Foreign: Postiga looks in ominous form but Sporting are held after goal frenzy

Sporting Lisbon did not make the ideal preparation for their trip to Ibrox this week when the Portuguese were held 2-2 at Olhanense.

Two goals by Helder Postiga put them in the driving seat but an own goal by Daniel Carrico pegged them back before Ismail levelled with a strike which ended a crazy four-minute period when three goals were scored. Sporting remain third in the table, well behind Benfica and Porto respectively.

Kenny Miller could not add to his midweek goals tally in Scotland colours when he turned out for Bursaspor away to Eskisehir. The former Rangers player picked up nothing more than a 76th-minute booking in the 1-1 draw, when the ninth-placed Turkish Super League side held second-placed Bursaspor.

In Spain, Barcelona striker David Villa refused to blame the distraction of last Wednesday's international fixtures for the La Liga leaders' slip-up at Sporting Gijon on Saturday when they were held to a 1-1 draw.

The result gave second-placed Real Madrid a chance to cut the gap to five points with a win at Espanyol late last night and came as Barca prepare to travel to London for Wednesday's Champions League last-16 clash against Arsenal.

"We did not notice the so-called FIFA virus," Villa, one of 13 internationals in the Barca squad, told reporters after he scored a late equaliser against his former club Gijon. "We had to work extremely hard because of how well Sporting played, not because of any fault of ours," he added.

Gijon took a surprise lead in the 16th minute at the Molinon when poor defending from Gerard Pique and Gabriel Milito let striker David Barral in to rifle the ball past Victor Valdes.

Villa equalised with an exquisite chip ten minutes from time but Barca were unable to convert sustained pressure on the home goal into a winner.

In Italy's Serie A, Lazio recorded their first away victory in the league since October, winning 2-0 at lowly Brescia as the goals flew in yesterday. Goals from forwards Alvaro Gonzalez and Libor Kozak pushed the Roman side up to third place, seven points behind leaders AC Milan who thumped Parma 4-0 on Saturday, setting them up nicely for their Champions League match against Spurs on tomorrow evening.

Udinese continued their good form with a 3-0 triumph at struggling Cesena, Antonio Di Natale grabbing his 17th and 18th goals of the season and Gokhan Inler also on target.

Champions Inter Milan, eight points adrift of AC Milan but with two games in hand, played Juventus late last night.

Elsewhere, Michael Frontzech paid the price for Borussia Moenchengladbach's dismal season when the coach was sacked by the Bundesliga's bottom side yesterday.

"Following the defeats against our direct relegation rivals VfB Stuttgart and St Pauli, we have to rethink our situation," sporting director Max Eberl said in a statement."It was a difficult decision for us."

Gladbach, who have lost three of their last four games and suffered a 3-1 defeat by St Pauli on Saturday, are bottom on 16 points from 22 games. They also have the worst defence in the league having conceded 56 goals.