Sizzling races in big five leagues

• by Soccer America , Mar 22, 2010

[EUROPE] Europe's five major leagues are enjoying sizzling races. Real Madrid and Barcelona remain tied for first in Spain's La Liga, where both teams have only dropped 13 of a possible 81 points. Four or less points separate the top three teams in England, Germany and Italy. Five points separate the top six teams in France. For a look at the races ...

ENGLAND
P TEAM (GB) W-T-L GF-GA
69 Man. United  22-3-6 72-25
67 Arsenal 21-4-6 73-33
65 Chelsea (30) 20-5-5 70-28  
(The others played 31 games.)

Note: Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti says Man. United is the favorite to win the EPL title. The Blues slumped to third place for the first time this season with their 1-1 tie with Blackburn on Sunday.

FRANCE
P TEAM (GB)  W-T-L GF-GA
56 Bordeaux (28) 17-5-6 46-23
56 Montpellier 17-5-7 40-30
55 Auxerre 16-7-6 30-24
53 Marseille (28) 15-8-5 50-30
51 Lille 15-6-8 52-31
51 Lyon 14-9-6 47-31
(All others played 29 games.)

Note: Nigerian right back Taye Taiwo kept Marseille in the hunt for its first title in 15 years with the winning goal in OM's 2-1 victory over Lyon.

GERMANY
P TEAM ....... W-T-L GF-GA
56 Bayern Munich 16-8-3 54-24
55 Schalke 04  16-7-4  44-22
53 Bayer Leverkusen  14-11-2 56-28
(All played 27 games.)

Note: Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind with two goals in the last three minutes, capitalizing on errors by 17-year-old defender David Alaba both times, to beat Bayern Munich, 2-1, and snap its 19-match undefeated run in the Bundesliga.

ITALY
P TEAM ....... W-T-L GF-GA
60 Inter Milan 17-9-3 54-26
59 AC Milan 17-8-4 48-27
56 Roma 16-8-5  52-34
(All played 29 games.)

Note: AC Milan blew a chance to take over first place Sunday when it had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Napoli at the San Siro. Inter has won just one of its last seven Serie A games.

SPAIN
P TEAM ....... W-T-L GF-GA
68 Real Madrid  22-2-3 74-22
68 Barcelona 21-5-1 68-18
(Both played 27 games.)

Note: Real Madrid got a break in its 3-1 win over Sporting Gijon when Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart used his hands to stop a rebound and scored to equalize a minute after Sporting had gone ahead. Real won on goals by Xabi Alonso and Gonzalo Higuain.