Football: Relief for Robson

European round-up

It may not be enough to save his job, but there was some good news for the beleaguered Bobby Robson yesterday when his Barcelona side beat Racing Santander 1-0 at home to cut Real Madrid's lead at the top of the Spanish League to six points.

At most clubs in Europe, second place in the league would keep fans and directors happy - but Barcelona are different to most clubs, and only domination will do. Robson also has to cope with the problem of being a foreigner in a country facing a backlash against footballing imports from overseas - hence the reports in the Spanish press on Saturday that the former England manager's departure from Barce-lona is imminent.

A former Real Madrid player, Luis Enrique, scored the 43rd-minute winner for Barcelona, but they struggled in the second half and had Juan Pizzi sent off two minutes after coming on as a substitute. Real Madrid were held 2-2 at home by third-placed Real Betis on Saturday.

Juventus are five points clear at the top of Italy's Serie A after a 2-1 home win over Perugia, with Alessandro Del Piero scoring twice late in the first half. Second-placed Sampdoria were beaten 2-1 at home by Roma while Jesper Blomqvist scored his first goal for Milan in a 2-0 San Siro success against Bologna. However, the Swede was sent off two minutes later for a bad tackle.

Jurgen Klinsmann scored twice in Bayern Munich's 3-0 home win over St Pauli as the German Bundesliga resumed after its winter break. Unbeaten since September, Bayern retained their two-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, who beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 on Friday.