What is RSS?

   Portuguese abroad weekly roundup

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

England - Premiership

Nani to the fore

The final eight of the FA Cup was decided this weekend, with Manchester United and Chelsea both securing their passage through to the quarter-finals. United, with Nani in top form, hammered Arsenal 4-0 at Old Trafford, while Chelsea handed Paulo Ferreira a runout in their 3-1 win over Huddersfield.

Elsewhere, as Liverpool crashed out to Barnsley in the round’s ‘giant killing’ West Brom, with Filipe Teixeira and Pele, thrashed Coventry 5-0 away from home, while Pedro Medes missed out on the action as his Portsmouth side edged through with a last-gasp 1-0 win at Preston.

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

France - Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain are just three points above the relegation zone after losing to arch rivals Marseille on Sunday evening, with Pedro Pauleta coming on for the final twenty minutes. RC Lens, without Marco Ramos, were held to a 0-0 at home by Nice.

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

Germany - Bundesliga

Stuttgart bounce back

Struggling Bundesliga champions Stuttgart secured a much needed win on Saturday as Fernando Meira captained his side to a 3-2 victory at Duisburg. Meanwhile, title challengers Werder Bremen kept up their pursuit of leaders Bayern Munich by beating Nurnberg 2-0 at home with Hugo Almeida starting up front.

Bayern also won, Ricardo Costa’s Wolfsburg provided a shock by beating Porto’s midweek Champions League opponents Schalke 2-1 on Saturday, with the defender replaced in the closing stages.

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

Italy - Serie A

Figo makes comeback

Luis Figo made his return from a broken leg as champions Inter beat Livorno 2-0 to remain unbeaten in Italy. The legendary winger came on with a little under twenty minutes remaining, where he joined fellow substitute Maniche, who was introduced on 68 minutes, and Pele, who started the game.

Second place Roma drifted eleven points behind the leaders after losing 1-0 to Juventus. Tiago was left on the bench by Juve, while Vitorino Antunes was not in the Giallorossi squad.

Manuel da Costa will have to wait for his Fiorentina debut, the former PSV defender not included in the squad as La Viola beat Catania 2-1 in Florence. Fernando Couto played in defence as Parma held world champions Milan to a 0-0 draw at the Stadio Tardini.

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

Spain - La Liga

Real slip up; Barcelona take advantage

In what could prove a crucial weekend of La Liga action, Barcelona closed the gap on champions Real Madrid to five points at the top. Deco was in the Barca midfield as Los Cules won 2-1 at Zaragoza, taking advantage of Madrid’s second loss in three matches, with the champions missing Pepe as they went down 2-1 at Real Betis, who had Ricardo in goal.

Roberto Beto scored but was later sent off for two yellow cards as Recreativo beat Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 to move four points clear of the relegation zone. Beto started the game alongside Carlos Martins, who played in midfield.

Jose Nunes also saw red for two bookable offences in Mallorca’s 1-1 draw with Valladolid. Marco Caneira played at right-back for Valencia in their 0-0 draw at Getafe, Duda came off the bench to take part in Sevilla’s 4-2 win at Espanyol and Simao Sabrosa’s recent injury problems kept him on the sidelines as Atletico Madrid slumped to a 2-1 home loss to Athletic Bilbao.

     England     France     Germany     Italy     Spain    Others

Others

Greece

Heavy snow in Greece caused several Super League games to be postponed, with Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos’ trip to Atromitos Athens and AEK Athens, who have Geraldo Alves and Manu on their books, home match with Xanthi falling victim to the unusual weather conditions.

Fernando Santos was able to take his PAOK Saloniki side to Apollon Kalamaria, where Daniel Fernandes kept goal during a 2-0 victory. Olympiakos’ win over Ergotelis Heraklion meant that they took leadership of the table from Panathinaikos, who are now one point behind their great rivals.

Poland

Winter break.

Romania

Winter break.

Scotland

Pedro Moutinho played from the start as Falkirk hammered St Mirren 4-0 in the Scottish Premier League. Jose Goncalves was in the Hearts defence during the 3-0 defeat to champions Celtic, while Filipe Morais played the final 16 minutes of Hibernian’s 3-1 victory over Aberdeen.

Serbia

Winter break.

Switzerland

Swiss leaders FC Basel remain six points clear at the top of the Super League after securing a 1-1 draw at second place FC Zurich, with Carlitos playing the full ninety minutes in attack. Elsewhere, FC Thun played Nelson Ferreira for the full ninety minutes in their 1-0 home defeat to Luzern.

Turkey

Midfielder Neca made his second appearance for new club Ankaraspor, coming off the bench on the hour mark as his side lost 3-2 at Besiktas. Ze Gomes and his Konyaspor side saw their match with Galatasaray postponed due to bad weather.

Star Performer

Nani (Manchester United)

With compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo rested for the FA Cup clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford, Nani made sure his Portuguese colleague was not missed with a superb performance as United hammered their rivals 4-0.

Earlier Round-ups