European League Round-Up: Battle gets tricky for Sergeant Mou

European Leagues / Ben Lyttleton / 30 October 2008 / Leave a Comment

Life at Inter is not the cakewalk it was supposed to be for Jose Mourinho, says Ben Lyttleton in his round-up of the midweek European action.

Ever since he came to Italy, Inter coach Jose Mourinho has been making the headlines from a position at the top of the table. The club are not so lofty this morning, after a second successive goalless draw, this time against a Fiorentina side missing Alberto Gilardino (banned) and Adrian Mutu (injured), left the Italian champions in fourth place.

Mourinho refused to criticise his players after the game, but the pressure is growing on him after he was seen swearing at Julio Cruz on Sunday and dropped Adriano for indiscipline this week.

It won¹t help Sergeant Mou, as the Italian press have nicknamed him, that AC Milan have overtaken Inter after a fourth straight win to move into third place. Filippo Inzaghi scored one and then was fouled for Kaka to score from the penalty-spot in a 2-1 win over Siena. Both Milan clubs remain behind leaders Udinese, 2-0 winners over Catania, and Napoli, for whom German Denis scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 over Reggina.

Udinese were in the top four for most of last season before a late collapse but this year Pasquale Marino, up against his former Catania side, has built a stronger, more solid squad.

"We did great, especially when you consider that no-one had even scored at Catania so far this season. We should enjoy it but remember to be realistic too," said Marino.

That¹s reflected in the prices: Udinese have come in from [50.0] to [36.0] with Inter moving out from [1.62] ten days ago to [2.06]. Milan are [2.92], while Juventus should not be overlooked despite their [9.2] price: Claudio Ranieri's side have been decimated by injuries, and are up into the top half following Pavel Nedved's two goals in a 2-1 win over Bologna.

In France, Bordeaux's stay at the top of Ligue 1, their first time there since 2002, was short-lived one as Lyon won their first game in four to edge past bottom side Sochaux and regain top spot. Bordeaux were impressive as they smashed Le Havre 4-0 ­ a score-line that could have been doubled had Fernando Cavenaghi not squandered four chances in the first half ­ and losing coach Jean-Marc Nobilo admitted, "They are the best team in France at the moment, better than Lyon and Marseille."

He is at least half-right: Marseille followed up their home loss to PSG with a 1-1 draw at lowly Nantes. With Hatem Ben Arfa restored to the side following his high-profile refusal to leave the subs bench during the PSG match, Marseille fell behind to Remi Mareval's opener but earnt a point with Bakary Kone's late effort.

PSG undid their excellent work at Marseille by losing at home to Toulouse while high-flying Le Mans also slipped up, going down 2-0 at home to improving Auxerre. Lyon are now [1.62] for an eighth straight title, while Marseille are [4.6] and Bordeaux, a team who have found its rhythm, [9.0].

After the early rounds in Germany consisted of teams swapping top spot every week, a pattern is now emerging in the Bundesliga and it's one that suggests Hoffenheim are credible title contenders. Ralf Rangnick's surprise outfit were 2-1 down in their last away game­ at Hannover 96 ­ before scoring four goals in 13 minutes to win 5-2. Last night they were trailing for over an hour at Bochum before three goals in seven minutes sealed a 3-1 win.

Bayern Munich also came from behind, for the second successive match, to beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1. Hamburg won the night's big game, 2-0 at home to Stuttgart. Hoffenheim, now [9.4], leapfrog Leverkusen, [10.5], who beat a Diego-less Werder Bremen 2-0, to top the table while Bayern, [1.96] favourites, still four points behind, move up to fourth.