Round The World in 600 Words: Iniesta injury could be turning point in La Liga

Champions League / Ben Lyttleton / 23 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ben Lyttleton talks us through the main results and talking points from across the world's major leagues, including why it's anyone's to win in Germany and France and how Iniesta is the last player Barca wanted to lose through injury.

It was the weekend when the leaders in Spain, Italy and France flexed their muscles again, but the chasing packs are still on their shoulders. In Germany, Hertha Berlin stumbled and the trio behind them took advantage.

Even though Barcelona thumped Champions League-chasing Malaga 6-0, with Samuel Eto'o (two), Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry among the scorers, the Spanish title race is still very much alive, as Real Madrid beat Almeria 3-0. Klass-Jan Huntelaar shrugged off reports he has fallen out with fellow Dutchmen Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder with another two goals: he has now scored eight in six and is looking like a better replacement for Ruud van Nistelrooy with every passing game.

Barcelona may have rediscovered their high-tempo game and prolific scoring, but with Champions League and Copa del Ray games still to play, they have a potential seven more fixtures to play than Real Madrid, and the latest injuries to Yaya Toure and Andres Iniesta (a player Pep Guardiola has called "the most important in my squad") make it far from a foregone conclusion. Barcelona have come in to ([1.14]) but don't discount Real at ([8.2]).

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid's Champions League hopes took a dive with a 2-0 loss at Real Mallorca, while Valencia needed a late missed penalty from Racing Santander's Oscar Serrano to win 1-0 for a first clean sheet in 24 which moved them to within five points of fourth-placed Villarreal.

Juventus continued their decent league run with a 4-1 win over injury-hit Roma, Pavel Nedved's volleyed fourth goal the highlight, while Inter Milan stay seven points clear at the top after a 3-0 win over Reggina, thanks to two more goals from in-form Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has moved from ([3.4]) to ([1.41]) to finish top scorer in the space of a week. Zlatan refused to commit to his Inter future after the game, sparking concern at San Siro that will continue throughout the international break. Roberto Donadoni was unfortunate not to win on his debut as Napoli coach, as Marek Hamsik's goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside in the 0-0 draw with AC Milan.

Jurgen Klinsmann claimed his side had taken a leaf out of leaders Hertha Berlin's book by beating bottom side Karlsruhe 1-0, and considering they were missing Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, his relief was palpable: even more so considering Hertha ended up losing 2-0 to Markus Babbel's Stuttgart side. Bayern, ([1.79]) as well as Hamburg, ([9.6]) after beating Schalke 2-1, and Wolfsburg, ([6.6]) after beating Bielefeld 3-0, are now one point behind the leaders. Hertha have drifted from ([4.5]) to ([6.6]).

There were three different leaders in France this weekend, with Bordeaux briefly top before Marseille took over on Saturday night and then Lyon returning there after beating Sochaux 2-0 to end a run of four straight losses, their worst run for 18 years, when a certain Raymond Domenech was in charge. PSG's hopes were dented with a 4-1 loss at Toulouse, and the winner now looks like it will come from Lyon, ([1.79]), Marseille, ([4.7]) or Bordeaux, ([6.0]).

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is in Brazil and any plans he had to watch Ronaldo's side Corinthians play this week might have to be scrapped after crowd trouble marred their 1-0 win over Santos in the Paulista championship. Still, it was nothing compared to the trouble on the pitch in Rio, where five players and a coach were sent off in Vasco da Gama's 2-0 win over Flamengo at the Maracana.

In Argentina, San Lorenzo had three players sent off in six minutes in their 3-0 defeat to Colon, Huracan beat leaders Lanus 3-0 while River Plate needed a last-minute penalty to beat San Martin-Tucaman 2-1.