Zidane outwits Barcelona's Brazilian player Motta

Barcelona put their domestic problems behind them by having the better of a battling 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in 'El Clasico' on Saturday.

Fears that it would be the most one-sided contest in recent years disappeared as the visitors made a strong start.

And it was against the run of play when Ronaldo put Real ahead after Claude Makele had put him through.

Barca deservedly equalised on the half hour when Iker Casillas spilled a Patrick Kluivert shot, and Luis Enrique pounced to poke home from close range.

FIXTURES Saturday Valladolid 1-0 Valencia Villarreal 1-1 Mallorca Real Madrid 1-1 Barcelona Sunday CD Alaves 0-1 Malaga D Coruna 3-1 Sevilla Espanyol 3-3 Athletic Bilbao Osasuna 0-2 Celta Vigo R Santander 1-0 R Huelva Real Betis 2-2 Atletico Madrid Real Sociedad 5-0 Rayo Vallecano Latest La Liga statistics

The match was typically combative, with Enrique and Zinedine Zidane involved in an early fracas.

And with two minutes remaining the home side were reduced to 10 men after Michel Salgado was sent off for a foul on Marc Overmars.

Champions Valencia lost further ground with a 1-0 defeat at Valladolid, Antonio Lopez scoring in the 75th minute, and Villarreal drew 1-1 with Real Mallorca.

In Sunday's early match, a last-minute strike from Dario Silva earned Malaga a 1-0 win over Alaves.

Deportivo moved within one point of Madrid after beating sixth-placed Sevilla 3-1 on Sunday.

And they were joined on 60 points by Real Sociedad, who thrashed Rayo Vallecano 5-0 in Sunday's late match.

Italy

Juventus maintained their six-point lead at top of Serie A with a 2-1 win over Roma in Turin.

An Alessandro Del Piero penalty in the 30th minute and a volley from the same player nine minutes later proved enough, despite Vincenzo Montella's reply just before the break.

FIXTURES Saturday AC Milan 0-1 Empoli Brescia 0-1 Inter Milan Chievo 2-1 Reggina Lazio 2-1 Piacenza Modena 3-2 Bologna Parma 1-0 Torino Perugia 1-0 Atalanta Udinese 3-2 Como Juventus 2-1 Roma Latest Serie A statistics

Milan slipped up as they were beaten by a 12th minute goal from Empoli's Antonio Di Natale at the San Siro, and now trail Juve by nine points in third place.

But Inter Milan kept the pressure on Juve after an injury-time goal from substitute Hernan Crespo gave them a 1-0 win at Brescia.

Inter's Cristiano Zanetti and Christian Vieri and Brescia's Fabio Bilica were all sent off in a fiery encounter.

All three of the sides fighting for the fourth Champions League spot enjoyed home wins.

Lazio beat Piacenza 2-1, Chievo won 2-1 against Reggina and Parma defeated Torino 1-0 thanks to an Adrian Mutu penalty.

Germany

Champions Borussia Dortmund slowed leaders Bayern Munich's march toward the Bundesliga title by beating them 1-0 on Saturday - their first victory over their arch-rivals in eight years.

FIXTURES Saturday 1860 Munich 1-1 Hamburg B Dortmund 1-0 Bayern Munich Cottbus 1-1 B M'gladbach Hannover 2-1 Kaiserslautern H Rostock 0-1 H Berlin Nuremberg 0-0 A Bielefeld W Bremen 0-1 Wolfsburg Sunday B Leverkusen 1-1 Schalke Bochum 3-1 Stuttgart Latest Bundesliga statistics

Substitute striker Marcio Amoroso hit the winner for the home side from the penalty spot on 61 minutes to keep third-placed Dortmund in the race for second place and direct qualification for the Champions League.

Bayern, who had not lost to Dortmund since a 3-1 defeat there in 1995, remain 11 points clear of second-placed VfB Stuttgart with five matches left.

Stuttgart failed to move clear of Dortmund after slumping to a 3-1 defeat at Bochum, while Bayer Leverkusen drew 1-1 with Schalke.

France

Pedro Pauleta scored a hat-trick and set up another as Bordeaux hammered struggling nine-man AC Ajaccio 6-1 to stay in the race for a Champions' League berth.

FIXTURES Saturday AC Ajaccio 1-6 Bordeaux Auxerre 1-0 Le Havre Bastia 1-2 Montpellier Lyon 0-0 Lille Nantes 1-1 PSG Rennes 2-2 Nice Sedan 4-0 Troyes Sochaux 0-0 Guingamp Sunday Monaco 2-0 Strasbourg Lens 0-1 Marseille Latest Championnat statistics

While Bordeaux moved to third place with 57 points from 34 matches, Ajaccio remain 18th in the table with 32 points.

Pauleta brought his season's goal tally to 20, while Spanish midfielder Savio, striker Jean-Claude Darcheville and substitute Camel Meriem were also on the scoresheet for the Girondins.

Reigning champions and league leaders Lyon could only manage a goalless draw at home against struggling Lille.

Monaco regained top spot on Sunday after beating Strasbourg 2-0.

Croatia international Dado Prso opened the scoring after 19 minutes and Shabani Nonda sealed victory 20 minutes from time.

"This game was not an easy one," said Monaco coach Didier Deschamps. "We badly needed to win and we did it well."

Auxerre kept up their chase for a Champions League spot thanks to Olivier Kapo's lone strike against Le Havre.