4 December 2006, by Sean Gillen

Deco on the mark as Atletico continue to climb

Portuguese Abroad weekend round-up

Barcelona warmed up for their crunch midweek game with Werder Bremen by drawing 1-1 at Levante, with Deco scoring the opener for the champions. Valencia were without the injured Miguel, but introduced Hugo Viana at half time, as their poor recent form continued with a 2-0 defeat at Recreativo, for whom Beto was suspended.

Atletico Madrid moved into fourth, and Maniche, Costinha and Ze Castro were all involved in a 1-0 win at Real Betis. Jose Nunes was in the Mallorca team that lost a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home against Celta Vigo.

In England, with Chelsea not in action this weekend due to fixture congestion, Manchester United used the opportunity to increase their lead at the top of the Premiership to six points. Cristiano Ronaldo took centre stage at the Riverside as the Red Devils recorded a 2-1 win over Middlesbrough.

Nuno Valente continues to build up his match fitness, playing well as Everton beat West Ham 2-0 at Goodison Park. Pedro Mendes received a red card in Portsmouth’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, a game in which Manuel Fernandes also started for Pompey. Luis Boa Morte’s Fulham went down 2-0 at Blackburn while Ricardo Vaz Te played the final half hour of Bolton’s 1-0 loss to Reading.

In Serie A, Luis Figo played the last ten minutes as Inter kept up their four-point advantage over Roma at the top of the table. Fernando Couto’s Parma kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 home draw with Palermo, and Ricardo Esteves was a late substitute for Reggina’s 1-1 with Udinese.

Tiago’s Lyon march on

French champions Lyon edged to another tight victory in Ligue 1, beating Le Mans 1-0 away from home with Tiago playing the full 90 minutes. Pauleta’s Paris Saint-Germain had the weekend off, while Marco Ramos was in the Lens side that defeated Bordeaux 3-0 at home.

In the Bundesliga, Fernando Meira captained Stuttgart to a 0-0 draw with Mainz, a result that sees them stay in third. Ze Antonio took his place in the Gladbach side as they earned a respectable 1-1 draw away at Bayern Munich.

With Werder Bremen rotating their squad ahead of a trip to Barcelona on Tuesday, Hugo Almeida started their 3-1 home win over Hertha Berlin, but was withdrawn with 20 minutes remaining. Alex was introduced in the 83rd minute with the score at 0-0 for Wolfsburg at Borussia Dortmund, before Dortmund scored an injury-time winner to take all three points.

Portuguese defender Manuel Da Costa was withdrawn in the second half of his PSV side’s 1-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem, a result that sees them stay top of the Dutch Eredevisie. Bruno Aguiar started and Jose Goncalves was on the bench for Hearts’ 2-2 draw with St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League.

Romanian quartet riding high

Forward Antonio Semedo scored for Romanian side CFR Cluj as they beat Otelul 2-1 to stay in fourth in Romanian top flight. The former Estrela da Amadora striker is one of four Portuguese players at the club. Manuel Jose and Pedro Oliveira also played in the victory that sees Cluj stay within three points of 2nd place Steaua Bucharest in the hunt for a European place.

Belgian side Standard Liege beat KVC Westerlo 3-0 in the Jupiler League, with Sergio Conceicao and Sa Pinto both playing as their side stay in 4th place. Daniel Fernandes’ PAOK Salonika disappointingly drew 1-1 with Panionios in the Greek Super League.

In Switzerland, Jose Pinto and Carlitos both started for FC Sion as they came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with FC Schaffhausen. Nelson Ferreira was in the FC Thun line-up as they lost 2-0 at home to FC Zurich. Grasshoppers’ poor recent form continues, Roberto Pinto missing for their 2-1 home defeat to Young Boys.

Star Performer

Deco

The Brazilian born playmaker scored his first goal of the season in typically brilliant fashion, curling home an exquisite 25-metre free-kick to give his Barcelona side the lead against Levante on Saturday.

Earlier round-ups:
27/11/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
20/11/06 Star Performer - Maniche
13/11/06 Star Performer - Ze Castro
09/11/06 Star Performer - Hugo Viana
06/11/06 Star Performer - Carlitos
30/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
26/10/06 Star Performer - Hilario
23/10/06 Star Performer - Manuel da Costa
16/10/06 Star Performer - Tiago
02/10/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
25/09/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
18/09/06 Star Performer - Sergio Conceicao
11/09/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho
28/08/06 Star Performer - Figo
21/08/06 Star Performer - Deco