Arsenal and AC Milan underlined their championship credentials this weekend in England and Italy, while Real Madrid closed in ominously on Spanish leaders Real Sociedad.
Having seen Manchester United close the gap at the top of the premier league to two points with a 3-1 victory at struggling West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal responded with a 4-0 drubbing of Birmingham City.
Milan were equally impressive, retaining top spot in Serie A by ending Bologna's 100 percent home record with a 2-0 victory.
French striker Thierry Henry claimed Arsenal's first and last goals to chalk up his 100th strike for the London club, with midfielder Robert Pires and defender Lauren scoring in between to sink Birmingham.
Manchester United notched up only their third away win of the season at West Brom, Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, England midfielder Paul Scholes and Norwegian forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finding the net.
Chelsea stayed third, eight points behind Arsenal thanks to a 4-1 home victory over London rivals Charlton Athletic.
Second-half strikes from Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko and Brazilian Serginho gave Milan victory at the Dall'Ara stadium where Bologna had won their previous seven games.
Milan lead the standings on goal difference from city rivals Inter who also reached 36 points with a 2-0 victory over Modena with goals from Alvaro Recoba and Hernan Crespo.
The win came at a price for Inter, however, as Crespo was taken off on a stretcher with a groin injury.
Lazio are three points further back after a goalless draw at Brescia.
Fourth-placed Juventus cruised to a 5-0 win over lowly Reggina with French forward David Trezeguet and Italy's Alessandro Del Piero among the scorers, while Chievo Verona stayed in touch with a 1-0
FOUGHT BACK
Spanish leaders Real Sociedad fought back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw at third-placed Valencia, Darko Kovacevic and Nihat Kahveci scoring late goals after the champions had taken control through a Fabio Aurelio header and a comical own goal from Agustin Aranzabal.
Real Madrid closed to within a point of top spot thanks to Brazilian striker Ronaldo's seventh goal of the season in a 1-0 defeat of Celta Vigo.
Sociedad lead the table with 37 points, Real Madrid have 36 and Valencia are a further seven points adrift in third.
Deportivo Coruna missed the chance to move above Valencia when they were beaten 3-1 at Atletico Madrid while mid-table Barcelona were involved in a 0-0 stalemate at Malaga.
Nice returned to the top in France after a convincing 2-0 victory over Lille -- their first win in four matches.
The Riviera team had been replaced as leaders by Olympique Marseille before the mid-season break, but goals by Abdelmalek Cherrad and Kaba Diawara put them back on top of the pile.
Champions Olympique Lyon trail Nice by a point after their 1-0 victory over Marseille, sealed by a goal from Peguy Luyindula.
Monaco are fourth after being held 0-0 at home by Bastia, and En Avant Guingamp slipped to fifth after losing 2-1 at Stade Rennes.
With the German Bundesliga still on its mid-season break, Bayern Munich's Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz learned that he will be out of action for at least six weeks after injuring his knee in a friendly against Turkish club Galatasaray.
