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We take a whistle-stop tour around the globe, starting with Manchester United's Champions League opponents, Porto.

PORTUGAL

Porto took another step towards a fourth consecutive league title by beating Estrela da Amadora 3-0 at home although Sporting kept up the pressure with a 3-1 home win over Naval.

Porto, four points ahead of Sporting and eight in front of Benfica, rested several players ahead of Wednesday's Champions League match against Manchester United but still cruised past Amadora.

Bruno Alves opened the scoring with a powerful free-kick after half an hour and Argentine striker Ernesto Farias (pictured) added two more with a tap-in and a header in the second half.

Brazilian striker Liedson scored the second and third goals for Sporting, while Benfica's 1-0 home loss to Academica leaves them with little chance of fighting for the title.

NETHERLANDS

Belgian international Moussa Dembele scored after an impressive run to put AZ Alkmaar on the verge of their first title since 1981 following a 1-0 win at NAC Breda.

Alkmaar are 11 points ahead of Steve McClaren's Twente Enschede, who beat lowly Roda JC Kerkrade 4-2, and need a win against Vitesse Arnhem at home next week to lift the trophy.

Luis Suarez and Roy Makaay scored hat-tricks respectively for Ajax Amsterdam, who won 7-0 against Willem II Tilburg, and Feyenoord, 5-1 winners at home to Heracles Almelo.

RUSSIA

Krylya Sovietov Samara went top with nine points from four matches after close-range goals from Jan Koller and Timofei Kalachev helped them to a 3-0 home win over bottom club Khimki.

Dynamo Moscow stayed level on points with Samara thanks to a 1-0 home success against Rostov, while Zenit St Petersburg and champions Rubin Kazan, who were 2-1 winners at Terek Grozny, are a point behind the top two.

Teenage forward Alan Dzhagoev shone in CSKA Moscow's 4-1 derby win over Lokomotiv, scoring from a superb free-kick and a header, with Yuri Zhirkov and Moussa Maazou adding the other two.

POLAND

The top four all won as one of the closest title races in years entered a critical stage, with Lech Poznan staying in the driving seat after a last-gasp goal from Marcin Kikut gave them a 2-1 win at Piast Gliwice.

Legia Warsaw are a point behind with seven games remaining following their 4-0 home drubbing of Cracovia Krakow, while champions Wisla Krakow and Polonia Warsaw are a further two points adrift.

An early goal from defender Marcin Baszczynski handed Wisla a 1-0 home win over Jagiellonia Bialystok and Polonia cruised to a 3-1 victory at mid-table Ruch Chorzow.

SERBIA

Champions Partizan Belgrade moved a step closer to their 21st league title, after second-half goals from Lamine Diarra and Almami Moreira inspired them to a 2-0 win at third-placed Vojvodina Novi Sad and sent them 14 points clear at the top.

Former European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade, whose players say they have not been paid any wages since January because of the club's financial crisis, beat Banat Zrenjanin 3-0 at home to leapfrog Vojvodina into second.

CROATIA

Champions Dinamo Zagreb edged struggling Inter Zapresic 1-0 at home thanks to a late Mario Mandzukic goal to stay a point ahead of traditional rivals Hajduk Split in their two-way title race.

Hajduk, looking for their first league title in four years, kept up the pressure after goals from Drago Gabric and Senijad Ibricic gave them a 2-0 home win over lowly Cibalia Vinkovci.

GREECE

OFI Crete and Panserraikos were relegated from the Greek Super League after they were held to goalless draws by Ergotelis and Panathinaikos respectively on Sunday.

Champions Olympiacos slipped to their first home defeat in domestic competition this season when they went down to a Maciej Zurawski goal to lose 1-0 against Larissa.

PAOK Salonika leapfrogged Panathinaikos into second place after a last-minute penalty from Vladan Ivic - his second goal of the game - gave them a 2-1 win over Xanthi. There is one round of matches left to play.

ARGENTINA

Velez Sarsfield went top of the Argentine championship on Sunday by winning 1-0 at coachless San Lorenzo, who were insulted by their fans throughout the game.

The home supporters were furious at their team's poor recent results which culminated with their elimination from the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday after a 2-0 defeat to San Luis in Mexico.

Coach Miguel Angel Russo resigned immediately after the match and the team were greeted by around 60 protesting fans when they arrived at Buenos Aires' international airport on Friday.

The hostility continued on Sunday as supporters at the Nuevo Gasometro stadium jeered and insulted the team.

Striker Gonzalo Bergessio insinuated that the players had been treated like criminals.

"We're not murderers and we haven't killed anyone," he told said. "We're aware that we were not good enough for the Copa Libertadores."

The only goal came five minutes before halftime when Rodrigo Lopez won and converted a penalty for Velez.

Still unbeaten after nine games, Velez lead the Clausura championship with 19 points, one ahead of Colon and Lanus.

Titleholders Boca Juniors dropped to 11th after losing 1-0 at Estudiantes, where Gaston Fernandez scored from a free kick two minutes before half-time.

Racing Club, one of the most popular in the country, moved out of the relegation zone after winning 1-0 away to fellow strugglers Rosario Central with a Franco Sosa free kick.

Racing, who recently emerged from 10 years' bankruptcy, moved up to 16th in the relegation standings while Central dropped to 17th, which would mean playing off against a second division team to keep their place.

Relegation is decided by a complex system decided over three full seasons.

BRAZIL

Three players and both coaches were sent off on Sunday in a Brazilian derby which had been preceded by a campaign to promote peace between the rivals' sets of supporters.

