European football review - Serie A, Le Championnat, La Liga

Coach Roberto Mancini had shrugged off the previous week's defeat in the Milan derby, saying at least his side could clinch the title in front of their own fans, against a team with nothing to play for, but the nerves which have crippled Inter in recent weeks cost them again.

A win would have ensured the title ahead of Roma, by virtue of Inter's better head-to-head record and all seemed to going according to script when Patrick Vieira headed in an early goal, but former Middlesbrough striker Massimo Maccarone pulled Siena level.

The title party was back on when 17-year-old striker Mario Balotelli headed in right on half-time but Moroccan midfielder Houcine Kharja, who had scored the only goal against Juventus the previous week to keep Siena safe, curled in another fine shot with 20 minutes to go.

Inter were given a gift opportunity to wrap it all up when given a penalty with 12 minutes left, but World Cup winner Marco Materazzi's weak penalty was saved by Alex Manninger.

Roma took full advantage of Inter's slip to close the gap, which stood at 12 points in February, to just one as they beat Atalanta 2-1 with a Christian Panucci header and Daniele De Rossi free-kick.

The championship battle is given added zest by the fact that Inter and Roma both travel to sides who are battling to avoid the drop. Inter take on Parma, who need a win to have any chance of catching Catania, who need a point against Roma to stay up.

Catania were a minute from safety as they took a shock lead at Juventus, who had nothing to play for, but Alessandro Del Piero grabbed his 19th of the season in the 89th minute.

Parma took an early lead at Fiorentina through Igor Budan, but Mario Santana finally made incessant Viola pressure pay by levelling just before half-time, and Parma cracked in the closing stages as Franco Semioli and Daniel Osvaldo made it 3-1.

Fiorentina gained their reward as they jumped back into the final Champions League spot as AC Milan crashed 3-1 at Napoli, who took the lead with a stunning goal by Czech midfielder Marek Hamsyk, who ran half the length of the field to score.

Milan must beat Udinese next week to avoid the humiliation of having to play in the UEFA Cup, but their cause has not been helped by Torino's 1-0 win to relegate Livorno and keep the Turin club safe, as Torino now take on Fiorentina in the final round with nothing to play for.

The title is also up for grabs in France, but Lyon made their task so much easier when they beat third-placed Nancy 1-0, but they had to wait until the 76th minute before being given a helping hand by Andre Luiz's own goal.

Bordeaux did their bit by beating Sochaux 2-0 with goals by Fernando and Marouane Chamakh, but they stay two points adrift which means Lyon only need a draw away to Auxerre next week.

Auxerre are safe, but Bordeaux's oppponents Lens are not, having dropped into the relegation zone with a 2-1 defeat at bitter rivals Lille.

With Strasbourg crashing to a 10th consecutive defeat, 4-1 at home to Caen, the final relegation spot is between Lens, Toulouse and Paris St Germain.

Toulouse are on the same points as Lens after slipping 2-1 at Rennes, while PSG are only a point ahead after a record crowd for a league game at the Parc des Princes, 45,350, could not inspire them to more than a 1-1 draw with St Etienne, in an emotional last game for the Portuguese striker Pauleta after five prolific seasons at PSG.

Real Madrid are already Spanish champions, but they honourably tried hard at Zaragoza to force a 2-2 draw which drops the 1995 Cup Winners Cup victors into the relegation zone.

Osasuna and Recreativo Huelva both won to leapfrog Zaragoza, but they can still go down, along with Valladolid, in next week's final round.

The other main interest for the final round lies in whether Atletico Madrid can catch Barcelona for third, thus forcing the Catalan giants into the qualifying round of the Champions League.

Both teams are on 64 points, but Barcelona only have themselves to blame after blowing a 2-0 lead at home to Mallorca midway through the second half, conceding the winner to Dani Guiza's league leading 26th of the season in the fourth minute of injury time.

Coach Frank Rijkaard was given a warm reception in his final home game in charge, but fans reserved their bile for president Joan Laporta, who has seen his team win just one of their last eight games.

Atletico beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 with a 16th of the season from Diego Forlan, and must now do better at Valencia than Barcelona achieve at relegated Murcia.