Spanning the Globe: Weekend Football Roundup

By: Bob | April 23rd, 2007

Adriano was partying and the champagne was flowing across all parts of Europe this weekend with teams in Italy, Scotland, France and Greece clinching their league titles. Meanwhile, the championship races in England, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Spain are hotter than a Peking pepper. Here is a quick and dirty look at some of the action from the weekend.

France – They should change the name of Ligue 1 to Lyon 1. For the sixth straight year Lyon hoisted the trophy. They are the first team from the big European leagues to win a league title six years in a row and they achieved the feat with five games left in the season. They celebrated by playing a goalless draw against AJ Auxerre on Sunday. Meanwhile, Lens beat Le Mans to jump past Toulouse into second place. More on the France Offside.

Top 4: Lyon 70pts, Lens 53, Bordeaux 52, Toulouse 52,

Scotland – It is back-to-back Scottish Premier League titles for Celtic. The green hoops had the league practically wrapped up in September but had to wait a little while to pop the corks on the champagne. They defeated Kilmarnock 2-1 before 13,000 at Rugby Park thanks to an added time free kick goal by the Japanese free kick wizard Shunsuke Nakamura, who has been named the league’s player of the year. Celtic have won the Scottish Football League 40 times, I believe.

Top 4: Celtic 78pts, Rangers 68, Aberdeen 58, Hearts 54

Italy – Inter Milan won their second consecutive league title as well. It was a pair of goals by Marco Materazzi that proved to be the difference in their 2-1 victory over Siena. They clinch the title with five games remaining in the Serie A season and have lost just one time in 33 league matches. Pure dominance. More from Seria A on the Italy Offside.

Top 4: Inter Milan 84pts, Roma 68, Lazio 57, AC Milan 56

Greece – Olympiakos Piraeus are the Lyon of Greece. They captured their ninth league title in ten years.

Top 4: Olympiakos 67pts, AEK Athens 61, Panathinaikos 52, Aris Salonika 43

Netherlands – There is one more round left in the Eredivisie and the title is AZ Alkmaar’s to lose. They are even with PSV Eindhoven and Ajax at the top of the table but hold a significant goal difference advantage over both. AZ Alkmaar are on the road to face Excelsior Rotterdam next week, while Ajax play on the road against Excelsior Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven host Vitesse Arnhem. Talk about a pressure packed weekend of football in Holland!

Top 4: AZ Alkmaar 72pts, Ajax 72, PSV Eindhoven 72, Twente Enschede 63

Germany – There are four rounds remaining in the Bundesliga and it is now a three-team race. Schalke 04 remain at the top of the table following a 2-0 victory over Energie Cottbus. They maintain a slim two-point lead over Werder Bremen, who defeated Alemannia Aachen 3-1. The team that is now on the outside looking in is Bayern Munich. They lost to third place VfB Stuttgart 2-0 and they will need some help to secure the third and final Champions League spot.

Top 4: Schalke 04 62 pts, Werder Bremen 60, VfB Stuttgart 58, Bayern Munich 53

Spain – With seven rounds remaining in La Liga, there is still a mad scramble at the top of the table. Barcelona lost to Villarreal 2-0 and saw their lead in the league cut to a single point thanks to Sevilla’s 4-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid helped their cause with a 2-1 victory over Valencia. And in the second division, Valladolid have run away with the title and have won the right to play the reindeer games with the big boys next season.

Top 4: Barcelona 59pts, Sevilla 58, Real Madrid 57, Real Zaragoza 53

United States – Chivas USA took Real Salt Lake to the woodshed and beat them 4-0. Chivas are a point behind Dallas in the Western Conference after the hoops beat Colorado 3-1 on Sunday thanks to a brace from Ramon Nunez. In New York, it was the teenage sensation Josmer Altidore who proved to be the difference. His 60th minute goal against the Houston Dynamo gave 10-man Red Bull New York a 1-0 win. RBNY is in first place. DC United is in last place. The LA Galaxy is in last place. A weird start to the season, I must say. More on the MLS Offside.

Top 4: West – FC Dallas 7pts, Chivas USA 6; East – RBNY 7pts, Chicago Fire 7

Peru – If you hold a party and no one shows up is it still a party? The Peruvian side Bolognesi failed to show up for their game against Sport Ancash and as a result the score book will show they lost 2-0 on a forfeit. They decided to boycott the match because Sport Ancash fielded an ineligible player last season and should have been relegated. Ahhh the drama…

More higlights:

Brazil Offside
Mexico Offside
Portugal Offside
Russia Offside