Combined Reports


ROME -- Fabrizio Ravanelli scored two goals in four minutes to help Juventus knock Parma off the top of the standings with a 3-1 victory in a clash of the giants in the Italian First Division.


The result Sunday put Juventus in a healthy position in the championship race with a two-point lead and a game in hand over Parma, second on 31 points. Roma is third on 27.


Ex-Juventus player Dino Baggio gave Parma the lead against the run of play in the 57th minute, receiving a neat through pass from Gianfranco Zola before scoring with an angled shot.


Within four minutes, Juventus claimed a fortunate equalizer when Parma goalkeeper Giovanni Galli, a first-half substitute for the injured Luca Bucci, totally misjudged a lofted cross from Paolo Sousa and watched helplessly as the ball sailed into the net for the Portuguese international's first league goal.


Ravanelli put Juventus in front in the 70th minute, diving spectacularly to head a low, first-time cross from Gianluca Vialli past the hapless Galli.


He added his second from the penalty spot to extend Juventus' unbeaten run to eight matches and bring Parma's series of seven successive home wins to an abrupt halt.


Argentine Abel Balbo's eighth goal of the season and a late effort from Francesco Totti lifted Roma into third spot with a 2-0 victory over Bari.


In a night match, Lazio squandered a chance to join their arch-rivals in third place crashing to a 3-1 defeat against Sampdoria.


Lazio's Giuseppe Signori canceled out an early strike from Croat Sinisa Mihajlovic with his eighth goal of the season before two goals from England's David Platt either side of half-time -- his first from the penalty spot -- sealed victory for Sampdoria.


Lazio's poor start to 1995 was rounded off when the usually prolific Signori missed a 58th-minute penalty and Marco Di Vaio's headed goal was disallowed for a hotly disputed offside decision.


Fiorentina, third at the start of the day and with Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta absent on international duty, slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Torino.


AC Milan's run of misfortune continued with a last-minute mistake by goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi which allowed Fabio Cannavaro to salvage a 1-1 draw for Napoli at the San Siro.


Spanish First Division


Real Madrid is back -- but what's going on at Barcelona?


The Barcelona daily La Vanguardia on Sunday called Real Madrid's 5-0 battering of Barcelona a "debacle," a lopsided loss that may signal the end of Barcelona's four-season run as Spanish league champion and herald the return of Real Madrid as the first division's dominant side.


Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff hinted after Saturday's loss before 107,000 at Bernabeu stadium in Madrid that changes are on the horizon, and the first move is the near-certain return of World Cup hero Romario to his native Brazil with the Rio de Janeiro side Flamengo. A deal is expected to be announced this week.


Cruyff benched the Brazilian in the first half, sending him in in the second half after Hristo Stoichkov was expelled on a red card in the 44th minute for appearing intentionally to spike Real Madrid's Enrique "Quique" Sanchez.


Cruyff was also openly critical of Stoichkov, telling reporters that the Bulgarian needs to get his "head out of the clouds and get his feet back on the ground" since being named last month as the European player of the year.


For Real Madrid, Chilean Ivan Zamorano's three goals in the first half solidified his spot as the league's scoring leader with 17. First-year coach Argentine Jorge Valdano was lucky with Zamorano. Taking over the club, Valdano tired to get rid of the Chilean after his abysmal '93-'94 season. Failing to find a buyer, Valdano challenged Zamorano to make the team.


Spanish international Luis Enrique Martinez and Jose Emilio Amavisca scored Real Madrid's final two goals.


The 5-0 victory more than avenged a 5-0 loss last year at Barcelona. It was also Real Madrid's most one-sided win in 41 years over the Catalans.


Twenty-two games still remain in the season, but Real Madrid is now the clear favorite. The victory gave the team 25 points after 16 games and a five-point edge over Barcelona in fourth place. Zaragoza stayed in second place with 23 points following Sunday's 3-2 loss at Compostela.