By IAN HOLLIDAY

Europe's top leagues returned from the international break this week to mostly predictable results. Barcelona and Real Madrid are back on top in Spain after impressive wins, while Liverpool's struggles continued at Everton.

In Italy, Alexandre Pato scored twice to help AC Milan look impressive in a 3-1 win against Chievo, and Samuel Eto'o scored the only goal in Inter's 1-0 win against Cagliari after suffering racist chants directed at him by fans.

The weekend wasn't without surprises, however, as Mainz dropped its first points of the Bundesliga season in a loss to Hamburg.

In England, Manchester United surrendered another second-half lead, this time squandering goals from Javier Hernandez and Nani in a 2-2 draw with West Brom. Chelsea was also held to a scoreless draw at Aston Villa, paving the way for Manchester City to pull within 2 points of the Blues at the top of the Premier League table.

Here is a rundown of the weekend scores from Europe's top leagues:

ENGLAND

Now in its third season since becoming the richest club in world football, Manchester City is finally starting to show signs of cosolidating power in the Premiership's top four. After gutting out a 3-2 road win over Blackpool this week, the Citizens find themselves just two points behind leaders Chelsea, who were held to a scoreless draw at Aston Villa. With 17 points, Man City is just two points behind the defending champs (who they've already beaten) and three points clear of their nearest competitors Arsenal, Man Utd., and Tottenham, all of which have show significant flaws through eight matches.

Arsenal 2, Birmingham City 1

Manchester United 2, West Bromwich Albion 2

Newcastle United 2, Wigan Athletic 2

Bolton 2, Stoke City 1

Fulham 1, Tottenham 2

Wolverhampton 1, West Ham United 1

Aston Villa 0, Chelsea 0

Everton 2, Liverpool 0

Blackpool 2, Manchester City 3

Monday: Blackburn v. Sunderland

SPAIN

Scoring goals in bunches has never been a hallmark of Jose Morinho-coached teams, and for the first five weeks of the Spanish season, his Real Madrid side seemed to be following that trend. But 10 goals in their last two matches have seen the club playing some of its most entertaining soccer in recent memory. Of course, both of those matches were against were against La Liga bottom feeders. Madrid's main rival Barcelona took care of business against much tougher competition this week, disposing of Valencia 2-1 at Camp Nou.

Atletico Madrid 2, Getafe 0

Barcelona 2, Valencia 1

Malaga 1, Real Madrid 4

Deportivo La Coruna 0, Osasuna 0

Mallorca 0, Espanyol 1

Racing Santander 1, Almeria 0

Levante 2, Real Sociedad 1

Athletic Bilbao 2, Real Zaragoza 1

Sporting Gijon 2, Sevilla 0

Monday: Hercules v. Villareal

ITALY

It's been a long time since a team other than Inter Milan won Serie A. They may yet win the 2010 season, but it looks like they'll have to go through some improved competition if they're going to do so. Milan Derby rivals AC Milan looked solid in a 3-1 win over Chievo this week, while the table continues to be topped by surprising Lazio, which disposed of Bari 2-0 Sunday. Inter itself kept pace with a 1-0 win over Calgiari. Samuel Eto'o scored the lone goal in a match that was nearly suspended due to fans' racist chants.

AC Milan 3, Chievo 1

AS Roma 2, Genoa 1

Cagliari 0, Inter Milan 1

Brescia 0, Udinese 1

Juventus 4, Lecce 0

Sampdoria 2, Fiorentina 1

Palermo 4, Bologna 1

Catania 1, Napoli 1

Cesena 1, Parma 1

Bari 0, Lazio 2

GERMANY

It's still early in the season, but right now the Bundesliga is a two horse race between Mainz and Borussia Dortmund. The two squads hold identical 7-1-0 records for 21 points through 8 matches. Their nearest competition, Bayer Leverkusen, is 6 points back. Mainz may be cooling off, however, as the side failed to score this week against Hamburg, after starting the season with a perfect 7 wins from 7 matches. The rest of the table is a tightly contested affair, with only 5 points separating 3rd place from 12th.

FC Cologne 1, Borussia Dortmund 2

Werder Bremen 2, SC Freiburg 1

Bayern Munich 3, Hannover 96 0

Schalke 04 2, VfB Stuttgart 2

Mainz 0, Hamburg 1

St. Pauli 3, Nurnberg 2

VfL Wolfsburg 2, Bayer Leverkusen 3

Kaiserslautern 0, Eintracht Frankfurt 3

Hoffenheim 3, Borussia Moenchengladbach 2

FRANCE

Carlos Bocanegra's last two clubs Stade Rennes and St. Etienne are still at the top of Ligue 1, but neither did itself any favors this week. Rennes were held to a scoreless draw by second-from-bottom Lens, while St. Etienne lost its second straight match, this time by a score of 2-1 to mid-table Nice. Elsewhere, Lyon defeated Lille to climb further out of the Ligue 1 cellar, while last year's champs Marseille defeated Nancy 1-0 to draw closer to the league leaders.

AJ Auxerre 0, Bordeaux 1

Montpellier 2, Sochaux 0

Marseille 1, AS Nancy Lorraine 0

Caen 0, Monaco 0

Brest 0, Arles 0

Toulouse 0, Paris St. Germain 2

Lens 0, Rennes 0

Lorient 2, Valenciennes 1

Nice 2, St. Etienne 1

Lyon 3, Lille 1

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What did you think of this weekend's European results? Think Manchester City has a chance to catch Chelsea in the Premier League? Surprised by Madrid's un-Morinho-like results?

Share your thoughts below.