European Round-up: Jonathan Woodgate's injury jinx returned to haunt him last night as the Real Madrid star picked up a hamstring problem to rule him out of the England squad for next weekend's friendly against Argentina.
Madrid, however, scraped to a 1-0 win at home to Real Zaragoza thanks to a late penalty from Roberto Carlos.
The Brazilian full back fired home from the spot 12 minutes from time after Robinho was adjudged to have been fouled by Zaragoza defender Leonardo Ponzio.
The win puts them on 21 points, third in the table a point behind second-placed Barcelona, who beat Getafe 3-1. Osasuna top the group on 24 points.
Real Betis, who beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Champions League in midweek, were brought back down to earth when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Racing Santander.
Malaga and Deportivo Coruna also shared the points with a 1-1 draw at La Rosaleda, while Sevilla and Atletico Madrid were unable to find the net in an entertaining 0-0 draw at the Sanchez Pizjuan.
In Italy's Serie A, Milan followed up last week's 3-1 win over leaders Juventus with another spectacular display to steamroller Udinese 5-1 and rack up their eighth successive Serie A victory.
In the first half, seasoned poacher Filippo Inzaghi turned provider, setting up Alberto Gilardino and Clarence Seedorf for Milan's opening two goals. Andrea Pirlo whipped in their third from a free-kick on the stroke of half-time.
Gilardino grabbed his second from Serginho's cut back shortly after the restart. Vincenzo Iaquinta pulled one back from the penalty spot after being brought down by Gennaro Gattuso, but Kaka's late strike restored Milan's advantage as they kept up the pressure on Juventus.
AS Roma's erratic start to the season is becoming a distant memory after their third win in a row. Philippe Mexes headed them into the lead in the 34th minute. Captain Francesco Totti scored the second with a 30-metre drive nine minutes from the end.
In France, inspired by their first Champions League victory, Lille sealed their second win in five days when they beat bottom-placed Strasbourg 2-0 in Ligue 1 yesterday.
Lille, fourth in the domestic standings, beat Manchester United 1-0 in Paris on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament.
The northern team opened the scoring via Peter Odemwingie in the sixth minute and wrapped up victory through Swiss midfielder Stefan Lichtsteiner in the second half.
Lens played out their eighth draw in 14 league matches when they drew 1-1 at struggling Sochaux.
Striker Ilan put the hosts in front in the 10th minute and Daniel Cousi equalised for the visitors just after the hour.
Promoted Troyes fought back to snatch a 2-1 victory over Stade Rennes.
Paris St Germain retained fourth place in the table when they shared points with improving Monaco in a goalless draw at the Parc des Princes.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich beat Werder Bremen 3-1 to win the top-of-the-table clash in style.
Roy Makaay delighted fans a minute before the break with his first goal since August 27th.
