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Barcelona, Chelsea stay top

December 13, 2004 10:26 IST

Round-up of the weekend action in Europe's leading leagues:

SPAIN

Real Madrid's match against Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu was abandoned with three minutes left and the score at 1-1 after police received a warning that a bomb would explode.

Basque newspaper Gara received a phone call in the name of Basque separatist group ETA and close to 70,000 fans had to be evacuated from the stadium, although police later said no explosive device was found in the vicinity.

On the pitch, Real had taken the lead through Ronaldo but Sociedad levelled when striker Nihat Kahveci fired home acrobatically. Spanish football authorities are scheduled to meet on Monday to decide if the result of the match will stand.

Leaders Barcelona needed a superb late strike from midfielder Xavi to snatch a 2-1 win at Albacete and maintain their nine-point lead at the top of the standings.

Espanyol moved into second place after a 2-1 win at home to struggling Real Mallorca, while Valencia are third after claiming their fourth league success in a row with a 1-0 win over bottom club Numancia.

After 15 matches Barcelona have 38 points, Espanyol 29 and Valencia 28. Real Madrid have 26 points from 14 games, not including the result of Sunday's abandoned match.

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ENGLAND

The eagerly-awaited showdown between champions Arsenal and leaders Chelsea ended with honours even after a lively 2-2 draw at Highbury.

Twice Thierry Henry put Arsenal ahead but twice Chelsea hit back, through John Terry and Eidur Gudjohnsen, to keep the gap between the two clubs at five points.

Chelsea have 40 and Arsenal 35 but Everton have sneaked into second place as their dream season continued with a 1-0 home win over Liverpool in the 200th Merseyside derby.

Lee Carsley's goal secured Everton's first derby win for five years and took them second on 36 points.

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ITALY

Juventus maintained their four-point lead at the top of Serie A after beating Bologna 1-0 thanks to a trademark free kick by Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved from just outside the area four minutes from time after a very close encounter.

Second-placed AC Milan crushed Fiorentina 6-0 at the San Siro with Andriy Shevchenko, hot favourite to be named European Footballer of the year on Monday, and Clarence Seedorf scoring two goals each.

Juve have 38 points, Milan 34 and Udinese 28 after their 1-0 win at Atalanta.

Inter Milan drew for a remarkable 12th time in 15 games with a late Christian Vieri strike giving them a 2-2 draw at lowly Siena.

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GERMANY

Bayern Munich claimed the honorary title of Bundesliga winter champions as they snatched a 2-2 draw at home to VfB Stuttgart just as Schalke 04 were conceding a late equaliser to bottom club SC Freiburg.

Silvio Meissner and Kevin Kuranyi had put Stuttgart ahead but Claudio Pizarro and Peruvian striker Paolo Guerrero grabbed a draw for the Munich side to take Bayern to 34 points.

Schalke are also on 34 after Mladen Krstajic's opener was cancelled out by Freiburg's Lebanon international Roda Antar with three minutes to go.

Stuttgart are third on 31 points, one ahead of VfL Wolfsburg, who thrashed Arminia Bielefeld 5-0.

The league season resumes on January 21.

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FRANCE

Olympique Lyon extended their unbeaten league run to 18 matches with a laboured 0-0 draw at Girondins Bordeaux but saw their lead at the top trimmed to three points.

Second-placed Lille came from behind to beat Nantes 2-1 with goals after the break from Geoffrey Dernis and Matt Moussilou.

Lyon have 38 points with Lille on 35. AS Monaco, 2-0 winners at Bastia, and AJ Auxerre, who won 1-0 at Olympique Marseille, have 29.

Source: REUTERS
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