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England - Premiership

FA Cup shocks

On a weekend of cup and league action, the big story in England was the shock FA Cup exits of Manchester United and holders Chelsea. United suffered a controversial 1-0 defeat to Portsmouth at Old Trafford, with both Nani and Ronaldo playing as a Pompey squad not containing Pedro Mendes went through thanks to Sulley Muntari’s penalty.

In an even bigger shock, last season’s winners Chelsea were knocked out 1-0 by Barnsley at Oakwell. Ricardo Carvalho played in central defence for the Blues, who included goalkeeper Hilario on the substitutes’ bench.

The two clubs were given some good news on Sunday when, in the Premiership, leaders Arsenal were held to a goalless draw at Wigan. Elsewhere, Luis Boa Morte was sent off for two yellow cards in the first half of West Ham’s 4-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, who were without Ricardo Rocha.

Meanwhile, Everton stay level on points with Liverpool in 4th after a 1-0 win at Sunderland, although the Toffees did not include Manuel Fernandes or Nuno Valente in their match squad.

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France - Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain now avoid a relegation position only on goal difference after another defeat in Ligue 1 this weekend, this time 2-0 at Rennes. Pedro Pauleta captained the side and played the full ninety minutes for the team from the capital. Marco Ramos was not involved in Lens’ 0-0 draw with Auxerre.

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Germany - Bundesliga

Nine-goal thriller

The big match of the weekend in Germany saw Fernando Meira’s Stuttgart meet Hugo Almeida’s Werder Bremen, with a nine-goal thriller going in favour of the champions. Almeida gave Bremen a 9th minute lead but Bundesliga title holders Stuttgart, who were without inspirational captain Meira, ultimately went on to win 6-3, largely thanks to a hat-trick for Mario Gomez.

Ricardo Costa was in defence for Wolfsburg in their 2-0 victory over Energie Cottbus, while Sergio Pinto played 67 minutes as Hannover went down 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen.

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Italy - Serie A

Inter bounce back

Champions Inter got back to winning ways in Serie A with a 2-0 victory over Reggina. All three of the Nerazurri’s Portuguese were included on the substitute’s bench, with veteran winger Figo the only player to make an appearance with a 72nd minute cameo. Second place Roma kept up their chase of the leaders with a 2-0 win at Napoli, with Antunes making a last-minute appearance for the Giallorossi.

There was also a win for Juventus, Tiago coming on 73 minutes into their 2-0 success at Reggina. Manuel da Costa continues to wait for his Fiorentina debut, with the defender watching La Viola’s 1-0 loss at Siena from the bench. Fernando Couto was an unused substitute as Parma went down 2-1 at home to Sampdoria to slip to 17th in the table.

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Spain - La Liga

Real pull away from Barcelona

Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga to eight points, on a great weekend for the champions following their disappointing Champions League exit. Pepe played as Los Merengues came from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1 at the Bernabeu, while rivals Barcelona were upset 2-1 at home by Villarreal with Deco an unused substitute.

Simao Sabrosa scored for Atletico Madrid at Zaragoza on Saturday night, but was left disappointed as his opener was quickly cancelled out as Los Rojiblancos went down to a potentially damaging 2-1 defeat at La Romareda. Ze Castro was not called from the bench by Atletico manager Javier Aguirre.

Miguel made his return to action on another frustrating night for Valencia at the Mestalla. The Portugal right-back played 70 minutes in a defence also containing Marco Caneira, as Los Ches threw away a two-goal lead against Deportivo La Coruna, who escaped with a point after a 2-2 draw.

The highest scoring game of the weekend in Spain saw Mallorca put seven past Recreativo Huelva. With Jose Nunes in defence, the Islanders were 5-1 up at half time against a Recre side containing Silvestre Varela and Carlos Martins, before scoring a further two goals after the break as the visitors missed influential Portuguese stopper Roberto Beto.

Elsewhere, Ricardo kept goal for Real Betis in their 3-0 defeat at high-flying Racing, Duda played the final six minutes as Sevilla beat Levante 2-1 and Osasuna were 2-1 victors over Almeria without the services of Hugo Viana.

