European roundup - Barca tighten grip, Man City out of Cup
LONDON (Reuters) - Barcelona increased their hold on top spot in La Liga as their main rivals dropped points while a weakened Manchester City were dumped out of the FA Cup fifth round at Chelsea and hundresds of demonstrating Feyenoord fans were detained by police.
SPAIN
Barcelona won 2-1 at Las Palmas to open an eight-point lead over Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga with Neymar getting the winner and Luis Suarez scoring his 41st goal this season.
Atletico were held 0-0 at home by Villarreal in a dour encounter, while third-placed Real Madrid, a point further back, drew 1-1 at Malaga where Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty.
Real were outplayed at times and fortunate to come away with a point that left Spanish media saying they could kiss the title goodbye with 13 matches to go until the end of the season.
Ronaldo opened the scoring against the run of play but had his penalty saved soon after and Malaga equalised through defender Raul Albentosa in the second half.
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ENGLAND
Manchester City's decision to field a weakened team ahead of Wednesday's Champions League tie was seized on by Chelsea who romped to a 5-1 win in the FA Cup fifth round and joined London rivals West Ham United and Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals.
Chelsea visit Everton in a repeat of the 2009 final.
Manchester City's fellow Premier League title challengers Tottenham Hotspur also slumped out with a 1-0 home defeat by Crystal Palace, who next travel to second-tier Reading, 3-1 winners against top-flight visitors West Bromwich Albion.
Holders Arsenal face a replay at second-tier Hull City after a 0-0 draw at The Emirates, while Manchester United travel to Shrewsbury Town on Monday with the winners of that match hosting West Ham, who thrashed Blackburn Rovers 5-1 on the road.
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GERMANY
Bayern Munich never hit top form in their 3-1 come-from-behind victory over promoted Darmstadt 98 but did enough to protect their eight point lead at the top.
Thomas Mueller scored twice, including a spectacular 71st-minute bicycle kick, and Bundesliga top scorer Robert Lewandowski grabbed his 22nd league goal of the campaign as they recovered to win the 19th of their 22 games this term.
Borussia Dortmund tightened their grip on second spot, opening a 15-point gap over third-placed Hertha Berlin with a 1-0 win at Bayer Leverkusen, who are a further point back in fourth.
The game was briefly interrupted after Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt initially refused to go to the stands following his dismissal for dissent by referee Felix Zwayer.
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ITALY
Title holders and leaders Juventus were held 0-0 at mid-table Bologna, ending a run of 15 successive Serie A wins, to move two points ahead of Napoli, who host AC Milan on Monday.
Fiorentina, a further four points adrift in third, kept up their title chase with a 3-2 win at Atalanta with all the goals coming in the last quarter of the match.
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FRANCE
Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic again showed his class in a 4-1 home win over Stade de Reims in which he scored twice and set up the other two goals as the French champions retained a 24-point lead in Ligue 1. Gregory van der Wiel and Edinson Cavani were also on the scoresheet with PSG, who are unbeaten in their last 36 league games, moving on to 73 points from 27 games. Monaco beat visitors Troyes 3-1 to stay second and now have an eight-point lead over Nice, who drew 0-0 at Girondins de Bordeaux, in the race for Champions League qualifying places. St Etienne are fourth, level on 41 points with Nice, after salvaging a point in a 1-1 draw at Olympique de Marseille.
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NETHERLANDS
Leaders PSV Eindhoven stayed a point clear of Ajax Amsterdam in a two-horse utch title race as both won but the focus was on Feyenoord whose match was marred as hundreds of supporters were detained by police during a demonstration before kickoff.
Seventh-placed Feyenoord, who ended a seven-game losing streak with a 1-1 home draw against Roda JC Kerkrade, were subjected to a pre-game demonstration against the club's management by fans angry at defeats stretching back to Dec. 20.
PSV's Davy Proepper scored early and Gaston Pereiro added a penalty to guide them to a 2-0 home victory over Heracles Almelo, while Ajax's Arek Milik scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season in a 3-0 win against Excelsior.
(Editing by Ken Ferris)