five points. The Nerazurri could only manage a 0-0 draw at Udinese on Sunday, with Maniche not included in the match squad and Pele an unused substitute. The result came the day after Roma beat Palermo in the capital, although there was no sign of Vitorino Antunes in the Giallorosso squad.

Tiago was left on the bench for Juventus’ 3-1 win at Livorno, who had Jose Vidigal in midfield, while the first match of Fernando Couto’s suspension kicked in with Parma’s goalless draw at Catania.

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Spain - La Liga

Atletico go down

Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga to nine points on Sunday evening, after beating Villarreal 3-2 at the Bernabeu. Pepe, out for the next few weeks with injury, missed the match for Real, who were given a boost before the match as a Barcelona side containing Deco were held 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

Mallorca pulled off a shock result by beating Champions League chasing Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the San Moix. Jose Nunes was in defence for Mallorca, while Atletico were without Ze Castro and Simao Sabrosa. Another surprise result saw Real Betis win 2-1 away at high-flying Espanyol, with Ricardo in goal for the Andalucians.

Hapless Valencia dropped down into 11th place in La Liga, following a 1-0 home loss to Almeria at the Mestalla. Los Ches included right-back Miguel on the substitutes bench, with the ex-Benfica man coming on at half time but failing to help his side overturn their one-goal disadvantage.

Sevilla left Duda on the bench as a last-minute penalty earned them a 2-1 home win over Osasuna, who arrived without Hugo Viana. Recreativo Huelva slipped into the relegation zone with a disappointing 3-1 home loss to Getafe, with Carlos Martins playing in midfield and Roberto Beto coming on for the final ten minutes.

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Others

Greece

AEK Athens are still top in Greece, with a 3-0 win over Levadiakos maintaining their one-point lead at the top and making it fourteen wins from 18 league matches so far this season. Geraldo Alves played in defence for AEK, while ex-Benfica man Manu was an unused substitute.

Two Portuguese coaches faced off in the Sunday evening match, with Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos getting the better of Fernando Santos’ PAOK. Panathinaikos, who were the away side, introduced Helder Postiga in the dying minutes, while Santos selected Daniel Fernandes in goal for PAOK, who drop down to 8th place.

Holland

Manuel da Costa made his return to the PSV squad after a long spell on the sidelines, watching the full match from the bench as the champions needed a last-minute winner to beat Excelsior at the Phillips Stadium.

Poland

Winter break.

Romania

Winter break.

Scotland

Hearts followed up their win in the Edinburgh derby last weekend with a 1-0 win at Aberdeen; Jose Goncalves played in defence for the Jambos. Pedro Moutinho played for Falkirk in their 1-0 home defeat to Celtic. Filipe Morais’ Hibernian’s match with Gretna was postponed due to weather conditions.

Serbia

Winter break.

Switzerland

Winter break.

Turkey

Konyaspor dropped down to 9th in the Turkcell Süper Lig after a 3-1 home loss to Ankaragücü on Sunday. Both defender Ze Gomes and midfielder Neca started the match for the Green Lightnings.

Star Performer

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Another brace took Ronaldo’s season tally to an incredible 25 goals in all competitions, with the Portuguese superstar’s double against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday also continuing his excellent record in the FA Cup.

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