With Europe's elite preparing for this week's round of Champions League matches, teams were looking for strong performances ahead of some tricky encounters.
A fiercely contested encounter between AC Milan and Juventus led to both teams sharing the spoils in their top of the table Serie A clash.
Arsenal hammered struggling Leeds United 4-1 to stay top of the English premier league but there was no let up from title rivals Manchester United and Chelsea, who also clocked up victories.
German champions Bayern Munich's stuttering start to the season continued with a 2-0 defeat at Schalke 04 while VfB Stuttgart's impressive run took them back to the top of the Bundesliga after thumping SC Freiburg 4-1.
In France, Monaco went three points clear with victory over Le Mans after Olympique Marseille slipped up with a 1-0 defeat at Girondins Bordeaux.
World Player of the Year Ronaldo, who had hit a minor drought after failing to score for three games, produced two brilliant goals and created a third for Luis Figo in Real's 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Real, who travel to Partizan Belgrade on Tuesday, displaced Deportivo Coruna at the top of the standings on Saturday after Depor, away to Monaco on Wednesday, could only manage a goalless draw at Murcia.
But the 5-0 rout at Real Mallorca on Sunday put Valencia ahead of Real on goal difference.
A hat-trick from Ricardo Oliveira added to Jorge Lopez's second-minute penalty before Xisco completed the haul in the dying minutes.
ITALIAN STALEMATE
European champions Milan and Italian title holders Juventus drew 1-1 in their table-topping clash but Roma moved within two points of the leaders after goals from Vincenzo Montella and John Carew gave them a 2-0 victory over Reggina.
An 84th-minute volley from Marco Di Vaio levelled the scores for Juventus after Danish striker Jon Dahl Tomasson put Milan ahead in a rematch of last season's European final.
Arsenal, needing to beat Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday to stand a chance of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages, maintained a one-point lead at the top of the premier league.
Two goals from Thierry Henry and one apiece from Robert Pires and Gilberto completed the rout at Leeds.
Second-placed Chelsea and third-placed United, who are a point further back, kept up the pressure. A goal from Adrian Mutu gave Chelsea a 1-0 win at Everton while United followed up lat week's humiliating home defeat by Fulham with a 3-0 drubbing of Portsmouth.
Stuttgart, flying high both domestically and in Europe, prepared for their trip to Panathinaikos with a morale-boosting victory over SC Freiburg.
Two goals from Kevin Kuranyi and one each from Christian Tiffert and Alexander Gleb sealed the win to take Stuttgart a point clear of Bayer Leverkusen, who could only manage a goalless draw at Kaiserslautern on Sunday.
