Domestic conclusion.

Well, in the south of the continent, Spain witnessed quite impressive results from powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barca defeated Racing 3-0 thanks to an opener from Lionel Messi in the 11th minute. Xavi struck the 2nd in the 27th minute to put the 1st half, and the game, firmly in Barcelona's grasp. Messi struck a second in the 68th to conclude a rather one sided performance. Real meanwhile defeated Betis 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain. Kaka also scored for the Madrid side while Jorge Molina did score for Betis in the 69th. Getafe and Villarreal finished as they started: 0-0. There were a lot of bookings though: a combined total of 9 with 4 yellows going to Getafe while the other 5 went to the Yellow Submarines of Villarreal. Mallorca and Valencia finished their match level as well, but with both sides scoring once. Adil Rami gave Valencia the lead in the 38th but Tomer Hemed converted  a penalty in the 3rd minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to salvage a point for the Mallorcans. Granada v.s. Atletico are still level 0-0 with 5 yellows handed out by the 53rd minute. Over in Italy, Catania upset Inter Milan 2-1 despite the giants taking the lead through Esteban Cambiasso in the 6th minute. Catania fought back with goals in the 2nd half from Sergio Almiron (46th minute) and Francesco Lodi (50th minute). AC Milan on the other hand were much better against Palermo who they defeated 3-0. Antonio Nocerino opened the scoring in the 39th while Robinho added a 2nd in the 55th to leave Palermo between a rock and a hard place. Antonio Cassano slotted home the finishing blow in the 63rd to leave Palermo essentially no chance at saving the game. Napoli, however, weren't so lucky when they hosted Parma as they conceded first: in the 57th from a strike from Massimo Gobbi. They equalized though, scoring through Giuseppe Mascara in the 76th to make it 1-1. Francesco Modesto undid the home side's work though, with a goal in the 82nd minute that really sank the Naples side. Moving north to Germany, Bayern had a great game against Hertha Berlin who they thrashed 4-0 with 2 goals from Mario Gomez, and 1 each from Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Keep in mind, it was 3-0 by the 13th minute so Bayern took their foot off the gas and Hertha tried to allow as few goals as possible. Augsburg were able to score late from the penalty spot against Mainz to edge their hosts 0-1. However, Monchengladbach dropped some points when they only were able to draw with Leverkusen 2-2. Leverkusen did well to score first (in the 20th through Stefan Reinartz) but 'Gladbach were capable enough of striking back and even taking the lead thanks to goals from Marco Reus in the 65th and Patrick Herrmann in the 72nd. Unfortunately for them, they could not defeat Leverkusen even though they were down to 10 men: Andre Schurrle equalized for the visitors in the 87th and thus the game ended 2-2. Schalke were upset at home by Kaiserslautern who struck first and last to edge their hosts 1-2. Yes, Schalke did have Ralf Fahrmann sent off in the 28th which led to the goal from Christian Tiffert in the 30th but Schalke still had quality on the pitch. The Red Devils had Rodnei sent off in the 61st which resulted in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's 62nd minute penalty conversion. And so, with 10 men each, Schalke may have been expected to win. Well, you are wrong! Kaiserslautern struck through Dorge Kouemaha in the 72nd to win it all. Stuttgart defeated Hoffenheim 2-0 while Wolfsburg were able to edge Nurnberg 2-1. On the other side of the Channel, in England, we had several titans doing battle as Chelsea beat Everton 3-1, Liverpool and Manchester United tied 1-1, Manchester City took the league apex with a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa while Norwich won over Swansea 3-1. QPR and Blackburn could only tie 1-1 while Stoke defeated Fulham 2-0. Wigan were defeated at home by Bolton 1-3. Last but not least, up in Scotland, Aberdeen took the 3 points in their game against Dundee United who they defeated 3-1. Dunfermline on the other hand were beaten by visiting Hearts 0-2. Motherwell remain in 2nd after a 0-1 victory over Hibernian courtesy of Jamie Murphy's 8th minute goal. Rangers were actually held 1-1 by St. Mirren despite taking the lead in the 48th minute through Nikica Jelavic. Steve Thompson equalized for St Mirren in the 5th minute of stoppage time of the 2nd half to halt 'Gers' dreams of further extending their lead over Motherwell and rivals Celtic. St. Johnstone beat Inverness 2-0.