European round-up: Real Madrid turn up the pressure on Barcelona

Posted Sunday, January 08, 2012 by theguardian.com

• Diego Milito at the double as Inter thrash Parma 5-0
• Joe Cole scores a hat-trick for Lille against cup minnows

European round-up: Real Madrid turn up the pressure on Barcelona
Lille's Joe Cole celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Cup match against Chantilly.

The Spanish league leaders Real Madrid turned up the pressure on Barcelona on Saturday when the in-form Karim Benzema scored twice in a 5-1 win over Granada.

The victory extended Madrid's advantage over their fierce rivals to six points before Barça's Catalan derby at Espanyol on Sunday.

Benzema opened the scoring at the Bernabéu in the 19th minute. Granada equalised three minutes later, but Madrid went on to dominate through goals by Sergio Ramos, Gonzalo Higuaín, another from Benzema and finally Cristiano Ronaldo,

At El Sardinero Stadium, Racing Santander continued their improvement since the departure of the coach Héctor Cúper with a 1-0 win over last-place Zaragoza thanks to Bernardo Espinosa's first-half header.

Santander's unbeaten streak stretched to four games under the caretaker coaching trio of Juan José González, Fede Castaños and Pablo Pinillos, helping the team move out of the drop zone for the first time in 12 weeks.

Zaragoza recorded their ninth defeat in 10 games for the debut of the coach Manolo Jiménez following the sacking of Javier Aguirre.

Earlier, Levante v Mallorca, Malaga v Atlético Madrid and Real Sociedad v Osasuna ended in scoreless draws.

In Italy, Internazionale started the new year in much the same fashion as they ended 2011, with a 5-0 victory over Parma in Serie A.

Diego Milito scored both of his goals in the first half, either side of Thiago Motta's strike. Giampaolo Pazzini added a fourth in the 56th minute before Marco Faraoni grabbed his first Serie A goal.

It was Inter's fifth win in a row, a run that has propelled Claudio Ranieri's team to fifth in the standings and the best possible way to prepare for next weekend's derby against Milan.

Siena recorded their first victory since October with a 4-0 win over 10-man Lazio, who started the year in fourth place, four points off Serie A leaders Juventus and Milan.

In France, Joe Cole scored a hat-trick as Lille began the defence of their French Cup trophy with a 6-0 win away to amateur side Chantilly in the second round.

The former Chelsea midfielder, who is on loan from Liverpool, has been in good form for the defending French champions this season as he bids to break back into the England team for the European Championship.

Chantilly play five divisions below Lille and could not cope with the cup holders' attack.