By IAN HOLLIDAY

In a weekend of impressive performances and intriguing storylines across Europe, La Liga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid produced two of Saturday's signature wins. Barca handed Almeria a worst-in-club-history 8-0 defeat, while Real Madrid clobbered Athletic Bilbao 5-1. Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had hat-tricks, reinforcing their status as the top two players in the world. The two clubs meet a week from Monday at Camp Nou, with the winner taking over the league lead.

Two of the weekend's more surprising results came in England, where Arsenal fell at home to Spurs for the first time since 1993, squandering a 2-0 first-half lead and losing 3-2. Elsewhere in England, Chelsea lost a second straight match, this time 1-0 at Birmingham City. The loss allowed Manchester United to draw level with the Blues on 28 points.

In Italy, the talk of the season continues to be Inter Milan's struggles. The former champions lost again this weekend, falling 2-1 at Chievo on Sunday. Inter are now nine points behind derby rivals AC Milan and in danger of missing out on Champions League competition for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

The French title race continues to be as close as it has been in years, with Lille currently topping a group of eight clubs within 2 points of the top. It's a different story in Germany, however, as Borussia Dortmund continue to rack up the points, amassing an 11-1-1 record, good for 34 points, seven better than their nearest Bundesliga competition.

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

ENGLAND

Chelsea’s consecutive losses have tightened up the top of the Premier League table. The Blues are now level on points with Man Utd., which have quietly gone undefeated through the season’s first 14 matches, not a good sign for rest of the league, as United typically start slowly and finish strong. Behind the Red Devils is Arsenal, stuck on 26 points after its derby loss to Tottenham. Spurs have 22 points, good for sixth in the league behind Manchester City and surprising Bolton. Both Wanderers and Spurs will feel good about their chances of earning a place in next season’s Champions League, as neither Arsenal nor City have been consistent so far this year.

Arsenal 2, Tottenham 3

Manchester United 2, Wigan Athletic 0

Bolton 5, Newcastle United 1

West Bromwich Albion 0, Stoke City 3

Birmingham City 1, Chelsea 0

Blackpool 2, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Liverpool 3, West Ham United 0

Blackburn 2, Aston Villa 0

Fulham 1, Manchester City 4

Monday: Sunderland v. Everton

SPAIN

Beyond the dominance of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the rest of La Liga is shaping up to feature some competitive races. The entire bottom half of the table, beginning with 10-placed Osasuna, is within five points of the relegation zone, and last-placed Real Zaragoza could catapult itself to safety with a victory over Getafe on Monday, putting even more pressure on the rest of La Liga’s also-rans. Meanwhile, the race for European qualification should feature some interesting battles as well. Villarreal and Espanyol currently hold third and fourth place, respectively, but traditionally solid clubs Valencia, Atletico Madrid, and Sevilla are all within striking distance.

Villarreal 1, Valencia 1

Almeria 0, Barcelona 8

Real Madrid 5, Athletic Bilbao 1

Espanyol 3, Hercules 0

Deportivo La Coruna 3, Malaga 0

Osasuna 1, Sporting Gijon 0

Levante 3, Racing Santander 1

Sevilla 1, Mallorca 2

Real Sociedad 2, Atletico Madrid 3

Monday: Getafe v. Real Zaragoza

ITALY

Former leaders Lazio seem to have cooled off after their hot start to the season. With just one win in its last four matches, the Roman club has fallen off the pace in Serie A. Setting the pace is AC Milan, which extended its lead with a 1-0 win over Fiorentina. Meanwhile, former champs Inter are nine points behind their derby rivals and in serious danger of missing out on European qualification just one season removed from winning the whole thing. Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Chievo certainly didn’t help the cause.

AS Roma 2, Udinese 0

AC Milan 1, Fiorentina 0

Genoa 0, Juventus 2

Brescia 1, Cagliari 2

Lecce 2, Sampdoria 3

Parma 1, Lazio 1

Chievo Verona 2, Inter Milan 1

Catania 1, Bari 0

Cesena 1, Palermo 2

Napoli 4, Bologna 1

GERMANY

If the Premier League title race has gone from boring to interesting in the last few weeks, the Bundesliga race has made the opposite switch. Borussia Dortmund remains seven points ahead of second-placed Mainz 05 after a 2-1 win over SC Freiburg. Mainz were able to keep pace with a come-from-behind win over last-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach, which are looking more and more destined for relegation as the season wears on.

Eintracht Frankfurt 0, Hoffenheim 4

SC Freiburg 1, Borussia Dortmund 2

Schalke 04 4, Werder Bremen 0

Borussia Moenchengladbach 2, Mainz 05 3

Hannover 96 3, Hamburg 2

Nurnberg 1, Kaiserslautern 3

Bayer Leverkusen 1, Bayern Munich 1

VfB Stuttgart 0, FC Cologne 1

St. Pauli 1, VfL Wolfsburg 1

FRANCE

After this weekend’s matches, the top eight teams in Ligue 1 are separated by just two points. Not included in that group is St. Etienne, which has been on an awful run of form in the past few weeks after leading for much of the first quarter of the season. Tops this week are Lille, which lead Montpellier on goal differential. Both clubs are on 24 points. The six other competitors, all of which could be the league’s leaders by this time next week, are Paris St. Germain and Stade Rennes, both on 23 points, and Marseille, Brest, Bordeaux and Lyon, all of which have 22 points.

Paris St. Germain 2, Caen 1

Sochaux 2, Lorient 0

Stade Rennes 2, Brest 1

St. Etienne 1, AJ Auxerre 1

Toulouse 0, Marseille 1

AS Nancy Lorraine 2, Valenciennes 0

Nice 0, Montpellier 1

Lille 2, AS Monaco 1

Arles 2, Bordeaux 4

Lens 1, Lyon 3

What did you think of this week's results? Excited for next week's Classico between Barca and Real Madrid? Surprised by Chelsea's recent form? Share your thoughts below: