Madrid  - Barcelona's Eric Abidal will be out of action for around two months, after tearing the abductor muscle in his right thigh in Saturday's shock 2-1 defeat at home to local rivals Espanyol.

Abidal was stretchered off after just 24 minutes after a clash with Espanyol's Sergio Sanchez. A preliminary exploration by the Barca doctors suggests that he will be out for around eight or nine weeks.

Abidal, 29, will miss the upcoming Champions League round of 16 clash against Olympique Lyon, his former club.

Madrid  - Barcelona suffered their second league defeat of the season on Saturday 2-1 at home to lowly Espanyol, for whom ex-Barca star Ivan de la Pena was the two-goal hero.

At the same time, Real Madrid were scoring their ninth straight win by thrashing hapless Betis 6-1, with all the goals coming in a breathless first half.

These results bring the Liga race back to life because second-place Real are now seven points behind Barca, who held a 12-point two weeks ago.

"Tonight's games really brings the league back to life," said Real striker Gonzalo Higuain, who opened the scoring against Betis.

London - Manchester United moved eight points clear at the top of the English Premier League after an edgy 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner with a fine free kick in the second half but United rode their luck before clinching victory and increase their lead over second-placed Liverpool.

Chelsea edged ahead of Aston Villa into third place after their 1-0 win at Villa Park, while Arsenal's hopes of securing a top-four spot suffered another blow when they were held 0-0 at home by Sunderland.

Rome  - Roma failed to impress their home crowd Saturday, but still managed to clinch a 1-0 win against defence-geared Siena through a goal from Brazilian Rodrigo Taddei.

The Tuscany guests paid dearly for an imperfect clearance on 68 minutes that gave Taddei space and time to curl a classy drive into the top right corner.

With nothing left to lose, Siena abandoned their defensive tactics and brought on veteran forward Nicola Amoruso, who immediately threatened with a header on 70 minutes.

Another header from French substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal gave Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni a chance to ensure his side's win with two minutes left.

Rome  - Inter Milan stretched their lead in the Italian Serie A Saturday courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Bologna in a slow-paced game that allowed Jose Mourinho's side conserve some energy for this week's Champions League clash with Manchester United.

Argentine Esteban Cambiasso and substitute Mario Balotelli scored in the second half to sink the central-Italy hosts, who managed to briefly equalize but lie now just above the drop zone.

The win moves Inter 12 points clear of Juventus, who have the chance to reduce the gap when they visit Sicily side Palermo in a night game.

London  - Chelsea edged ahead of Aston Villa into third place after they won the battle of the Champions League contenders 1-0 at Villa Park on Saturday.

In Guus Hiddink's first match as Chelsea manager, Nicolas Anelka's first-half goal proved to be enough to give the visitors all three points.

The result lifted Chelsea one point above Villa into third, albeit still seven points behind leaders Manchester United, who play Blackburn Rovers later on Saturday.