Round The World In 600 Words / Ben Lyttleton / 26 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Lyttleton brings you news of action from across Europe where Beckham has been grabbing the headlines with a goal as AC Milan plant themselves firmly in the chase for the Scudetto.

There was a new team on the top of Serie A, albeit for only 24 hours, after Juventus beat Fiorentina 1-0 on Saturday night.

Inter Milan returned to top spot thanks to their 1-0 win over Sampdoria, their first win in three matches, but the stress seemed to get to coach Jose Mourinho, who was sent off for shouting at the referee. Mourinho is a master at using his comments to deflect attention away from his players when they are under-performing, but on this occasion his frustration seemed genuine, as was his relief when late penalty shouts for a push on Giampaolo Pazzini were ignored.

Mourinho was typically unapologetic and claimed a conspiracy theory had helped Juventus win the previous day.

"It seemed to me that the referee was under pressure and turned against us, as with everything that happened this weekend - we are the only ones to be happy to be back on top," he said.

Inter are now three points clear of Juventus, for whom Claudio Marchisio was the unlikely match-winner. Fiorentina were furious that Alberto Gilardino had a seemingly valid goal ruled offside and Stevan Jovetic¹s penalty claims after an Olof Mellberg trip were ignored.

The two-team title race between Inter, who are ([1.8]) to win Serie A, and Juventus, ([4.3]), could yet welcome a third team after AC Milan looked convincing in a 4-1 win at Bologna. Ronaldinho was benched while David Beckham started his third successive league game and opened his scoring account after Kaka (twice) and Clarence Seedorf had netted.

Kaka missed a late chance to bag a hat-trick and Beckham skimmed the crossbar, and though the post-match talk was about the Englishman possibly extending his loan stay beyond March, the most telling comment came from coach Carlo Ancelotti, who marked his 400th match as Milan coach.

"With this intensity, we can win the Scudetto," he warned. Now six points back and without the Champions League to distract them, Milan's ([5.0]) title price might be worth a look.

Roma ended Napoli's unbeaten home run to join them in joint-fifth place, while Genoa drew 1-1 with Catania, leaving five teams within four points of each other for the crucial fourth place.

There was no change in Spain as Barcelona continued their goalscoring master-class with a 4-1 win over Numancia, Lionel Messi scoring twice for them, while Real Madrid are still 12 points back after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Deportivo, who have now lost five in a row. The teams chasing them, Sevilla and Valencia, both lost, to Racing and Mallorca respectively, while fifth-placed Villarreal stuttered and could only draw at home to bottom-club Osasuna. Valencia are [1.51] to finish in the top-three, with Sevilla ([2.98]), Villarreal ([2.5]) and Atletico Madrid ([2.1]).

In Portugal, Sporting and Benfica both drew their matches to allow Porto, 2-0 winners over Braga thanks to goals from Cristian Rodriguez and Lisandro Lopez, to move top for the first time this season. Porto are now ([1.66]) for the title, with Sporting, one point back, ([3.85]) and Benfica, two points adrift, ([3.75]).

AZ are still a long-priced ([1.86]) in Holland, with Ari scoring again in their 2-0 win over De Graafschap, an eighth straight success. They are now six points clear of Ajax, who lost at Groningen and are ([2.52]), while PSV, who have not yet won in 2009, are 15 points back.

The Turkish league returned to action this weekend with leaders Sivasspor enhancing their title-credentials with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray.

Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor cancelled each other out in a goalless draw, leaving Sivasspor, ([4.2]), two points ahead of Trabzonspor, ([7.6]) and four ahead of reigning champions Galatasaray and Fener, who are both ([2.84]).