EUROPEAN ROUNDUP: ITALY: Christian Vieri's 18th goal of the season gave Inter Milan a famous 1-0 win over arch-rivals AC Milan in the city derby yesterday evening at the San Siro, a result that puts Inter top of the Italian first division.
Vieri's 77th-minute goal, which came against the run of the play after AC Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati had parried Nicola Ventola's shot, was sufficient to put Inter top by a single point from Juventus who had prevailed 2-1 at home to Bologna earlier Sunday, setting up a titanic clash between Inter and Juve next week.
A further point adrift are defending champions AS Roma who saw their title defence falter with a 1-1 draw at struggling Lecce.
Juve had needed a stroke of luck at home to Bologna, prevailing thanks to a farcical late own goal by defender Massimo Tarantino.
Tarantino's bungled header from a Gianluca Pessotto cross completed the comeback for Juve begun by French striker David Trezeguet's headed equaliser shortly after Lamberto Zauli's opener for in-form Bologna.
Away from the three-way fight for the Scudetto, Lazio's recovery continued apace with a 4-2 home victory over bottom club Venezia at the Olympic Stadium including a hat-trick from Hernan Crespo.
Struggling Fiorentina picked up a priceless 2-1 win at Verona.
SPAIN: Real Madrid were toppled from the Primera Liga summit by Valencia last night after less than 24 hours on top.
The Mestalla side claimed a 1-0 victory at Real Zaragoza to extend their unbeaten run to nine matches, but they were made to work hard for the points.
Kily Gonzalez crossed to the far post where Mauricio Pellegrino nodded the ball down for Rufete to head home in the 25th minute, but other clear-cut chances were hard to come by.
Barcelona took out their Champions League frustrations on Malaga, showing no mercy as they dismantled their guests in a 5-1 win.
Patrick Kluivert scored a hat-trick, with two goals coming from the penalty spot, as Barca bounced back in style from their 3-0 defeat against Roma.
The win lifted the Catalan giants level on points with Real Madrid, who stay second on goal difference only.
Athletic Bilbao cruised to a 3-1 win over Las Palmas which was capped by a spectacular 30-yard free-kick from Tiko. The goal extinguished a Las Palmas comeback.
