Torres header boosts Atletico's title hopes
Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres celebrates after scoring a goal against Getafe during their Spanish first division soccer match at Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid (REUTERS/Sergio Perez)
A bullet header from Fernando Torres set up depleted Atletico Madrid for a 2-0 victory over Getafe on Saturday as the champions boosted their hopes of finishing third in La Liga.
Torres powered home a Koke free-kick after three minutes to claim his first league goal since returning to his boyhood club in the January transfer window from AC Milan.
Koke also played a part in the second goal before half-time when another free-kick was flicked on by Raul Jimenez and Tiago nodded the ball in.
Atletico were without several players through injury and suspension but looked sharper up front than of late.
Meanwhile, Carlos Tevez continued his fine form with his 24th goal of the season as Juventus beat Genoa to go 17 points clear at the top of Serie A.
The former Manchester City forward, who struck twice in Juve's 2-0 European win over Dortmund last week, broke the deadlock by weaving into the penalty area and firing in off the underside of the crossbar.
Tevez later had a second-half penalty saved but Juve held on to win comfortably, despite being without the services of midfielder Paul Pogba - starting a two-month injury lay-off.
In Germany, Bayern Munich's six-match winning run in the Bundesliga came to an abrupt end as Raffael scored twice to earn Borussia Monchengladbach a 2-0 win at the Allianz Arena yesterday.
The league leaders fell behind in the 30th minute and found themselves two down in the 77th minute as the visitors strengthened their Champions League ambitions. The win moved Gladbach up to third place, two points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern saw their lead at the top cut to 10 points by Wolfsburg, who had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Mainz.
