Champions League battle intensifies – With less than eight games left to be played in the Premier League this season, the battle between Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal for the final Champions League spot seems to received an even greater impetus. Arsenal are currently the team outside of the top four, but gave their chances a boost with a 2-1 win over West Brom thanks to a Tomas Rosicky brace while fortuitous goals guided Chelsea to a 2-1 win against Sunderland. Tottenham, who are fourth, had to come from behind to clinch a 2-2 draw against Everton. That result means that they are now only two points ahead of Arsenal, but unfortunately for them, they have placed one game more than their arch-rivals.

Newcastle 1 — Fulham 0

Stoke 1 — Aston Villa 3

Reading 0 — Southhampton 2

Liverpool 0 — West Ham 0

Goals aplenty

League powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid both recorded comprehensive victories over the weekend. Led by a Cesc Fabregas hat-trick, Barca cruised to a 5-0 win over Mallorca, while a Gonzalo Higuain wonder strike took the spotlight as Real emerged 5-1 victors over Levante.

In the clash between Real Sociedad and Malaga for the fourth spot, Sociedad took all three points in a 4-2 triumph, extending their lead above Malaga to five points. French winger Antoine Griezmann captured the headlines with an impressive showing.

D La Coruna 3 — Real Zaragoza 2

Granada 1 — Real Betis 5

Getafe 0 — Atletico Madrid 0

Osasuna 0 — Espanyol 2

Careless and complacent

With less than 30 minutes to go in the match, AC Milan were in cruise control against Fiorentina. A two-goal cushion at that stage would been deemed to guarantee all three points, but instead they allowed their opponents who were playing with a man short to clinch a 2-2 draw, both goals coming from the penalty spot.

Juventus took another step in securing back-to-back titles with a 2-1 win over Pescara. Mirko Vucinic provided both goals for Juve. Napoli capitalised on AC Milan’s downfalls with a 2-0 win over relegation-bound Genoa. With the victory they now hold a four-point advantage in the race for second place.

Inter Milan 3 — Atalanta 4

Udinese 3 — Chievo 1

Sampdoria 1 — Palermo 3

Siena 0 — Parma 0

Title secured

Bayern Munich have created history by clinching the Bundesliga title with a full six round of matches still to be played. Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in the 52nd minute to give Bayern a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, helping them to maintain a 20-point lead over dethroned champions Borussia Dortmund.

Despite failing miserably in their title quest this season, Dortmund did manage a satisfying weekend, Julian Schieber scoring twice to help them defeat FC Ausburg 4-2.

Werder Bremen 0 — Schalke 2

B Monchengladbach 1 — Greuther Furth 0

Bayer Leverkusen 1 — VfL Wolfsburg 1

Nurnberg 2 — Mainz 1

— Devaro Bolton