8 May 2006, by Sean Gillen

Portuguese Abroad midweek round-up

Ronaldo, Vaz Te and Pauleta hit the net

Barcelona returned to the Nou Camp after clinching the La Liga title in midweek, and rested several players as they beat Espanyol 2-0. Deco played the full 90 minutes for Barca, who are expected to field a complete reserve team in next week’s final game with Seville as they focus on the Champions League final with Arsenal.

Valencia, including Miguel, saw their hopes for second place take a blow as they were held at the Mestalla by Atletico Madrid. Relegated Malaga left out Litos, Edgar and Duda for their 2-0 home defeat by Sevilla, and Jose Nunes’ Mallorca went down 2-1 at Betis.

In the Premiership, Cristiano Ronaldo signed off the season at Manchester United with a goal in their 4-0 win over Chalrton. Ricardo Vaz Te (pictured) continued his outstanding end to the campaign, scoring the winner in Bolton’s 1-0 victory over Birmingham.

Chelsea, with Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Maniche, slumped to their second defeat in a week, going down 1-0 at Newcastle. Pedro Mendes failed to recover from injury in time to play in Portsmouth’s 3-1 home defeat by Liverpool. Nuno Valente made his comeback from injury for Everton, playing the full 90 minutes of his side’s 2-2 draw with West Brom.

A mixed weekend for the Portuguese in Serie A saw Rui Costa play the final 20 minutes as Milan continued their winning run with a 3-2 win at Fernando Couto’s Parma. The Rossoneri still have an outside chance of the Scudetto, trailing leaders Juventus by three points going into the final game. More disappointment for Inter as, without Luis Figo, the Nerazurri conceded a late equaliser to draw at home with Siena. Jose Vidigal was left out of Udinese’s 2-0 win against Cagliari.

In France, champions Lyon rested Tiago as they were shocked by a 4-0 defeat at Lille. Pedro Pauleta was on the scoresheet but could not prevent his PSG side losing 4-2 at home to Ajaccio. Beto made a rare start for Bordeaux, and helped his side to a clean sheet and a 1-0 away win at Nantes. Helder Postiga came on for the last 15 minutes of St Etienne’s 0-0 draw with Rennes, while Jose Delfim again failed to earn a place in the Marseille squad for their 2-2 draw with Strasbourg.

In the Bundesliga, Ze Antonio took his place in the Gladbach defence for the 2-2 draw with Hanover, who didn’t include Ricardo Sousa. Fernando Meira helped Stuttgart to a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg.

Hearts lost 2-0 to Rangers in the final game of the Scottish Premier League season, but had already qualified for the Champions League. Bruno Aguiar played for Hearts, who now look forward to the Scottish FA Cup final against Gretna on May 13th.

In Belgium, Standard Liege’s title dreams were ended with a 2-0 home defeat to AA Gent. Jorge Costa played for Standard, who have qualified for the third preliminary round of the Champions League, after finishing as runners-up to Anderlecht.

Dinamo Moscow remain bottom of the Russian Premier League after a 1-0 defeat at Spartak Nalchik. Danny played for Dinamo, who have won just one of their first eight games.

In Romania, Steaua Bucharest played twice in a week after last weekend’s defeat against city rivals Rapid. With Carlos in goal, Steaua beat Pandurii 1-0, before losing by the same scoreline at Gloria Bistrita to drop to fourth in Divizia A.

Star Performer

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo capped an excellent second half of the season with Manchester United with a goal and an outstanding performance as the 21-year-old prepares for Portugal’s World Cup campaign.

Earlier round-ups:
20/02/06 Star Performer - Miguel
27/02/06 Star Performer - Cristiano Ronaldo
06/03/06 Star Performer - Sergio Conceicao
13/03/06 Star Performer - Pedro Mendes
20/03/06 Star Performer - Luis Boa Morte
27/03/06 Star Performer - Fernando Couto
03/04/06 Star Performer - Pauleta
10/04/06 Star Performer - Jorge Costa
17/04/06 Star Performer - Luis Boa Morte
24/04/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Vaz Te
01/05/06 Star Performer - Ricardo Carvalho