Madrid - Villarreal moved up to fifth in the Spanish Liga on Thursday with a 2-1 home win over lowly Recreativo Huelva.

Their first win in five games leaves the "Yellow Submarine" with 52 points from 32 games, three points less than fourth-placed Valencia but with two more than sixth-placed Malaga.

Atletico Madrid will join Villarreal on 52 points if they manage to win in Santander later on Thursday, in the match which closes the 32th round of games.

London  - Manchester United returned to the top of the English Premier League table thanks to a 2-0 win Wednesday over Portsmouth.

Goals from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick secured victory for the champions at Old Trafford and took them back above Liverpool. With six games to go to Liverpool's five, United are three points clear.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was happy with the result but not with a couple of challenges that left Gary Neville and John O'Shea with injuries.

Rome  - Long-range drives from Mauro Zarate and Aleksandar Kolarov secured the Italian Cup final for Lazio in a 2-1 win Wednesday over 10-man Juventus for an aggregate 4-2 score.

Zarate's firing skills froze the home crowd at Turin's Stadio Olimpico and stunned Gianluigi Buffon on 38 minutes, when the international goalkeeper tried a desperate dive on his left only to watch the drooping shot find the net behind him.

Madrid  - Majestic Barcelona turned on the style once again, brushing aside third-placed Sevilla 4-0 Wednesday in a euphoric Camp Nou.

The latest exhibition leaves Josep Guardiola's sumptuous side six points ahead of second-place Real Madrid, who, in contrast, struggled Tuesday to beat lowly Getafe 3-2.

Barca now have 81 points from 32 games, while Real have 75.

Barca have won their last seven league matches without conceding a goal - and without their obvious superiority ever having been in doubt.

Hamburg  - Goalkeeper Tim Wiese was Werder Bremen's cup hero as he saved three SV Hamburg penalties in a shoot-out that saw Bremen qualify Wednesday for the German Cup final 3-1 on penalties after the game had ended 1-1 after extra-time.

The will face Bayer Leverkusen in the final in Berlin on May 30.

Germany defender Per Mertesacker gave the visitors an early lead, but Ivica Olic equalized in the second half for Hamburg, who ended the game with ten men after captain David Jarolim was sent off in second half injury time.

London - Manchester United returned to the top of the English Premier League table on Wednesday thanks to a 2-0 win over Portsmouth.

Goals from Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick secured victory for the champions at Old Trafford and took them back above Liverpool at the top.

With six games to go to Liverpool's five, United are three points clear at the top.

United were ahead within nine minutes at Old Trafford when Ryan Giggs was sent clear down the left and he squared the ball to give Rooney the simplest of finishes.