LONDON, Dec 8: Real Madrid won at Barcelona in the league for the first time in 20 years to maintain their grip on the Spanish Primera Liga this weekend.

In Italy AS Roma and AC Milan both won but champions Juventus lost again, while the top two in England, Chelsea and Arsenal were held to draws, allowing Manchester United to close the gap.

It was a weekend of stalemates in Germany, with the top five all having to settle for a point.

Real snatched a 2-1 victory at the Nou Camp on Saturday with a goal in each half from Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo.

Roberto Carlos broke the deadlock towards the end of an evenly matched first half when he cracked in a ferocious drive and former Barcelona idol Ronaldo added a second with a powerful drilled shot on 74 minutes.

Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert pulled one back for Barca.

The win meant Real still have a two-point lead over Valencia at the top of the table. Valencia won 2-1 at home to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, with Vicente scoring twice. Both teams missed a penalty and both had a player sent off.

Deportivo Coruna are third a further point back after they edged a 1-0 win over Malaga at the Riazor on Saturday, with Joan Capdevila scoring the decisive goal on the hour.

Unbeaten AS Roma won 3-0 at Chievo Verona to move level with AC Milan at the top of Serie A, four points ahead of champions Juventus.

Goals by Francesco Totti, Brazilian full back Mancini and Antonio Cassano, all in the space of five second-half minutes, sealed an emphatic win for Roma on Sunday.

Christian Vieri scored twice for Inter Milan as they beat Perugia 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten run under coach Alberto Zaccheroni and move back into the title race.

Third-placed Juventus suffered their third defeat inside a week, going down 2-0 to Lazio on Saturday.

An 81st-minute screamer by Brazilian Kaka gave European champions AC Milan a 1-0 win at Empoli on Saturday. They share top spot with Roma on 30 points with Juve on 26 and Inter on 25.

Chelsea hung on to top spot in the English premier league despite being held 1-1 at Leeds United after second-placed Arsenal conceded a late equaliser to also draw 1-1 at Leicester City.

A 90th-minute goal for Leicester by Craig Hignett dramatically denied Arsenal, who had opened the scoring through Gilberto Silva and had defender Ashley Cole sent off.

Chelsea stay a point clear of Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten team with 36 points after Damien Duff’s second-half equaliser gave them a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

Champions Manchester United are only a point behind Arsenal after thrashing Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Diego Forlan scored twice for United, whose manger Alex Ferguson was back in the dugout following a minor heart operation in midweek.

Bundesliga leaders VfB Stuttgart remained on top despite a dull 0-0 home draw against Hamburg SV on Saturday.

Stuttgart extended their unbeaten run to 15 games and stayed two points clear of second-placed Werder Bremen, who drew 1-1 at home with Bayern Munich, also on Saturday.

Champions Bayern are in fourth place, six points off the top. Bayer Leverkusen wasted a great chance to slash the gap at the top of the Bundesliga when they managed only a goalless draw at bottom club Cologne on Sunday.—Reuters