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Others

Greece

Loan signing Manucho scored a debut goal for Jose Peseiro’s Panathinaikos in their 2-0 win over Larisa. The Angolan struck in the 61st minute, before later being replaced by Portuguese international Helder Postiga, as Pana moved four points clear at the top of the Super League.

AEK Athens are in second following a 4-1 victory at OFI, with Geraldo Alves and Manu watching from the bench. Fernando Santos’ PAOK dropped down to 9th after being held to a 0-0 draw at Panionios, with Daniel Fernandes in goal but Sergio Conceicao not in the PAOK squad.

Poland

Champions Zaglebie Lubin moved up to 5th place in the Polish league following a 3-0 victory over Odra Wodzislaw Slaski on Saturday evening. Rui Miguel started the match, while defender Tiago Gomes came on in the 83rd minute for Zaglebie.

Romania

CFR Cluj bounced back from last week’s defeat to Steaua Bucharest with a 2-0 win over Gloria Buzau on Friday night. Five Portuguese started for Cluj: Nuno Claro was in goal; Tony played in defence alongside captain Ricardo Cadu; Dani was the creative player in midfield, playing behind forward Antonio Semedo. Manuel Jose was an 82nd minute substitute, while Andre Leao was left on the sidelines.

The win increased Cluj’s lead at the top to eight points after Rapid Bucharest lost 1-0 at home to Politehnica Timisoara, with forward Joao Paulo playing the final half hour for the champions and defender Carlos Milhazes in the Poli defence. Meanwhile, Portuguese forward Chico played for an hour as Farul Constanta upset the other big Bucharest side, Dinamo, by earning an away point with a 0-0 draw.

UTA Arad missed out on a chance to pull away from relegation trouble, beaten as they were 1-0 at home by mid-table Otelul Galati. Daniel Amoreirinha and Pedro Oliveira both started for Arad, while Edson da Silva came on as a 63rd minute substitute.

Pandurii Targu Jiu’s first match since the departure of Portuguese coach Joaquim Teixeira ended in their fifth consecutive defeat. Joao Pedro ‘Mingote’ Ribeiro kept goal – with Adriano Moreira his deputy on the bench – as the bottom side in the league were beaten 1-0 at home by third place Steaua.

Scotland

Filipe Morais came off the bench in the 72nd minute for Hibernian in their Scottish Cup fifth round replay defeat to Rangers at Ibrox. The visitors lost 1-0 to a 39th minute goal from Chris Burke.

Serbia

League leaders Partizan Belgrade recovered from last weekend’s defeat to arch rivals Red Star with a slender 1-0 win over Smederevo to move five points clear at the top. Almani Moreira played the full ninety minutes for Partizan, who increased their lead because Red Star were held to a 2-2 draw at Banat Zrenjanin without Joao Lucas.

Switzerland

Carlitos was on the scoresheet as FC Basel maintained their six-point advantage at the top of the Swiss league with a 2-1 victory over St Gallen. The former Benfica man, who started the game, doubled his side’s advantage when scoring in the 64th minute to add to Eduardo’s opener.

Rock bottom FC Thun’s miserable season continued at Grasshoppers, with Nelson Ferreira an unused substitute in a 4-0 defeat that leaves Thun seven points adrift at the foot of the Super League.

Turkey

Portuguese midfielder Neca was sent off for Ankaraspor in their 1-0 defeat to Denizlispor on Saturday – a result which sees the side from the capital languishing in 15th place in the Turkcell Süper Lig. A miserable weekend in Turkey for Portuguese was completed when defender Ze Gomes watched from the sidelines as his Konyaspor side were hammered 5-0 by Istanbul Büyüksehir.

Star Performer

Carlitos (FC Basel)

Former Benfica man Carlitos continues to star in his first season with FC Basel. The 25-year-old added another goal to his tally for the season on Sunday, getting the crucial second as the Swiss league leaders beat St Gallen 2-1 to remain six points clear at the top.

Earlier Round-ups