European Football

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Spanish Primera Division

Matchday 23 of 38

Saturday 11 February

Racing Santander 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Osasuna 3-2 Barcelona
Real Betis 2-1 Athletic Bilbao

Sunday 12 February

Espanyol 0-2 Real Zaragoza
Malaga 3-1 Real Mallorca
Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Getafe
Valencia 4-0 Sporting Gijon
Villarreal 3-1 Granada
Real Madrid 4-2 Levante

Monday 13 February

Real Sociedad 2-0 Sevilla

Matchday 23 Roundup

Real Madrid (58) their lead at the top to 10 points after Barcelona (48) lost to Osasuna. Valencia (40) remain 3rd and have opened up a gap of 8 points to 4th after beating Sporting Gijon. Levante & Espanyol (both 32) remain 4th and 5th despite both losing with Atletico Madrid (31) in 6th.

Real Zaragoza (15) remain bottom despite victory over Espanyol. Sporting Gijon (19) are 19th and Racing Santander (23) remain 18th 2 points behind Granada.

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Siena missed two one-on-ones with the keeper and another chance that was basically an open goal.

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FT: Parma 0-0 Juventus

Juventus have missed out on the chance to go top of Serie A after being held to a draw at Parma. Juventus dominated but could not find the breakthrough and puts them a point behind Milan albeit with a game in hand. The first half saw Giorgio Chiellini see his header come off the post, an Andrea Pirlo freekick went inches wide and Mirko Vucinic brought out a good save from Nicola Pavarini. In the final 15 minutes, Nicola Pavarini performed more heroics be keeping out a close range shot from Vucinic, a daisy cutter from Pirlo and blocked an Emanuele Giaccherini shot after the latter was picked out by Pirlo to ensure Parma went away with a point.

[RomaShield27]

Good article on the financial exploits of Bayern Munich:

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2012/02 ... -make.html

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FT: Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz

Markus Babbel's debut home game in charge of Hoffenheim ended in a draw against Mainz. The result moves Hoffenheim into the top 10 and Mainz have moved upto 12th. Hoffenheim took the lead 9 minutes in when a Boris Vukcevic cross was inadvertently diverted home by Nikolce Noveski for an own goal. Mainz equalised on the half hour mark when winter signing Mohamed Zidan diverted home a Radoslav Zabavnik cross to keep up his record of scoring in every Mainz game since he rejoined the club.

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FT: Fiorentina 0-3 Napoli

Edinson Cavani scored a brace to put Napoli on their way of recording a thumping victory away at Fiorentina. The result moves Napoli upto 5th leapfrogging Inter in the process who lost 3-0 at home against Bologna tonight. Napoli took the lead 3 minutes in when Marek Hamsik played a nice pass to Edinson Cavani who slotted the ball past Artur Boruc. 17 minutes in, Paolo Cannavaro narrowly headed wide a Hamsik corner. It was almost 2-0 when Christian Maggio saw his header rebound off the bar and down the other end, Cesare Natali headed a corner off the near post. Cavani made it 2-0 10 minutes into the 2nd half after latching onto another Hamsik pass and firing the ball beyond Boruc. Ezequiel Lavezzi killed the game off in stoppage time with a nice curling effort from the edge of the box.

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FT: Hertha Berlin 0-1 Borussia Dortmund

Hertha Berlin suffered their sixth successive defeat but put in a very good performance for new manager Otto Rehhagel to be happy about when he officially takes over tomorrow. Hertha had the chance to take the lead 10 minutes before the break when Raffael dispossessed Mats Hummels but the resulting shot was straight at Roman Weidenfeller. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Hummels was once again dispossessed by Raffael who spread the ball wide for Patrick Ebert whose whipped in cross was far ahead of Adrian Ramos. The winning gal came midway through the half when a Robert Lewandowski header was tipped onto the bar by Thomas Kraft but Kraft could nothing about Kevin Grosskreutz overhead kick to put Borussia Dortmund on their way to their 5th successive win and ensure they remain top for another week.

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FT: Real Madrid 4-0 Racing Santander

Real Madrid have provisionally moved 13 points clear of Barcelona after comfortably beating Racing Santander at home. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring 6 minutes after nodding home a Kaka cross. Racing were reduced to 10 men 5 minutes before the break when Domingo Cisma handled an attempted Ronaldo cross just outside the area. On the stroke of half time, Karim Benzema dispatched a shot from the edge of the box past Tono to make it 2-0. Angel Di Maria made it 3-0 with 17 minutes to go with a superb curling effort which Tono got a hand to but could not keep it. With a minute to go, Xabi Alonso broke through, teed the ball up for Di Maria whose shot was parried by Tono but Benzema sent home the rebound via a deflection to round off the victory.

