Arsenal is resigned to losing its Premier League title to Chelsea. What would make it more painful is handing the Blues the championship by losing at home to bitter rival Tottenham.
Holding Chelsea to a 0-0 tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, the Gunners at least made sure that Jose Mourinho's men can't clinch its first title in 50 years by beating Fulham last Saturday.
But Arsenal can lose it on Monday.
PHOTO: AFP
If Chelsea beats Fulham and goes 14 points clear, the Gunners -- with five games left -- have to beat Spurs at home to keep the title race going.
With seventh-place Tottenham chasing a place in next season's UEFA Cup, there is more than local rivalry at stake for Martin Jol's team, which hasn't beaten the Gunners at Highbury since a 3-1 victory in 1993.
That was against an under-strength Arsenal side, with the Gunners saving their best players for the upcoming FA Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday.
Arsenal's current manager, Arsene Wenger, effectively conceded the title to Chelsea after Wednesday's tie.
"We have to congratulate them for what they have achieved," he said. "They will be champions. It will take a huge accident for them not to be champions.
"We want to win every game but we will not be champions this year. We knew that when we came here, but we have our pride and want to finish as close as we can to Chelsea."
Mourinho didn't appear at the post-game news conference, but assistant manager Steve Clarke said the Portuguese coach was hoping to capture the league title before his side faced Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.
"Jose is happy," Clarke said. "It was a good result for us and keeps the gap at 11 points. It is going to be difficult for anybody to catch us now.
"We are getting there slowly. It doesn't matter when we win it. It would have been great to have done that on Saturday but we can't."
Third-place Manchester United is 15 points behind Chelsea with five games to play and has virtually no chance of catching the Blues.
Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Everton, where Gary Neville and Paul Scholes were sent off, also left Alex Ferguson's men four points behind the Gunners in the race for second place.
On Sunday, the Reds face ailing Newcastle for the second time in a week, having beaten the Magpies 4-1 in an FA Cup semifinal last weekend.
Everton's first victory over the Reds for 10 years strengthened its hold on fourth place and David Moyes' team should follow that up with a home victory over Birmingham City, which went down 3-0 at Manchester City on Wednesday.
While the title is almost certainly on its way to Chelsea, the struggle to avoid relegation is getting more intense.
Last-place Norwich scored a last-minute winner for a 2-1 victory over Newcastle on Wednesday, and has picked up seven points from three games -- including a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.
The Canaries, who host Charlton on Saturday, now are level on points with Crystal Palace, which went down 1-0 at Blackburn. Palace, which tied 3-3 with Norwich last weekend, hosts Champions League semifinalist Liverpool, which is chasing fourth place.
Southampton has one point more and West Bromwich Albion -- eight points off safety in last place at the start of 2005 -- is just outside the relegation zone with a game in hand.
The Saints go to south-coast neighbor Portsmouth on Sunday while West Brom, which has a one-point advantage, has its third away game in a row at Middlesbrough. It looks likely that the three relegated clubs will come from these four.
Saturday's other games are Aston Villa versus Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers versus Manchester City.
FC Barcelona visits mid-table Malaga tomorrow, aiming for the first of four victories it needs to be certain of winning this season's Spanish league title.
Although Barcelona has a six-point lead over Real Madrid with six games remaining, coach Frank Rijkaard is still cautious.
"I don't want to talk about titles or about being champions or about anything else if it's not our next match or our next opponent," Rijkaard told sports daily Marca on Thursday.
Madrid, which could close the gap to three points for at least 24 hours if it beats Villarreal on Saturday, is optimistic after winning its last four games.
It will have to continue its winning streak while hoping Barcelona slips up. If the rivals end the season tied on points, Barcelona will clinch the title because of its superior record in head-to-head matches.
"The battle is going to be long. We can't catch up all at once," Madrid coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo said.
Barcelona, which has 72 points from 32 games, will be boosted by the return of captain Carles Puyol from suspension. The team will be even happier if striker Samuel Eto'o, the league's leading scorer with 21 goals, recovers from a right knee injury to play.
Barcelona was buoyed last weekend by the improvement in Ronaldinho's form. The FIFA world player of the year reveled in a freer, more central role, scoring one goal and creating the other in a 2-0 win over Getafe.
"It's true I get the ball more. But what makes me happy is to play, it doesn't matter where," Ronaldinho said.
Even though 14th-place Malaga has little to play for before the end of the season, Barcelona can't be complacent. It was trounced 5-1 at La Rosaleda stadium last season.
Barcelona will be without suspended Mexican midfielder Rafael Marquez, with Gerard Lopez, Demetrio Albertini or Thiago Motta possible replacements.
Madrid faces a tough test against fourth-place Villarreal, which is hoping to debut in next season's Champions League.
Madrid's soccer director Arrigo Sacchi warned his team of Villarreal's quality.
"Villarreal is the best side in the league at present. It's stronger than Barcelona and I'm worried that we won't prepare for the game properly," Sacchi told Marca.
Four Villarreal players may be especially keen to beat Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Goalkeeper Pepe Reina, defender Quique Alvarez and wingback Juan Pablo Sorin all used to play for Barcelona, while midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme is on loan from the Catalan club.
Madrid will put its faith in the marksmanship of Ronaldo, who ended a barren patch by scoring three goals in the last two games.
Madrid's midfielder Thomas Gravesen is unsure of playing because of a sprained ankle, while centerback Ivan Helguera is also doubtful after being hospitalized during the week with a stomach complaint.
Sevilla and Villarreal have 52 points each, but Sevilla is third on head-to-head results and Villarreal has played one game fewer. Real Betis has 51 points, one more than Espanyol.
Tomorrow, Sevilla visits No. 8 Athletic Bilbao, Betis hosts No. 12 Real Sociedad, while Espanyol entertains No. 11 Zaragoza.
The teams in the three relegation places -- Mallorca, Albacete and Numancia -- all look certain to be demoted. Mallorca is in 18th place with 25 points, nine behind nearest rival Racing Santander. Albacete has 24 and last-place Numancia has 23.
Bayern Munich and Schalke will meet in the finale of the German season. By then, however, Bayern is likely to have grabbed the bigger prize.
With midweek victories, Bayern and Schalke have set up a showdown in the German Cup final on May 28 in Berlin. That comes one week after the final round of the Bundesliga season.
Schalke has beaten Bayern in the league twice this season, but Bayern heads into the five last rounds with a big six-point lead.
On Saturday, that lead could increase. Bayern has what looks like an easy game against lowly Bochum, while Schalke has to travel to Hertha Berlin, a team on the rise.
Schalke snapped its two-game losing streak by edging defending champion Werder Bremen in the semifinals of the German Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw in extra time Tuesday. A day later, Bayern cruised past Arminia Bielefeld 2-0.
The win over Bremen in a close, dramatic match lifted Schalke's confidence after its Bundesliga setbacks against Stuttgart and Hamburg.
"We would have been shattered had we lost the shootout," Schalke coach Ralf Rangnick said. "We showed what quality players we have and why we are so high in the standings. This quality couldn't have disappeared overnight.
"Now we have to maintain this momentum in the Bundesliga. There is still a lot at stake there," Rangnick said.
While Schalke players and their manager appear to have given up all hope of catching Bayern, they are now concerned about not losing a place in the Champions League, which would be a severe blow to the club's finances.
"To believe that we could still win the title would be complete nonsense," said Schalke captain and goalkeeper Frank Rost, who stopped three penalties against Bremen and converted the winning kick.
"We just have to concentrate on Saturday's game, which is like a final for us. We have to invest into it as much as we did against Bremen.
"Three points in Berlin would be the big points we need to qualify for the Champions League. That's our target now," Rost said.
Hertha Berlin is also hoping for a Champions League spot and has been making steady progress in the standings.
Berlin is fifth with 50 points, six behind Schalke. Bremen is fourth, also at 50, while No. 3 Stuttgart has 54.
Stuttgart is at home to Wolfsburg today, while Bremen plays Sunday at Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern's match against Bochum may turn out to be more demanding that it would look on paper.
Bochum is desperately fighting against relegation and has climbed to within one point of safety in 16th place.
Juventus has had several chances to pull away from the competition in the Serie A this season.
Instead of getting ready to lift its 28th Italian league title, however, the perennial Turin power is trying to fight off a fierce challenge from 17-time winner AC Milan.
The co-leaders will meet on May 8 at San Siro, but before that confrontation, they will need to overcome relegation-threatened clubs, a growing weariness from a long campaign and their nerves.
"The run for the title is increasingly on the razor's edge. Every match will be decisive from here to the end," AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said after Wednesday's 1-0 win over Chievo Verona. "The winner will be the one with more physical and mental resources.
"Certainly both Milan and Juventus are feeling the strain of a tense, busy season in this phase of the campaign," he added.
With six rounds remaining, Milan and Juventus are tied atop the standings with 70 points. Inter Milan, which beat Juve 1-0 at Stadio Delle Alpi on Wednesday, is third with 59.
Inter's win helped crosstown rival Milan, which had slipped three points behind Juve following a 2-1 upset loss at Siena on Sunday.
Juventus led since the first round of the season, opening up an eight-point advantage over AC Milan at one point.
This weekend, AC Milan hosts Parma and Juventus is at Lazio.
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