Messi, Ronaldo light up goals show

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were locked at the top of the Spanish scoring charts on Sunday as Barcelona and Real Madrid continued their enthralling, high-stakes title duel.

Barcelona demolished Real Sociedad 5-0, with Messi striking twice, to stay two points ahead of Real who saw off bottom club Zaragoza 3-1.

Ronaldo was on the scoresheet in that match to join Argentine master Messi on 17 goals for the season.

“Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenal player. He belongs to La Liga and to Spanish fans who watch him on television or in the stands,” said Real boss Jose Mourinho. “He puts on a show in every stadium he visits. Cristiano is a tremendous professional and he scored one of the best goals of his collection.”

In Italy, AC Milan won for the 10th time in 12 league games with a 3-0 success at Bologna.

They are six points clear at the top thanks to goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Lazio failed in their bid to close the gap when Milos Krasic scored a stunning individual winner with the last kick of the game to give Juventus a 2-1 win over the Rome side. Juve are now in second place.

Milan, who will be guaranteed top spot in a week’s time when Serie A shuts down for its winter break, are still in the running for three trophies.

“Everything’s possible, we’re in the running for all the trophies (league, cup and Champions League), we have to keep going, don’t relax, there’s still lots of games left so we’ll talk about the title another time,” said Ibrahimovic, who has nine league goals to his name. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund picked up their seventh straight win with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen.

A superbly struck free-kick after nine minutes by Dortmund’s Turkey midfielder Nuri Sahin put the leaders ahead before Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted in the 70th minute.

PARIS, Monday, AFP