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FT: Sevilla 2-0 Osasuna

Sevilla claimed their first league win of 2012 after battling to win at home against Osasuna. 10 minutes in, Jesus Navas tested Andres Fernandez and on 16 minutes the deadlock was broken. Alvaro Negredo teed the ball up for Gary Medel to drive home a low 25 yard drive that beat Andres Fernandez. Osasuna started the brighter in the 2nd half with Alvaro Cejudo forcing Andres Palop to tip over a curling effort. Just past the hour, Navas and Negredo got beyond the Osasuna backline but wasted the opportunity and nearly paid for it with 13 minutes to go when Andres Palop made two wonderful saves to deny Roland Lamah. Sevilla wrapped up the game in injury time when Navas picked out Piotr Trochowski to lift the ball over Fernandez for 2-0.

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FT: Juventus 3-1 Catania

Juventus moved back to the top of Serie A with victory over 10 men Catania. Catania took the lead 4 minutes in when Pablo Barrientos cut past Andrea Pirlo and delivered a curling effort from the edge of the box which was beyond the reach of Gianluigi Buffon. On 15 minutes, Marco Borriello headed a good opportunity straight at Tomas Kosicky. Juventus equalised midway through the half when Andrea Pirlo curled a delightful freekick round the wall and past the rooted Kosicky. On the half hour, Fabio Quagliarella went close to putting Juve in the lead but saw his effort cannon off the crossbar. Midway through the 2nd half, Catania were reduced to 10 men when Marco Motta was shown a second yellow. With 15 to go, Giorgio Chiellini rose to head home a Pirlo freekick to put Juve in front. With 9 to go, Kosicky's clearance went straight to Pirlo who played through Quagliarella whose shot struck the hand of Kosicky and looped into the net to secure the victory.

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FT: Freiburg 0-0 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have slipped to 3rd after only getting a point at bottom club Freiburg. Bayern are 4 points behind table topper Borussia Dortmund and now a point behind Borussia Monchengladbach. The first half saw very few chances with Thomas Muller sidefooting a Franck Ribery cross safe into the hands of Oliver Baumann. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, Arjen Robben went close with a shot from a tight angle but the best chance fell to Daniel Caligiuri with 5 minutes to go but his shot was saved by Manuel Neuer at the near post.

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FT: Marseille 1-1 Valenciennes

Marseille are 3 points off a Champions League spot after being held to a draw by Valenciennes. Marseille took the lead 16 minutes in when Alou Diarra headed home a Mathieu Valbuena cross. Valenciennes equalised 5 minutes into the 2nd half when a Gael Danic corner was only half cleared and Gil had the simple task of firing home the loose ball.

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FT: Lecce 4-1 Siena

Lecce came from behind to thump Siena at the Via del Mare. The result means Lecce remain in the drop zone but have cut the gap to Siena to 2 points. Siena made the brighter start and 12 minutes in, Luca Rossettini saw a shot deflected over the bar. Siena took the lead 25 minutes in when Angelo picked out Cristiano del Grosso to volley the ball past Massimiliano Benassi. Just past the half hour, Lecce equalised when Luis Muriel tapped home a corner. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, Emanuele Calaio saw his shot saved by Benassi and Moris Carozzieri had to get to the rebound to clear just before Reginaldo could pounce. Midway through the half, Lecce were awarded a penalty when Muriel went on a mazy run and was brought down in the box by Alessandro Gazzi. David Di Michele stepped up to convert the penalty to give Lecce the lead. With 10 to go, Siena nearly equalised when an Angelo cross was held by Benassi with Luigi Giorgi lurking. With 8 minutes to go, Lecce made it 3-1 when Juan Cuadrado sparked the counter, dribbled 60 yards and then delicately chipping the ball over Gianluca Pegolo. Lecce were reduced to 10 men in injury time when Manuele Blasi was shown a straight red for lashing out but Lecce scored again soon after with a brilliant freekick from Davide Brivio.

