IN FRANCE…

• Can Lyon keep ahead of the PSG money men?
Lyon made it 7 wins a row with a 2-0 victory over Metz to maintain their four-point lead at the top of the French league standings. In-form striker Alexandre Lacazette was again on target to take his tally to 21 for the season.

• Did a rest do Ibra any good?
Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned for third-place PSG’s visit to Saint-Etienne, ater missing the midweek cup tie against Bordeaux. The rest clearly did him some good as the Swede scored the only goal of the game to keep the reigning champions in third spot, four points behind leaders Lyon.

• Who can pull away from the drop zone?
It remains tight at the foot of the table with four points separating the bottom seven sides. The big winners at the weekend were Caen, who climbed off the bottom of the table after their unexpected 4-1 away win at Rennes and Evian, who moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Toulouse.

IN ITALY…

• Is Filippo Inzaghi’s job on the line?
A 3-1 defeat at Lazio will not have increased Inzaghi’s job security. That defeat extended Milan’s run of games without a win to five and heaped further pressure on the beleaguered rookie coach.

The two sides meet again on Tuesday in the Coppa Italia and with Inzaghi complaining about his players’ ‘insecurities’, it will be interesting to see if he makes wholesale changes for that match. That’s assuming he is still in charge…reports in Italy suggest Milan have sounded out former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti as a possible replacement.

• Will a win make any difference to the bottom two?
In the battle of who could care less at the foot of the table, it was Cesena who prevailed. A 2-1 away win over fellow strugglers Parma came courtesy of a last minute winner from substitute Alejandro Rodriguez. The result took Cesena three points clear of their closest rivals, but it they remain 7 points adrift of safety.

• Who will prevail in the battle for the final Champions League spot?
With Napoli not playing until Monday night, the opportunity arose for three clubs to force their way into the third and final Champions League place. Sampdoria and Fiorentina both drew against and Palermo and Roma respectively, allowing Lazio, 3-1 winners over struggling Milan, to leapfrog their rivals – for 24 hours at least.

IN SPAIN…

• Who will take the final Champions League spot?
Valencia leapfrogged Sevilla to move into the fourth and final Champions League place on Sunday. Leading goalscorer Dani Parejo was on target twice in the 3-1 win. Sevilla drop to fifth, two points behind their rivals, but they but they do have a game in hand.

• Can Luis Suarez rediscover his mojo?
Not yet. Two goals in 11 La Liga appearances is a poor return for a striker who hit 31 in 37 games for Liverpool last season. Although, Barcelona put six past Elche on Saturday, Suarez was not among the goalscorers; indeed he was not even on the pitch as Luis Enrique freshed up his attacking trident by playing Pedro in place of the misfiring Uruguayan.

• Will Real prove a big draw in Cordoba?
As Real hit the halfway point of the season they remain the only team in Spain yet to draw a game. Saturday’s away match at Cordoba appeared to be heading for a stalemate until a last minute Gareth Bale penalty secured all three points for the visitors. Earlier, Madrid had been reduced to ten men following the dismissal of leading goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfxHMRuNcCM