European soccer round-up - Bayern close in, Chelsea made to wait

Bayern Munich all but secured the Bundesliga title with victory over VfL Bochum. The Premier League contest will go to the wire next Sunday as leaders Chelsea and second-placed Manchester United both won.

Inter's 2-0 win at Lazio was cheered by both sets of fans because it meant the home team''s bitter city rivals AS Roma dropped back to second.  

Germany                                           

Bayern Munich effectively won the Bundesliga with a match to spare when they beat VfL Bochum 3-1 thanks to a Thomas Mueller hat-trick, while Schalke 04 lost 2-0 at home to Werder Bremen.   

The Bavarians, chasing a treble of league, cup and Champions League, are three points clear of Schalke with a game to play and a goal difference which is better by 17.                                           

Hertha Berlin were relegated after a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen. Bremen''s win kept them third and on course for a place in the qualifying round of next season's Champions League.  

England                                    

The Premier League will be decided by next Sunday''s final round of fixtures after Chelsea won 2-0 at Liverpool and Manchester United won 1-0 at Sunderland to keep the gap between the top two at one point.

Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, with his 21st goal of the season, secured Chelsea's win as Liverpool ran out of steam in the wake of Thursday's Europa Cup game against Atletico Madrid. A first-half shot for Nani proved enough for United.

Chelsea next host Wigan Athletic while United are at home to Stoke City. Chelsea's superior goal difference means that for United to retain their title they must win and hope the Londoners lose or draw.

Italy                                

Inter Milan are two points clear with two games to go after winning 2-0 at Lazio, where even the home fans cheered goals from Walter Samuel and Thiago Motta because it dented AS Roma's title hopes.

Roma had done their job by prevailing 2-1 at Parma thanks to a sublime goal and an superb assist from Francesco Totti.

Twice European champions Juventus will not feature in next season''s Champions League after a 1-1 draw at Catania ensured the seventh-placed side cannot finish fourth.               

Spain                            

Cristiano Ronaldo kept Real Madrid in the La Liga title race when his last-minute header secured a nervy 3-2 comeback win at home to mid-table Osasuna.

Leaders Barcelona proved they were over their Champions League exit to Inter Milan when Lionel Messi scored twice in a 4-1 victory at Villarreal. Barca have 90 points, one ahead of Real with three matches left to play.

Nikola Zigic scored both goals in Valencia's 2-0 victory at Espanyol that kept them secure in third on 65 points, in the last automatic Champions league qualification slot.  

Netherlands                                  

Twente Enschede clinched their first Dutch championship title with a 2-0 win over 10-man NAC Breda on the final day of the season.

Bryan Ruiz opened the scoring midway through the first half, just after Csaba Feher had been sent off for a two-legged tackle on Theo Janssen and Miroslav Stoch sealed the win for the club, coached by former England manager Steve McClaren.            

Twente finished with 86 points after 34 matches, one above Ajax Amsterdam who won 4-1 at NEC Nijmegen. The league''s top scorer Luis Suarez scored twice for Ajax to take his tally to 35 for the season

France

Olympique Marseille moved closer to their first Ligue 1 title since 1992 when they snatched a goalless draw at second-placed AJ Auxerre.

The result left Marseille on 72 points, five ahead of Auxerre with three games remaining.

Marseille will be crowned champions if they beat Stade Rennes at home on Wednesday and Auxerre fail to win at Lyon.               

Portugal

Benfica missed out on the chance of clinching the title this weekend when they were beaten 3-1 at Lisbon rivals Porto.           

The leaders, three points ahead of Braga, can still lift the trophy if they draw or win their final match against Rio Ave. But thanks to a better head-to-head record, Braga will win the league if they beat Nacional and Benfica lose.                                            

Porto's Bruno Alves headed in just before halftime, but defender Luisao equalised before Ernesto Farias and Fernando Belluschi scored one each to give Porto the win.                                           

Croatia                                          

Dinamo Zagreb won their 12th league title and fifth in succession but celebrations were marred by crowd trouble when supporters hurled flares on to the pitch and clashed with riot police.

The champions drew 0-0 with traditional rivals Hajduk Split for an unassailable seven-point lead with two games left.                                            

Serbia                                      

Champions Partizan Belgrade and arch rivals Red Star both won to set up a potentially decisive derby next Saturday in their two-team title race.

Goals by Cleo and Sasa Ilic handed Partizan a 2-0 win at Smederevo to leave a point ahead of Red Star, whose striker Aleksandar Jevtic led the way in a 4-0 rout of neighbours Cukaricki with a first half hat-trick.                                            

Czech Republic                                 

The four-way title race is set for a thrilling climax after leaders Sparta Prague held closest rivals Banik Ostrava to a 1-1 draw and stayed ahead on goal difference with three matches remaining.

Both teams have 55 points, one ahead of third-placed Jablonec, who won 4-0 at Bohemians Prague to stay a point in front of Teplice, in the hunt for their first league title after a 5-0 home rout of Kladno.

Bulgaria                                            

Litex Lovech clinched their third league title with two games to spare after a 3-0 win at Lokomotiv Plovdiv left them seven points clear of CSKA Sofia, who were 5-1 winners at home to city rivals Lokomotiv.

Frenchman Wilfried Niflore turned in two close-range goals for Litex either side of a clinical finish by Brazilian midfielder Tom, as last season's Cup winners celebrated their first league title since 1999.

Russia                                       

Spartak Nalchik continued their excellent start to the March-November season with a 1-0 home win over Dynamo Moscow to stay top on goal difference from Zenit St. Petersburg, who beat Saturn Ramenskoye 1-0.

Nikita Malyarov kept Spartak in pole position with a superb solo effort while Belgium defender Nicolas Lombaerts headed an 88th-minute winner for 2007 champions Zenit.

Ukraine                                         

Leaders Shakhtar Donetsk won 2-0 at Metalurh Zaporizhya to stay three points clear of champions Dynamo Kiev, who beat bottom team Zakarpattia Uzhhorod by the same score, ahead of their potentially decisive clash on Wednesday.

Brazilians Ilisnho and Douglas Costa scored in each half for Shakhtar while Artem Milevskiy and Danilo Silva were on target for Dynamo, the winners of 13 league titles in Ukraine and as many in the former Soviet Union.

Poland                                         

Champions Wisla Krakow slipped to a 1-0 home defeat against Korona Kielce, allowing closest rivals Lech Poznan to close the gap to a point with three games left after they strolled to a 3-0 success at Slask Wroclaw.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice and Dmitrij Injac added a third for Lech, bidding for their first league title since 1993.

Third-placed Ruch Chorzow have an outside chance after a 1-0 win over Legia Warsaw left them four points off the pace.