Barcelona stay atop

PARIS. — Barcelona stayed top of the Spanish La Liga soccer table on goal difference with a 3-0 win over Malaga as Atletico Madrid won 4-2 at Rayo Vallecano to stay hot on their heels.
Bayern Munich returned from the German Bundesliga winter break to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach, Juventus dropped points for the first time in 13 Serie A matches and Monaco cut Paris St Germain’s Ligue 1 lead to three points.

In Spain, Real Madrid moved top when they beat Granada 2-0 on Saturday but comfortable wins for Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on Sunday restored the joint leaders’ one-point advantage in La Liga after 21 matches.

Cristiano Ronaldo set Real on their way with the opening goal at the Bernabeu, the league’s top scorer’s 22nd of the campaign, and Karim Benzema added a second for Carlo Ancelotti’s in-form side.

Barca coasted to a 3-0 home victory over Malaga thanks to goals from Gerard Pique, Pedro and Alexis Sanchez, and Turkey playmaker Arda Turan struck twice in Atletico’s 4-2 success at Rayo Vallecano.

The leaders have 54 points with Barca ahead on goal difference. Real are lurking ominously on 53 and fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao have 42 after thrashing Osasuna 5-1.
In England, Premier League high-fliers Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool reached the FA Cup fifth round where they will lock horns with each other in two mouth-watering clashes. Arsenal crushed Coventry City 4-0, Manchester City came from 2-0 down to beat Watford 4-2 thanks to Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick, Chelsea overcame Stoke City 1-0 and Liverpool won 2-0 at Bournemouth.

Manchester City host Chelsea and Liverpool travel to Arsenal in the last 16.
In Germany, Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich picked up where they left off before the winter break, notching their ninth successive league win a 2-0 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach to extend their lead to 10 points.

The Bavarians, unbeaten in their last 42 league games, are on 47 points with Bayer Leverkusen failing to keep pace and slumping to a 3-2 defeat by Freiburg to stay on 37. — Soccernet.