European review: Schalke and Sevilla stumble while Barthez fumbles

The Ruhr club never got a look-in after falling behind in the third minute to Roy Makaay's 100th goal for Bayern Munich.

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The Dutchman has been a prolific and consistent scorer since moving to Bavaria in 2003, and he converted a Mark Van Bommel cross to rejuvenate Bayern's title challenge after only taking one point from their last two matches.

Bayern pushed hard for a second after the break and it arrived 12 minutes from time through Hasan Salihamidzic to pull the Champions League quarter-finalists within six points of Schalke.

Werder Bremen missed yet another chance to take over the leadership as they were held 0-0 at Energie Cottbus in a dismal game and remain two points adrift.

Stuttgart are still in the running after beating Alemannia Aachen 3-1 to go four points behind.

Hamburg, bottom at the turn of the year, continued their phenomenal run by beating Wolfsburg 1-0 for a fifth win in seven matches, in which time they have only conceded once.

In France, Fabien Barthez has not been enjoying his return to competitive football as his blunder at home for Nantes handed relegation rivals Sedan a critical 1-0 victory.

Barthez took a few months off for family reasons after playing in the World Cup Final, and was then picked up by struggling Nantes, but his team's poor form has matched his own.

The 1998 World Cup winner misjudged a cross by Sedan captain David Ducourtioux on the hour and fumbled the ball over the line to give the visitors a victory they scarcely deserved which took them off the bottom after collecting eight points from four matches.

Nantes have been in the top flight for a record 44 years but are now bottom themselves after fallen giants Paris St Germain recorded their first victory since the middle of February with a 2-1 win at second-placed Lens.

Sylvain Armand volleyed a superb winner 20 minutes from time.

Lyon stay 16 points clear but did not have a good weekend as they lost the French League Cup final 1-0 to Bordeaux with a last-minute header from Brazilian defender Henrique after Lyon had dominated the match.

Inter have an even bigger lead than Lyon as a 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Parma took them 20 points clear in Serie A thanks to Roma's 1-1 draw with AC Milan.

Inter have an astonishing record of 25 wins and four draws, and look set to wrap up the title in record time.

Lazio are the other team in form as they thumped Udinese 4-2 away to record their seventh consecutive win and cement their position in third despite losing three points at the start of the season for their role in the match-fixing scandal.

Minnows Empoli continued their amazing push for a European spot as they leapfrogged Milan into fifth with a 4-1 thumping of bottom club Ascoli thanks to doubles from Nicola Pozzi and Luca Saudati.

Sevilla were the big losers in Spain as they could only draw 0-0 at fellow UEFA Cup quarter-finalists Osasuna to fall two points behind Barcelona, who were made to work hard for a 2-1 victory at home to Deportivo La Coruna.

The Galician side were holding out well until a fine piece of skill from Ronaldinho set up Lionel Messi for the opener on half time, and Samuel Eto'o made the points safe just after the break.

Spain striker David Villa scored a superb volley and set up two others as Valencia beat Espanyol 3-2 to stay fourth and Real Madrid fortuitously remained in the hunt with a 2-1 success at Celta Vigo thanks to a late goal by Robinho.

Guti was sent off at the end, the last of 11 yellow cards.

Undoubtedly the game of the day was Racing Santander's 5-4 victory over Athletic Bilbao to keep them in the hunt for a European place.

Eight goals came in the final 35 minutes, with giant Serbian striker Nikola Zigic grabbing a dramatic last-ditch winner to complete a 20-minute hat-trick.