Champions VfL Wolfsburg edged past Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1 on Sunday to move up to fifth place in the Bundesliga.
Hamburg SV and Bayer Leverkusen drew 0-0 on Saturday to remain undefeated at the top of the Bundesliga. Schalke 04, who won 2-1 at struggling VfB Stuttgart, stayed on their heels on 19 points while Bayern Munich notched their first victory in three games with a 2-1 triumph at Freiburg that moved them up to fifth on 15 points.
Schalke 04 won 2-1 at struggling VfB Stuttgart to stay on the heels of the Bundesliga leaders on Saturday while Bayern Munich notched their first victory in three games with a 2-1 triumph at Freiburg.
Manchester Untied striker Michael Owen is set for three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of a groin problem in the 2-1 Champions League victory over VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
The title race in Europe's top leagues remained tense at the weekend with Inter Milan losing at Napoli and Liverpool keeping the pressure on Manchester United. VfL Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich both lost in Germany and Barcelona were held at Valencia but Olympique Marseille went five points clear.
Visitors Schalke put a dent in Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title hopes by snatching a 1-0 win over the champions in a bad-tempered game on Saturday.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored twice on his debut to help Bayern Munich beat champions VfL Wolfsburg 3-0 and win their first league match of the season on Saturday.
Holders Bayern Munich crushed Hanover 96 4-1 with two goals from Thomas Mueller to reach the German Cup round of 16 On Wednesday.
Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg slumped to a shock 4-2 defeat by Hamburg SV on Sunday, ending a 20-match unbeaten home record in the league stretching back to the 2007/8 season.
Champions VfL Wolfsburg surged back from a goal down to beat Cologne 3-1 on Saturday to stay top of the Bundesliga after two matches.
Injury-ravaged Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim 2-0 on Saturday, shrugging off a string of absences and their midweek Champions League defeat at Porto to close in on the Bundesliga title.
Extends contract up to 2020
Leaders Schalke 04 surrendered their unbeaten Bundesliga record when they lost 1-0 at promoted Cologne on Friday. The visitors got away with a series of defensive lapses until Youssef Mohamad headed in for Cologne just before halftime after a long throw from Pierre Wome bamboozled the defence. Schalke remain top with 11 points from six matches followed by 1899 Hoffenheim, VfB Stuttgart and Hamburg SV on 10 points from five.
On a good night for English clubs in the Europa League, Manchester United hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-0, while Wolverhampton Wanderers also thrashed Besiktas 4-0 in Group K, and Arsenal came from two goals down to draw 2-2 away to Standard Liege and finish first in their pool. The upset of the night came in Group J as Crivelli scored a 90th-minute winner against Borussia Moenchengladbach to send Basaksehir through and knock the Germans out, with AS Roma grabbing the runner-up spot thanks to a 2-2 home draw with Wolfsberger as the Europa League group stage concluded on Thursday.
The Slumdog Millionaire star has been tagged by high-society, high fashion magazine Vanity Fair for its The Vanities Girls section. Every month, in The Vanities Girls, VF chooses a 'promising' young actress and gives her a full-page portrait. Freida is the chosen one for the March 2009 issue.
VfL Wolfsburg sealed their first Bundesliga title by demolishing Werder Bremen 5-1 on the final day of the season on Saturday.
Competition favourites AC Milan will face Werder Bremen, one of the Champions League dropouts, in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup following Friday's draw in Nyon, Switzerland.
Twice UEFA Cup winners Sevilla failed to reach the knockout phase after a 1-0 defeat at Sampdoria eliminated the Spaniards. Sampdoria's victory sent them through from Group C along with VfB Stuttgart, who thumped Standard Liege 3-0 to progress to Friday's last 32 draw. Paris St Germain, twice winners Tottenham Hotspur, NEC Nijmegen and Olympiakos Piraeus also sealed places in the first knockout round.
Out-of-favour England striker Michael Owen wound back the clock with a superb treble to lead Manchester United to a 3-1 win over VfL Wolfsburg on Tuesday. Owen, who turns 30 next week, has been fighting to regain his place in Fabio Capello's side and his virtuoso performance will improve his chances of a recall ahead of next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.
