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European review

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scored stunners, while in Serie A Milan and Juve shared the spoils.

Real maintain lead; Milan held by Juve; Dortmund still on top

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were both on target with stunning goals as Real Madrid and Barcelona enjoyed wins at the top of the Primera Liga. The tussle at the top of Serie A continued as leaders AC Milan shared the spoils with nearest rivals Juventus, while in the Bundesliga Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich kept their title challenges on track. Montpellier took the lead in Ligue 1 thanks to a slim home victory, while in the Eredivisie PSV Eindhoven retained the top spot after edging out Feyenoord.
Primera Liga
Real Madrid remain 10 points clear at the top of La Liga after a deft backheeled goal from Cristiano Ronaldo handed them a 1-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano - their seventh league win on the bounce. Barcelona prevented them from pulling any further ahead after snatching a win at Atletico Madrid, with Lionel Messi's stunning 81st-minute free-kick sealing the triumph. The day before Levante had crept into fourth place with a 2-1 win at Espanyol when substitute Ruben Suarez's late free-kick took a deflection into the back of the net.
Serie A
Title rivals AC Milan and Juventus shared the spoils in a tight 1-1 draw at the San Siro after Alessandro Matri cancelled out Antonio Nocerino's opener, stretching Juve's unbeaten run to 24 games. Roma suffered an afternoon to forget on Sunday after they were dismantled 4-1 by Atlanta, with German Denis netting a hat-trick for the hosts. European hopefuls Udinese and Lazio marched on after the former beat Bologna on the road and the Biancocelesti saw off Fiorentina at home.
Bundesliga
Borussia Monchengladbach's title hopes took a blow on Friday evening when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Hamburg, with Tolgay Arslan netting to earn the visitors a point. There was no such trouble for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, who enjoyed home wins over Schalke and Hannover respectively, with Bayern capitalising on Gladbach's setback to climb into second. Bayer Leverkusen closed the gap on fourth-placed Schalke to seven points with a 2-0 away win at Cologne thanks to Lars Bender's brace.
Ligue 1
Montpellier claimed a slender 1-0 victory at home to Bordeaux to leapfrog Paris St German at the top of the French table, with John Utaka providing the 80th-minute winner. PSG were held 4-4 in a thrilling encounter with Lyon, who now sit six points adrift of the European places. Lille's hopes of retaining their title were dented after conceding a last-minute equaliser at 10-man Rennes, with Mevlut Erding doing the damage.
Eredivisie
Feyenoord slipped into sixth place after they were edged out 3-2 at PSV Eindhoven, who are now two points clear in the top spot. Second-placed AZ Alkmaar allowed the leaders to pull ahead after they could only manage a draw in a six-goal thriller at home to Heerenveen. Vitesse Arnhem drifted further behind the leading pack after suffering defeat at RKC Waalwijk, while De Graafschap and VVV Venlo both enjoyed wins as they bid to escape the table basement.
SPL
Financially-stricken Rangers secured a 4-1 victory at Inverness to give their fans some much-needed cheer after going into administration. Celtic maintained their imperious lead at the top of the table as Gary Hooper netted to seal a 1-0 triumph over third-placed Motherwell. Hibernian claimed a welcome 3-1 win at Kilmarnock as they bid to sidestep relegation this season.
Best of the rest
FC Porto climbed into the top spot in the Portuguese Primeira Liga after beating lowly Feirense, while Benfica could only manage a goalless draw at Academica. Galatasaray remain in charge at the top of the Turkish Super Lig having edged out Besiktas. In the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, leaders Anderlecht dropped two points at Lierse but remain eight points clear of nearest rivals Club Brugge.
Ranking Player Team Competition Rating (10) Key stats
1 Germán Denis Atalanta Serie A 10 Scored a hat-trick and provided an assist
2 Guillaume Hoarau Paris Saint Germain Ligue 1 10 Made seven shots, scored two goals
3 Lars Bender Bayer Leverkusen Bundesliga 10 Scored his first ever Bundesliga brace
4 Rodrigo Palacio Genoa Serie A 10 Attempted six shots, scored two goals
5 Martin Harnik VfB Stuttgart Bundesliga 10 Scored two goals and made an assist
6 Luis Muriel Lecce Serie A 9 Scored a goal and assisted another
7 Rondón Málaga La Liga 9 Scored a goal and assisted another
8 Isco Málaga La Liga 9 Scored a goal and assisted another
9 Mario Balotelli Manchester City Premier League 9 Scored a goal, created six goal scoring chances for his teammates
10 Aleksandar Kolarov Manchester City Premier League 9 Made three shots, assisted two goals

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