The nearest challengers in England and Italy failed to capitalise on setbacks for the leaders but the chasers in Germany proved far less profligate, as uefa.com recaps in this look back at the latest domestic league action.

Thrilling draw
Chelsea FC had appeared invincible and impenetrable a few weeks ago, but a defeat at Manchester City FC and a home draw with APOEL FC in the UEFA Champions League opened cracks that Everton were able to widen at Stamford Bridge – where the London side had not conceded in the league since the opening day of the season – by claiming a 3-3 draw. That result could have allowed Manchester United FC to move level at the summit, however the champions then slumped 1-0 at home to Aston Villa FC. Third-placed Arsenal FC at least made up some ground by adding to Liverpool FC's problems, emerging 2-1 winners at Anfield.

Milan surprise
FC Internazionale Milano would have been cursing the surrender of their lead as they drew 1-1 at lowly Atalanta BC but they ended up in a better position than they had started as AC Milan were shocked 2-0 at home by US Città di Palermo. The Rossoneri are now five points off the pace, with Juventus six back after they too stumbled via a 3-1 Saturday humbling at AS Bari. There were no such problems for the established order in Spain, on the other hand, as FC Barcelona sealed a 1-0 home victory against RCD Espanyol and Real Madrid CF impressively recorded a late 3-2 win at Valencia CF, who dropped to fourth after Sevilla FC won 1-0 at Real Sporting de Gijón.

Leverkusen held
The bottom-versus-top meeting in the German capital surprisingly ended all square on Friday as Hertha BSC Berlin held Bayer 04 Leverkusen to a 2-2 draw, and that scoreline gave the other Bundesliga hopefuls all the motivation they needed. FC Schalke 04 moved second by earning an excellent 2-0 success at Werder Bremen, FC Bayern München rose to third by routing struggling hosts VfL Bochum 1848 5-1 and Hamburger SV beat 1. FC Nürnberg 4-0 on their travels. BV Borussia Dortmund, in sixth, are just five points from the summit after downing champions VfL Wolfsburg 3-1.

Bordeaux triumph
Europe's flagship match of the weekend was arguably Olympique Lyonnais versus French champions FC Girondins de Bordeaux, and the latter took the honours through Marouane Chamakh's late header to stay four points clear of surprise package Montpellier Hérault SC. Elsewhere, the contenders in the Netherlands, Scotland, Greece and Turkey all gained favourable outcomes with even more intriguing results coming in Portugal, where draws for SC Braga and SL Benfica allowed FC Porto to move within a point of the leading pair.