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FT: Groningen 3-0 PSV Eindhoven

Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven were thumped away from by Groningen. Groningen took the lead half hour in when Petter Ndersson picked out Hyun Jun Suk to sweep the ball home from 10 yards out. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Dusan Tadic played a superb pass to Leandro Bacuna to fire home for 2-0. Things got worse for PSV just before the hour when Stanislav Manolev was shown a second yellow reducing PSV to 10. With 15 to go, Zakaria Labyad was caught in possession by David Teixeira and he adnaced forward and with Andreas Isaksson rushing from his goalline, Teixeira played the ball to Suk to chip home the third from long range to complete the shock scoreline.

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FT: Cesena 1-3 Milan

Milan have returned to the top of the table after winning away to Cesena. Milan took the lead on the half hour when a Thiago Silva freekick was saved by Francesco Antonioli but Sulley Muntari was on hand to divert the loose ball home. 2 minutes later, Urby Emanuelson made it 2-0 with a fantastic strike. Robinho made it 3-0 10 minutes into the 2nd half steering home an Ignazio Abate pass. Daniel Pudil scored what proved to be a consolation for Cesena with 25 minutes remaining.

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FT: Schalke 4-0 Wolfsburg

Schalke dominated Wolfsburg at home to keep up with the pack at the top. The win puts Schalke 1 point behind 3rd placed Bayern Munich and 5 behind leaders Borussia Dortmund. The deadlock was broken after 10 minutes when a Jefferson Farfan cross was flicked on by Joel Matip for Raul to tap home. It was 2-0 5 minutes later when a through ball put Christian Fuchs down the left and his cross was steered home by Klaas Jan Huntelaar. Wolfsburg had their chances in the next 10 minutes with Felipe going close and Lars Unnerstall producing a good save to deny Yohandry Orozco. 10 minutes before the break, Schalke were awarded a penalty when Felipe handled in the area. The resulting penalty by Huntelaar was deflected onto the bar by Diego Benaglio. 4 minutes into the 2nd half, it was 3-0. A corner was headed on by Kyriakos Papadopoulos for Matip to backheel the ball past Benaglio. With 18 minutes to go, Huntelaar got his 2nd of the game when he headed home a Fuchs cross to round off the win.

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FT: Hannover 4-2 Stuttgart

Hannover comfortably dispatched of Stuttgart to keep in contention of a European place. Hannover went close to breaking the deadlock 10 minutes when Mame Biram Diouf headed a corner inches over. 5 minutes later, another corner was whipped in and this time the unmarked Karim Haggui headed home to put Hannover ahead. 2 minutes later, Stuttgart sparked a counter which saw Martin Harnik through 1-on-1 but his shot was straight at Ron Robert Zieler. Just past the half hour, it was 2-0 when a Christian Pander corner was diverted into the net by the shoulder of Diouf. A minute into the 2nd half, it was 3-0 when a corner fell to Pander who fired the ball home. With 17 minutes to go, poor Stuttgart defending saw Manuel Schmiedebach head the ball on for Lars Stindl to blast home for 4-0. 2 minutes later, it was 4-1 when Vedad Ibisevic played the ball through for Harnik to slot the ball past Zieler. With 10 minutes to go, Cacau headed the ball on for a fantastic overhead kick by Shinji Okazaki to get another goal for Stuttgart. With 7 to go, Ibisevic went close to putting Stuttgart to within a goal of Hannover but his shot was smartly saved by Zieler and Hannover claimed the points.

German Bundesliga

Matchday 22 of 34

Friday 17 February

Hoffenheim 1-1 Mainz

Saturday 18 February

Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 Augsburg
Hamburg 1-3 Werder Bremen
Nuremberg 2-1 Cologne
Kaiserslautern 1-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
Hertha Berlin 0-1 Borussia Dortmund
Freiburg 0-0 Bayern Munich

Sunday 19 February

Schalke 4-0 Wolfsburg
Hannover 4-2 Stuttgart

Matchday 22 Roundup

Borussia Dortmund (49) have opened up a 3 point lead at the top after a slender victory at Hertha Berlin. Borussia Monchengladbach (46) have moved upto 2nd with an impressive victory at Kaiserslautern. Bayern Munich (45) have slipped to 3rd with a disappointing draw at Freiburg. Schalke (44) remain 4th but have kept up with the pack at the top with a crushing victory over Wolfsburg. Werder Bremen (36) & Bayer Leverkusen (34) remain 5th and 6th after respective victories.

Freiburg & Augsburg (both 18) remain in the relegation zone and Kaiserslautern (18) remain in the relegation playoff spot 2 points behind Hertha Berlin.