LONDON, 8 February 2005 — Atletico Madrid and Manchester City did their city rivals favors at the weekend by taking points off league leaders Barcelona and Chelsea respectively.
Atletico beat Barcelona 2-0 to cut the Catalan club’s lead over Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga to four points, while Manchester City drew 0-0 at Chelsea to cut the Premier League club’s advantage over Manchester United to nine points.
Juventus also had their Serie A lead cut to two points after their 1-0 defeat at Palermo was followed by AC Milan’s last-gasp victory over Lazio. Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich had a straightforward 2-0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen and French champions Lyon thrashed Toulouse 4-0.
AC Milan took advantage of Juve’s second consecutive defeat to slash the deficit at the top of Serie A to two points with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Lazio on Sunday.
Juventus went down 1-0 at Palermo on Saturday and Milan looked set to follow them to defeat before an Andriy Shevchenko free kick levelled the score 18 minutes from the end and Hernan Crespo grabbed the winner in stoppage time.
Juve have 50 points from 23 games to Milan’s 48, while Udinese moved to third on 40 points after a 1-0 win at Brescia.
Palermo took the lead over Juventus in the 12th minute when keeper Gianluigi Buffon came forward to punch away a free kick, leaving himself out of position and powerless to prevent Franco Brienza curling a shot in from the edge of the area.
A Fernando Torres double consigned Barcelona to a 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Sunday, their first home loss of the season. The 20-year-old got Atletico off to a flying start when he guided home in the first minute after a stunning back-heeled assist from Ariel Ibagaza.
Ronaldinho fluffed a 70th-minute penalty for Barcelona before Torres blasted home a spot kick deep into injury time.
Atletico’s victory meant that Real Madrid, who beat Espanyol 4-0 on Saturday, are four points behind Barcelona.
Real are nine points clear of champions Valencia, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Manchester City held Chelsea to a 0-0 draw on Sunday, giving a glimmer of hope to the red half of Manchester that the title is not yet beyond them.
United cruised to a 2-0 win at home to Birmingham City on Saturday.
and, while they still trail Chelsea by nine points with 12 games to go, they will be ready to pounce if Chelsea falter.
Champions Arsenal remained third two points behind United after romping to a 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday, while a 2-2 draw against Southampton kept Everton fourth.
City goalkeeper David James made a series of fine saves to prevent Chelsea taking all three points on Sunday, the highlight being two stops from England team mate Frank Lampard, the second a spectacular reaction save to a close-range volley.
Bayern Munich stretched their Bundesliga lead to three points with a 2-0 win at home to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday as German soccer took a short break from the match-fixing scandal.
Bayern’s closest rivals, Schalke 04 and VfB Stuttgart, were held to draws on Saturday, while last season’s double winners Werder Bremen moved into fourth with a 3-2 victory at VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday.
Dutch forward Roy Makaay put Bayern ahead with a penalty in first-half injury-time and his Peruvian strike partner Paolo Guerrero clinched victory in the 68th minute.
Schalke needed an injury-time goal from Ailton to snatch a 2-2 draw at bottom club Hansa Rostock, while Stuttgart were disappointing in a 1-1 draw at home to FC Kaiserslautern.
With 20 games played, Bayern lead with 41 points, followed by Schalke on 38 and Stuttgart on 35. Werder, who had Nelson Valdez’s strike three minutes from time to thank for their victory, moved to fourth on 34.
Champions Olympique Lyon opened up a seven-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 by demolishing Toulouse 4-0, while second-placed Lille were held to their third consecutive draw by Sochaux.
Playmaker Juninho slotted home two free kicks for Lyon, including a 30-metre effort in the second minute, while midfielders Florent Malouda and Bryan Bergougnoux scored a goal each to seal victory.
Lyon now have 52 points from 25 matches to Lille’s 45. A 3-1 win for Olympique Marseilles against Stade Rennes gives them 44 points in third place.
Lille threw everything they could at Sochaux on Saturday but the visitors hung on to take a point in a goalless draw.
