European round-up: Juve and Real Madrid roar into pole position
Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick in a Real Madrid shirt as he helped to propel his side into first place in Spain and Juventus accelerated into top spot in Italy after crushing Inter Milan 3-0.
Ronaldo scored his first hat-trick in a Real Madrid shirt as he helped to propel his side into first place in Spain and Juventus accelerated into top spot in Italy after crushing Inter Milan 3-0.
Real were merciless in thrashing Alaves 5-1 on Saturday, with Ronaldo finally showing the form which landed Brazil last year's World Cup.
He bamboozled defenders and threaded his second goal through Alaves goalkeeper Richard Dutruel's legs.
"I'm very happy, but the team had the chances to score even more goals," said the Brazilian.
Raul scored the other two goals, taking his total for the club to 208 goals, overtaking Hugo Sanchez to become the fourth highest scorer in Real history.
At just 25 years old, Raul could surely better Ferenc Puskas' total of 236 goals and could even approach the 290 of Santillana or the 307 goals scored by Alfredo Di Stefano.
Real's one-point advantage over long-time leaders Real Sociedad was left intact after the latter slumped to a 3-0 defeat at Valladolid on Sunday.
Uruguayan striker Nico Olivera scored in the second and eighth minutes and Oscar struck in the 21st minute to clinch victory.
In the match dubbed the 'Italian Derby', an own goal by Argentine midfielder Guly, a long-range strike from Czech international Pavel Nedved and a late third from Mauro Camoranesi gave Juventus a resounding victory.
The match is considered more important than the Milan or Rome derbies because of the great rivalry between the two clubs - Juventus and Inter are also the two best supported teams in Italy.
Juventus' home victory gives them 51 points from 23 matches, three more than Inter who at the start of play shared top spot with the reigning champions.
Nedved said beating Inter made up for Tuesday's disappointing 3-0 Champions League defeat at home to Manchester United.
"We wanted to give something back to the fans by putting on a good show," he said.
"This squad does not like losing and we showed great character tonight."
"It was an important result for us and psychologically could have a bearing on the championship."
Filippo Inzaghi scored twice for third-placed AC Milan who lost ground in the title race after being held to a 3-3 draw at home to Atalanta.
Midfielder defender Gennaro Gattuso refused to blame Milan's defence for conceding three soft goals.
"We all have to take responsibility; it's not just down to the defence," said the Italy international.
"From the backline right through to the strikers, we are all to blame."
Bayern Munich maintained their ten-point lead in the Bundesliga as Michael Ballack scored twice in a 2-0 victory at Energie Cottbus on Saturday.
It was Ballack's perfect response to his 20,000-euro fine for criticising coach Ottmar Hitzfeld's tactics.
Ballack found the target with a 33rd minute header from Bixente Lizarazu's cross and a 58th minute shot following Giovane Elber's headed flick-on.
Hitzfeld moved to rebuild bridges, calling Ballack the "player of the day".
Second-placed Borussia Dortmund had a lacklustre 2-0 home win over mid-table Hansa Rostock.
"We had to work hard for the victory," said Dortmund coach Matthias Sammer.
Monaco took over top spot in the French league on Saturday with an impressive 3-1 victory over Lille while Marseille were held to a goalless draw at Strasbourg.
Monaco and Marseille each have 52 points but the side coached by Didier Deschamps dislodged their southern rivals on goal difference.