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England - Premiership

Chelsea miss out

Paulo Ferreira and Ricardo Carvalho’s Chelsea missed out on a third Carling Cup in four years as the Blues were beaten 2-1 by Tottenham Hotspur in the final at Wembley. Carvalho started but Ferreira was left out of the squad for the match, which was settled in favour of Ricardo Rocha’s Spurs thank to a goal from Jonathan Woodgate three minutes into the thirty-minute extra time period.

In the league, Cristiano Ronaldo was back among the goals in Manchester United’s 5-1 victory away at Newcastle on Sunday evening. The Portuguese, who was joined in the Red Devils’ starting lineup by compatriot Nani, scored two and created another as the champions cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premiership to three points.

Elsewhere, Luis Boa Morte returned to his old club Fulham and left with all three points as a late goal gave West Ham a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage, with the Portuguese playing the full ninety minutes against the club he served for over six years.

Portsmouth were without Pedro Mendes for their match against Sunderland, which they won 1-0 to move up to 7th in the Premiership. Ricardo Vaz Te, who recently returned from a long spell out injured, was not included in the Bolton squad for their 4-1 defeat away at Blackburn on Sunday afternoon.

Nuno Valente and Manuel Fernandes’ Everton travel to Manchester City on Monday evening, looking to reclaim fourth place from Liverpool, who edged ahead of their local rivals on goal difference over the weekend.

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France - Ligue 1

Pedro Pauleta played a rare ninety minutes for Paris Saint-Germain against Monaco on Saturday, but a 1-1 draw at the Parc Des Princes saw PSG slip down to 16th in Ligue 1 and just three points above the relegation zone. Marco Ramos did not play for Lens in their 2-1 loss at Nancy.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Top two stutter

Werder Bremen missed out on a golden opportunity to close the gap on leaders Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga, going down to a hugely frustrating 1-0 defeat at Frankfurt. Hugo Almeida was not involved for Bremen, who watched on as Bayern drew 1-1 with Hamburg on Sunday evening to extend their advantage to four points.

Fernando Meira captained champions Stuttgart to a 3-1 win against Karlsruher, which moves them up to 8th place, while Ricardo Costa was taken off early in the second half of Wolfsburg’s scoreless draw with Hertha Berlin and Hannover lost 2-1 at Bochum without Sergio Pinto.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter saw their lead at the top of Serie A cut to nine points following a 1-1 draw at Sampdoria. All three of the Nerazurri’s Portuguese players came off the bench during the game, with Figo (67’), Maniche (81’) and Vitor Pele (84’) all helping the champions keep their unbeaten league record alive.

Roma moved two points closer to the leaders with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina in the Italian capital. Both sides had a Portuguese on the bench, although neither Antunes of Roma nor Manuel da Costa, a new signing in Florence, were called upon at the Olimpico.

Tiago Mendes was once again an ignored substitute as Juventus suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat at Reggina. Parma slipped down into the relegation zone despite a thrilling 4-4 draw with Torino, with Fernando Couto playing the full ninety minutes in defence for the Gialloblu, while Jose Vidigal was replaced early in the second half of Livorno’s 2-1 home defeat to Napoli.

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Spain - La Liga

Barcelona back in title hunt

The Spanish title race was blown wide open on Sunday evening as champions Real Madrid surprisingly lost at home to Getafe to see their lead at the top cut to just two points by Barcelona. Real, who are still without injured defender Pepe, were stunned 1-0 at the Bernabeu by their city rivals, while Deco did not play for Barca in their convincing 5-1 thrashing of Levante at the Camp Nou.

Carlos Martins was the hero for Recreativo, salvaging a point from their trip to the Mestalla to play Valencia on Saturday. There was a Portuguese on either side, with Marco Caneira in the Valencia defence and former Sporting man Martins taking his place in Recre’s midfield; Roberto Beto was suspended for the visitors after last weekend’s red card. The hosts led 1-0 at half time, but Carlos Martins struck seven minutes into the second half, before Silvestre Varela came off the bench for Recre.

Atletico Madrid’s season continues to show signs of collapsing. Having been knocked out of both the Copa Del Rey and the Uefa Cup in recent weeks, Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Osasuna has put Los Rojiblancos’ Champions League hopes in doubt. Ze Castro was the only Portuguese involved for their side, making a substitute appearance while Simao Sabrosa (Atletico) and Hugo Viana (Osasuna) were not included in their sides’ respective squads.

Sevilla moved to within two points of Atletico in fourth after hammering Zaragoza 5-0 at the Ramon Sanchez PizJuan. Duda was an unused substitute for the Uefa Cup holders. Jose Nunes’ red card last weekend ruled him out of Mallorca’s 1-1 draw with Real Betis, who had Portugal’s number one Ricardo in goal.

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Others

Greece

Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos bounced back from their midweek European disappointment by maintaining their position at the top of the Greek Super League with a 1-0 win against Levadiakos. Helder Postiga was left on the bench by Peseiro, who had Yannis Goumas’ early goal to thank.

AEK Athens remain in third place and four points behind the leaders after beating Iraklis Saloniki 1-0 away from home without both Geraldo Alves and Manu. Meanwhile, Fernando Santos’ PAOK held champions Olympiakos to a 1-1 draw on Saturday, with the former Benfica boss starting Daniel Fernandes in goal and Sergio Conceicao on the wing.

Poland

Zaglebie Lubin made a winning start after a long winter break in Poland, beating GKS Belchatow 1-0 on Saturday, with defender Tiago Gomes playing the full ninety minutes for last season’s champions, who move up to sixth place.

Romania

League leaders CFR Cluj made a resounding return from the Romanian winter break, hammering Universitea Craiova 4-1 on Saturday top open up an eight-point gap between themselves and second place Rapid Bucharest. Antonio Semedo scored the opening goal for Cluj on nine minutes. The Portuguese winger was joined in the starting lineup by defenders Tony and Ricardo Cadu, midfielder Andre Leao and playmaker Dani, while Manuel Jose was an unused substitute.

Former Leiria forward Joao Paulo came on as a first half substitute for Rapid Bucharest in their home defeat to Universitatea Cluj-Napoca.

Scotland

Jose Goncalves played in defence for Hearts as the Jambos moved up to seventh in the Scottish Premier League with a 1-0 win at Motherwell. Pedro Moutinho and Falkirk fired blanks as they were held to a goalless draw at Dundee United, while Filipe Morais played twenty-five minutes of Hibernian’s 2-0 victory over Inverness.

Serbia

Winter break.

Switzerland

League leaders FC Basel rebounded from their defeat to Sporting in the Uefa Cup with a narrow 2-1 win over Aarau on Sunday evening, with former Benfica forward Carlitos getting the 71st minute winner for his side.

Rock-bottom FC Thun suffered another damaging defeat, losing 3-0 at St Gallen, with Nelson Ferreira starting in midfield but substituted on 72 minutes.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca endured a miserable weekend in Turkey, substituted early in the second half against Kayserispor with the match goalless, only to watch from the sidelines as the capital club went down to a 3-0 defeat.

Things were even worse for Ze Gomes and Konyaspor, who lost 6-1 at Genclerbirligi Ankara, although the former Maritimo defender did not feature.

Star Performer

Carlos Martins (Recreativo Huelva)

As they head into what will no doubt prove a tough end of season relegation battle, every point will be crucial for Recreativo. Carlos Martins’ second half equaliser earned Spain’s oldest club an unexpected and potentially valuable draw at Valencia on Saturday.

Earlier Round-ups