Spanning the Globe: Weekend Recap

By: Bob | April 2nd, 2007

These are busy and exciting times for football fans around the world. League titles remain up in the air, births in various competitions are still at stake, and clubs are fighting to avoid the anguish that is relegation. Keeping on top of it all is next to impossible but try we must. Here is a random recap of the football weekend that was.

England
If you were looking for Manchester United to slip up you might have had reason for hope after 45 minutes against Blackburn. The Red Devils trailed 1-0 at the intermission, but the rules of football require 90-minute games and in the final 45 minutes Man Yoo put in four to win and maintain their six point lead over Chelsea in the English Premier League. Chelsea needed an injury time goal by Salomon Kalou to defeat lowly Watford (ever notice how bad teams are always descrived as ‘lowly’?) 1-0 and to stay on pace with the league leaders. Thanks to Peter Crouch’s hat-trick Liverpool spanked an Arsenal side that appears to have called it a season already. At the bottom, Watford are toast. Charlton and West Ham are on life support.

Top 4: Manchester United 78pts, Chelsea 72, Liverpool 57, Arsenal 55

Italy
Inter Milan made it 29 Serie A games this season without a loss by defeating Parma 2-0. Inter only need three wins in their final nine matches to secure the title. I like to make bold predictions so I will boldly say that they will do that. Meanwhile, second place Roma allowed AC Milan to steal a point with a 1-1 draw, but AC Milan still fell to sixth place. And don’t look now but Palermo are doing their best to fall out of a Champions League spot. They have earned just 10 points during their last 11 matches including a lone point in a 0-0 draw against Torino. More on the Serie A weekend on the Italy Offside.

Top 4: Inter Milan 79pts, AS Roma 59, Lazio 52, Palermo 48

Spain
Ronaldinho laid out the passes, and Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o delivered the goals to give Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Deportivo Coruna. Barca pulled ahead of second place Sevilla, who could only muster a goalless draw against Osasuna. Valencia remain in fourth thanks to a goal and two assists by David Villa in their 3-2 victory over Espanyol. On the bottom side of the pile, Atletico Bilbao still are in danger of being relegated for the first time ever after they lost a scintillating match against Racing Santander 5-4.

Top 4: Barcelona 56pts, Sevilla 54, Real Madrid 51, Valencia 50

Germany
Bayern Munich kept their flame burning with a 2-0 victory over league leaders Schalke 04. Werder Bremen had a chance to become the new king of the mountain but they could only muster a draw against Energie Cottbus. VfB Stuttgart remain in the mix thanks to their 3-1 win against Alemannia Aachen. The final seven weeks in Germany are going to be crazy.

Top 4: Schalke 53pts, Werder Bremen 51, Stuttgart 49, Bayern Munich 47

Scotland
Even though the race in Scotland is all but over with Celtic finishing first, Rangers second, and Dunfermline likely relegated, the league is still worth watching as teams jockey for UEFA positioning. The Edinburgh derby saw Hearts defeat Hibernian 1-0 to strengthen their case for finishing fourth. That is, if they don’t catch Aberdeen for third. More from the weekend on the Scotland Offside.

Top 4: Celtic 75pts, Rangers 62, Aberdeen 57, Hearts 51

Portugal
There was a record crowd on hand to watch Porto and Benfica slug it out in a clash of the two top teams. An own goal seven minutes from time by Lucho Gonzalez helped the home side Benfica come away with a 1-1 draw. Porto maintained their one point lead in the table with just seven games left to be played. More on the Portugal Offside.

Top 4: Porto 53pts, Benfica 52, Sporting Lisbon 46, Braga 38

You can get the rundown on the league action in Mexico, Russia and France as well. I could also tell you about the Moldovan league but you’ve made it this far and I would hate to inflict further grammatical pain. For video highlights of the weekend goals, head on over here.