Beckham left out on form doubts

REAL MADRID admit David Beckham was dropped from the 3-2 win against Racing Santander on Saturday amid doubts about the England captain’s form and fitness.

Michael Owen scored in the win, putting them 10 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona who drew 1-1 with Valencia.

Barcelona were guilty of missing several chances during the match firstly from Andres Iniesta and then Xavi Hernandez.

Valencia took the lead against the run of play when Italian Stefano Fiore chipped over goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

In the 74th minute, Valdes was sent off after handling outside the area, but 10-man Barcelona hit back minutes later when Ronaldinho was adjudged to have been fouled by Miguel Angulo. The Brazilian stepped up to coolly slot past Canizares. Real coach Garcia Remon said: “Beckham and Roberto Carlos have not trained well and I considered that they should not play.”

Espanyol’s 0-0 draw at dogged bottom club Numancia will definitely not go down as one of the games of the season but it was enough to keep the Barcelona-based club in second place in the Spanish league.

The visitors’ tried to get a result and had several good chances, the best falling to Maxi Rodriguez on the hour, but Numancia rarely looked interested in doing anything other than defending and succeeded in grinding out a point.

Espanyol have 30 points from their 16 games but remain nine points behind their local rivals and runaway league leaders Barcelona. Real and Madrid are one point further back.

The derby between Sevilla and Real Betis started 45 minutes late when the referee refused to accept Betis’s usual green shirts and the visitors had to send for a replacement strip. The disturbance affected Betis more than their hosts as their defence was caught napping just three minutes into the game, Carlitos Dominguez finding Dani Alves for the Sevilla opener in their 2-1 victory.

In last night’s later game Athletico Madrid defeated Deportivo 1-0 with Antonio López hitting the game’s only goal.

In Italy’s Serie A, AC Milan left Turin a frustrated team after dominating Juventus but being held to a goalless draw in the biggest game of the Italian season on Saturday.

Francesco Totti became Roma’s all-time top scorer yesterday after grabbing a brace in his side’s 5-1 demolition of Parma. Totti’s double took him to 108 goals for the capital club, edging him past previous holder Roberto Pruzzo.

Totti tried and clarify his future at the club after an interview in which he admitted he would consider leaving Roma if the team looked unlikely to challenge for honours next term.

“I want a team able to compete on a high level,” he said. “I wait for important plans from the club, because this team and this city deserves a competitive side.”

Antonio Cassano got the ball rolling on a memorable day for Roma, notching the first for Luigi Delneri’s men after just 10 minutes. Totti then fired home his first of the afternoon just before the half hour mark, but Parma reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time through Cesare Bovo.

Three goals in eight second half minutes killed the contest as Cassano and Montella found the net before Totti completed the scoring.

Udinese maintained their fine start to the season by beating Lazio 3-0 with goals from David Pizarro (penalty), David Di Michele and Vincenzo Iaquinta. The emphatic victory keeps Luciano Spalletti’s men seven points clear of Internazionale in fourth spot, and ensures they remain on the coat-tails of the top two.

Inter preserved their unbeaten league record by notching only their third win of the campaign against Brescia. Veteran Serbian defender Sinisa Mihajlovic proved their match-winner, netting the only goal of the game with a stunning free-kick after 23 minutes.

Sampdoria produced a superb display on their travels to leave Lecce with a 4-1 win.

In France, Lille failed to reduce the lead of champions and Ligue 1 leaders Lyon when they were held 0-0 at Ajaccio on Saturday evening.

Lyon, who drew with Marseille on Friday and are aiming for a fourth title in a row, will therefore still have a three-point lead over Lille when Ligue 1 resumes after the Christmas break.

The big winners of the weekend were Auxerre who went third and now trail Lyon by seven points.

Feyenoord were humbled by a 2-0 defeat at ADO Den Haag yesterday.

Ruud Gullit’s side are 11 points off the Dutch leaders PSV Eindhoven and were looking to take maximum points from their trip to lowly Den Haag.

However, goals from Geert Den Ouden and Sjaak Polak settled the affair.

Ajax had no such problems from their trip to Groningen, as they enjoyed a 4-0 win to stay in touch with the top two.