LONDON, Dec 23: It was a tale of contrasting emotions for clubs in the capitals of Italy and Spain on Saturday.

While Rome sides Lazio and Roma won in the Serie A to improve their league positions, Malaga piled on the misery on Real Madrid to leave their La Liga title defence in tatters.

There was joy in the French city of Lyon as well after Olympique Lyon moved level on points with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the Ligue 1 standings as the three leagues prepared to head into their winter hibernation.

Lazio moved up to second after a 1-0 win at Sampdoria saw them leapfrog Inter Milan, who were held at home by Genoa, while AS Roma beat AC Milan 4-2 in a thrilling end to 2012’s Serie A action.

Juventus top the standing with 44 points followed by Lazio on 36 and Fiorentina, who won 3-0 at Palermo, in third on 35. Inter are fourth and trail Fiorentina on goal-difference while Napoli’s 2-0 win at Siena kept them fifth on 34.Lazio’s arch-rivals Roma are also in contention for a Champions League spot and lie sixth on 32 points with Milan next on 27. Italy’s top two qualify for Europe’s top club competition automatically while the third-placed team enters the playoff round.

Lazio’s Brazilian playmaker Hernanes scored the only goal of a scrappy match in the 31st minute to the joy of his coach Vladimir Petkovic.

“We worked hard for this, in the last month we have started to believe that we can do something important,” Petkovic told Sky Italia before adding that they still needed to improve to challenge Juve for the title.

Inter needed an 85th-minute equaliser from Esteban Cambiasso to secure a 1-1 draw at home with Genoa while Stevan Jovetic netted twice for Vincenzo Montella’s Fiorentina against Palermo and Napoli prevailed courtesy goals from Christian Maggio and Edinson Cavani.

Goals from Nicolas Burdisso, Pablo Osvaldo and two from the sensational Erik Lamela put Roma 4-0 up in just over an hour at a vociferous Stadio Olimpico in Rome before Giampaolo Pazzini and former Roma forward Bojan Krkic scored in the last five minutes for Milan.There was cause for concern in Madrid as Real slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Malaga to fall 16 points behind leaders Barcelona with coach Jose Mourinho under renewed pressure after his decision to bench goalkeeper Iker Casillas, a symbol for the Madrid faithful, backfired.

Mourinho told a post-match news conference Real were “facing an insurmountable gap” but dismissed a question about whether he feared for his job.

“I’m not worried about my job at all and I’m not going to resign,” said the Portuguese, who justified his decision to axe Casillas.

“We hadn’t been playing well in different aspects of the game, including defence. It was a technical decision.”

Isco fired Malaga ahead at the Rosaleda with a low shot from the edge of the area four minutes after the break before Real levelled in the 66th through an own goal by Sergio Sanchez.

But Malaga’s Joaquin Sanchez set up substitute Roque Santa Cruz in the 72nd with a clever back-heel and four minutes later the Paraguayan finished well from a clever Joaquin pass.

Mesut Ozil made the most of a stray pass to set up Karim Benzema for Real’s second eight minutes from time but Malaga held on for their first home win against the Madrid club in almost 30 years.

Malaga’s win left the Costa del Sol club in fourth on 31 points, two points behind Real who trail third-placed Madrid rivals Atletico Madrid by seven points.

Barcelona ended 2012 on a high when Lionel Messi struck his 91st goal of the year in a 3-1 win at Real Valladolid to move to 49 points from 17 matches, a record for this stage of a La Liga campaign.

Fifth-placed Real Betis slipped three points behind Andalusian rivals Malaga with a 2-1 defeat to Real Mallorca, who escaped the relegation zone.

In France, Lisandro Lopez, Anthony Reveillere and a Bafetimbi Gomis penalty helped Lyon record a 3-0 home victory over 10-man Nice to go level with PSG on 38 points.

Stade Rennes climbed to fourth on 32 points thanks to a 4-2 win at Ajaccio while Lorient are a point behind Rennes in fifth spot after twice coming from a goal down to draw 2-2 at home with Reims.—Agencies