Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-0 and Juventus overcame a stubborn 10-man Udinese 1-0 but Barcelona were upset 3-1 at home by Atletico Madrid in mixed fortunes for the top teams in Europe's major leagues over the weekend.
Bayern Munich won 1-0 against Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven were also victorious but Olympique Lyon were held 0-0 by Girondins Bordeaux in a top-of-the-table Ligue 1 clash as the leaders of the major championships all played at home.
Following is a round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
SPAIN
Barcelona's bogey team Atletico Madrid ended the Spanish champions' 14-match winning run in the Primera Liga with an emphatic 3-1 victory at the Nou Camp.
A classy double from Fernando Torres, which took the striker's tally to six goals in four games against Barca, and another from in-form Argentine Maxi Rodriguez allowed Atletico to complete the double over the Catalans.
The defeat ended a miserable week for Frank Rijkaard's Barca side, who were knocked out of the King's Cup by Real Zaragoza.
Barca, however, still enjoy a handsome nine-point lead over second-placed Valencia, who extended their unbeaten league run to 11 matches with a 1-0 win at Deportivo Coruna. Real Madrid, who crushed Espanyol 4-0, are a point further back.
ENGLAND
Chelsea emerged from a spate of draws to grind out a 2-0 victory over third-placed Liverpool and re-open their 15-point lead in the Premier League.
After three successive 1-1 draws for the champions, two in the league and one in the FA Cup, goals in each half by William Gallas and man-of-the-match Hernan Crespo all but extinguished Liverpool's remote chance of overhauling them.
Chelsea took the lead after 35 minutes when Joe Cole's outswinging corner was headed goalwards by Ricardo Carvalho and fellow defender William Gallas turned the ball past keeper Pepe Reina from close range.
Crespo killed Liverpool off after 68 minutes, racing away to smash a powerful shot past Reina, who was sent off with eight minutes to go for a push on Chelsea winger Arjen Robben.
Chelsea now have 66 points from 25 matches, Manchester United, who beat Fulham 4-2, are second with 51 and Liverpool have 45 with two games in hand.
ITALY
An Alessandro Del Piero goal gave Serie A leaders Juventus a laboured 1-0 win over 10-man Udinese.
The result put Juve on 62 points from 23 matches, eight ahead of Inter Milan who beat Chievo Verona 1-0 with an early goal by Argentina's Julio Cruz.
Udinese's players were furious when midfielder Sulley Muntari received a second yellow card in the 37th minute for a non-existent foul on Pavel Nedved.
Del Piero came on 10 minutes after the break and made the breakthrough 15 minutes later, turning home Gianluca Zambrotta's cross from an apparent offside position.
AC Milan, third on 48 points, lost ground on the top two after they drew 0-0 with Lazio.
GERMANY
Michael Ballack scored a virtuoso goal to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and keep the champions on course for a 20th German title.
Playmaker Ballack controlled a high ball on his chest before blasting in on the half-volley as Bayern made it nine home wins out of nine in the Bundesliga this season.
With 19 games played, Bayern lead with 50 points. Werder Bremen are second on 42, with Hamburg SV third on 41.
Werder kept hold of second spot after coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at home against Mainz.
FRANCE
Olympique Lyon were held to a goalless draw at home by second-placed Girondins Bordeaux in a dour Ligue 1 game dominated by tactics.
The result left Lyon nine points clear of their closest rivals with a game in hand and still ideally placed to win a record fifth successive title.
Bordeaux, who boast the league's most miserly defence, underlined their claim to finish second. They are four points ahead of third-placed AJ Auxerre, who lost 1-0 at Ajaccio.
NETHERLANDS
PSV Eindhoven went 2-0 down after five minutes against Roda JC Kerkrade but fought back to win 3-2 in the Dutch first division.
After 22 matches PSV are top with 54 points, three above Feyenoord beat arch-rivals Ajax Amsterdam 3-2 in Rotterdam.
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