Trouble erupted early in the second half of the Juventude-Caxias game in Caxias do Sul when Gilmar Iser, coach of the home team, ran on to the pitch to protest a decision.

Iser was sent off while Caxias coach Argel Fucks was also dismissed after an angry exchange with the fourth official.

The enraged Fucks refused to leave and had to be escorted off the touchline by riot police. The incident also prompted a pushing match and play was held up for six minutes.

Tempers were still on the boil when play re-started and Juventude finished with nine men after Alex Morais and goalkeeper Renan were sent off while Caxias had Mika dismissed for kicking an opponent.

Second half goals by Marcos Denner and Julio Madureira gave Caxias a 2-0 win in the Rio Grande do Sul championship match. Before the game, the clubs had organised a so-called Fraternity Breakfast involving leaders of supporters groups, police officials and their own presidents in an attempt to promote peace.

In the first leg of a Paulista championship semi-final, Cristian scored the winner three minutes into injury-time to help Corinthians beat Sao Paulo 2-1.

Miranda headed Sao Paulo ahead in the 24th minute and Elias levelled with an individual goal four minutes later.

Corinthians striker Ronaldo missed a second-half chance when he shot at Rogerio Ceni after being put clean through and was also booked. Santos beat Palmeiras 2-1 in the other game.

Flamengo qualified for the final of the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro) championship's second stage with a 1-0 win over Carlos Alberto Parreira's Fluminense, Juan scoring the only goal of the 'Fla-Flu' derby.

The match was notable for a remarkable miss by Flamengo striker Josiel, who shot straight at a defender on the line from six metres with the goalkeeper beaten. Botafogo beat Vasco da Gama 4-1 in the tie.

Atletico Mineiro won their 10th game in a row in all competitions as they beat Rio Branco 2-0 in their Minas Gerais championship semi-final, first leg.

Diego Tardelli and Eder Luis scored for the Roosters in a nine-minute spell in the first half.

MEXICO

Paraguay striker Salvador Cabanas scored a hat-trick to rescue a point for America in their 3-3 draw with lowly Indios Juarez in the Mexican championship on Sunday.

Juan Pablo Rodriguez and Daniel Frias put Indios 2-0 ahead after only 18 minutes before Cabanas nodded a goal back in the 20th minute and equalised on the hour with another header, this time from Jean Beausejour's cross.

Juan Ramon Curbelo put the visitors back in front eight minutes later with a long-range left-foot drive but Cabanas levelled again with 10 minutes to play, taking his tally to 11 in the competition.

The result lifted America, one of Mexico's richest clubs, to second in Group Two with 17 points from 13 games, six behind leaders Pumas UNAM, who beat Puebla 3-1.

The 18 teams play each other once in the qualifying stage of the Clausura tournament but are divided into three groups.

PERU

Maestri, 36, failed to placate the fans despite scoring his first home goal since rejoining Cristal this season.

The former Peru forward's 90th-minute goal was greeted with jeers and members of the hardcore supporters group continued to insult him when he left the field.

The player known as "The Tank" helped Cristal win three successive domestic titles in the 1990s before joining arch-rivals Alianza Lima and he has never been forgiven by some supporters.

"I'm not bothered by this, I work for Cristal and it's the club which pays me," he said.

Provincial club Juan Aurich went top of the championship's first stage, beating previous leaders Universitario 2-0 with goals from Edinson Chara and Sergio Ibarra.

ECUADOR

Barcelona, the country's most popular club, hung on for only their third win of the season.

Narciso Mina headed Barcelona ahead in the 26th minute but Claudio Bieler pounced on poor defending to level.

Pablo Palacios had a penalty saved by Jose Cevallos but the hosts regained the lead through Raul Roman.

The referee added on 14 minutes of stoppage-time after Barcelona goalkeeper Maximo Banguera was twice treated for cramp.

COLOMBIA

Gomez, who coached Colombia at the 1998 World Cup and led Ecuador to their first finals in 2002, quit Santa Fe after a 3-2 home defeat by Quindio left them 11th in the Apertura championship.

"I'm not a coach who wants to be badly treated and insulted," he said. "I've coached a lot and I've always been respected."

Gomez had been in charge for 29 matches.

La Equidad pulled off the weekend's most impressive win when they came from 3-1 down at Pereira to win 5-3 despite finishing with nine men.

Diego Cochas scored twice for La Equidad while Wilson Carpintero, Efrain Viafara and Victor Giraldo shared the other goals.

Hugo Soto was sent off in the 40th minute for a bad tackle and Dawling Leudo also saw red.

Deportes Tolima, who nearly dropped out of the championship because of financial problems, stayed top with a 1-1 draw against Boyaca Chico.

CHILE

Champions Colo Colo slumped to their fourth successive league defeat when they lost 2-0 to Nublense and dropped to 15th in the Apertura championship. Renato Ramos scored both goals and Colo Colo had Roberto Cereceda sent off.

Universidad de Chile lost their unbeaten record when they went down 3-1 at Santiago Morning and Union Espanola extended their lead to seven points by beating O'Higgins 2-1.

PARAGUAY

Cerro Porteno thrashed bottom club 3 de Febrero 4-1 to stay top of the Apertura championship with 21 points from eight games. Jorge Britez, Javier Villarreal, Pablo Noguera and Luis Caceres scored for Pedro Troglio's team.

BOLIVIA

Real Potosi stayed top of the Apertura championship despite losing 4-2 at Universitario de Sucre while The Strongest thrashed bottom club Real Mamore 6-0 for their best win of the season.

Reuters