Udinese inflicted more misery on hapless Tottenham Hotspur with a 2-0 UEFA Cup group stage victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo continued from where he left off in the early stages of the UEFA Champions League, adding to his goal tally as Real Madrid beat AS Roma 2-0 in their round of 16, first leg tie on Wednesday.
Unai Emery's Villarreal were much improved in the second half and had spurned numerous chances before Moreno's leveller.
Troubled Liverpool conceded a last-gasp goal in a 1-1 draw at Olympique Lyon on Wednesday, leaving them in danger of an early UEFA Champions League exit, while Inter Milan were on the right end of some late drama. European champions Barcelona, beaten 2-1 at home by Rubin Kazan two weeks ago, were held to a goalless draw away to the Russians in freezing conditions.
Substitute Joel Pohjanpalo scored a hat-trick in the last 11 minutes to fire Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win at home to Hamburg SV on an afternoon of late Bundesliga drama on Saturday.
Holders Barcelona suffered a stunning 2-1 home defeat by Russia's Rubin Kazan while Liverpool lost by the same score to Olympique Lyon at Anfield on a night of high drama and late goals in the Champions League on Tuesday.
VfB Stuttgart continued their unbeaten run under new coach Thomas Schneider on Friday, climbing to sixth with a 1-1 home draw against Nuremberg who are still looking for their first Bundesliga win of the season.
The fixtures for the group stages in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League, which kicks-off on Wednesday.
UEFA Cup favourites AC Milan missed the chance to progress to the knockout stages as group winners when a late Mahir Saglik equaliser handed VfL Wolfsburg a 2-2 draw at the San Siro on Wednesday. As Group E's top side, Wolfsburg are guaranteed a tie against a third-placed side from another group in Friday's last 32 draw while seven-times European champions Milan must face a third-placed finisher from the Champions League group stage.
Bayern Munich's Bundesliga woes continued on Saturday when they blew a two-goal lead in a 3-3 home draw with VfL Bochum while promoted Hoffenheim took over at the top. Bayern were leading 3-1 with seven minutes to go through goals from Daniel van Buyten and Ze Roberto (2) only to allow Bochum to stage a comeback with two bad defensive lapses inside three minutes.
Bayern Munich secured their 21st German league title and completed a domestic double for the third time in four seasons when they drew 0-0 away to VfL Wolfsburg on Sunday. Bayern's draw stretched their lead over closest rivals Werder Bremen to 10 points with three games left and set off the traditionally soggy celebrations, as the players soaked each other, and anyone else on the field, with beer.
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich suffered their first league defeat in 18 months when they slumped to a 1-0 loss at Augsburg on Saturday as Sascha Moelder's first-half strike ended their record 53-game unbeaten league run.
Borussia Dortmund missed a bagful of chances to draw 1-1 at home with Augsburg on Tuesday, as they squandered the opportunity to make up ground in the Bundesliga title race heading into the winter break.
Since winning 2-1 at home to Wolfsburg in September, United have scored only twice in three Champions League games. In the Premier League the record is five goals in the last six games.
Hoffenheim ended champions Bayern Munich's 19-game winning streak in the Bundesliga on Saturday with a 3-3 draw after first taking the lead and then fighting back from two goals down.
German champions Bayern Munich sacked coach Carlo Ancelotti on Thursday, a day after they suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in the Champions League.
Schalke 04 overpowered local rivals VfL Bochum 3-0 to strengthen their bid for a return to the Champions League.
Bayern Munich beat VfB Stuttgart 4-1 on Sunday to move 12 points clear in the Bundesliga with only one point required from their last four games to seal a 21st German title. Luca Toni scored his 36th goal in 42 matches in the eighth minute. Antonio da Silva equalised nine minutes later before Mark van Bommel fired in a superb low shot that curled around the wall off an indirect free kick in the 55th minute.
Manchester United's lead in England was cut to three points when they could only play out a 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough while Chelsea won 2-0 at Manchester City. A round-up of weekend action in the main European leagues.
Spain coach Luis Aragones announced a 23-man squad for next month's World Cup in Germany on Monday.
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