AC Milan won the Italian league title for the 17th time on Sunday after beating Roma 1-0 in a violence-marred contest at the San Siro as reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid's grip on their crown loosened badly when they went down 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna the previous day.

The defeat left second-placed Roma nine points behind with two games left to play in this season's SerieA.

Ukrainian striker Andrei Shevchenko scored the winner in the second minute to hand Milan theirfirsttitle since 1999.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti paid tribute to his players, who trailed Roma by six points before the winter break.

"Today, we played fantastic and overall we deserved the Scudetto," he added. "It was an extraordinary season and I am truly happy."

Primera Liga

The destination of the Spanish championship is in the hands of Valencia after they opened up a four-point lead at the top of the Spanish first division with a 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

Valencia are well on their way to lifting their second title in three years with 74 points from their 35 games.

Real Madrid stay in second but their grip on their crown loosened when they went down 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Barcelona remain in third after their 4-1 derby win over Espanyol but now have 69 points and close the gap on Real to one point.

Ronaldinho was the creative genius for Barcelona, scoring one goal and taking part in the others.

Raul Tamudo gave Espanyol the early lead by converting from the penalty spot in the 19th minute after Oleguer Presas kicked Tamudo in the shin at the Camp Nou.

Ronaldinho began the comeback with a perfectly placed header in the 35th minute.

Eight minutes later, Ronaldinho's back-pass allowed striker Javier Saviola to put the hosts in the lead. Saviola added a second in the 58th, and defender Giovanni Van Bronckhorst scored the other in the 55th.

Espanyol hasn't won at the

Camp Nou in 22 years.

Ligue 1

In France, reigning champions Lyon moved one point closer to retaining their title after Vikash Dhorasoo scored an important equaliser three minutes from the end of a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux on Sunday.

Lyon have 70 points from 34 games, two points more than Monaco, who beat Nice 2-1 on Friday to warm up for their Champions League semi-final return leg against Chelsea in midweek.

Paris St Germain are a further point behind with four matches left to play after they were held to a goalless draw by Strasbourg.

Bundesliga

In Germany, Werder Bremen retained their six-point advantage at the Bundesliga summit with a resounding 6-0 win over SV Hamburg and can dethrone Bayern Munich as champions in next Saturday's showdown in Bavaria.

Werder need one point against Bayern to seal the title as they have a far superior goal difference - 12

goals better than Bayern - with just three games remaining.

Bayern defeated Cologne 2-1, ensuring that the one-time European Cup finalist were relegated from the Bundesliga.

SerieA

At the San Siro a tense match was marred by trouble on the terraces with Milan goalkeeper Dida twice hit by missiles thrown from the end of the ground occupied by Roma fans.

The violence began soon after the break when Roma had appeals for a penalty turned down as Shevchenko used an arm to block a free-kick that was heading towards him.

Milan got off to the perfect start, taking the lead with less than two minutes on the clock.

Brazilian midfielder Kaka skipped past Olivier Dacourt down the right wing and crossed for Shevchenko, whose angled header skimmed off the head of Zebina on its way to the top corner.

Rome struggled to contain Milan's hard-working midfield and were spending all their time defend-

ing rather than supporting their potentially lethal strikers Francesco Totti and Antonio Cassano.

The visitors were let off the hook three minutes from half-time when Kaka carved out a golden opportunity for Shevchenko, only for the former Dinamo Kiev forward to drag his shot wide with just Ivan Pelizzoli to beat.

Roma thought they should have been awarded a penalty four minutes into the second-half when Shevchenko raised his elbow to block Totti's 18-yard free-kick but the referee waved play on, sparking a mass protest from the Roma players.

Their frustrations were felt by their travelling army of supporters who threw many objects onto the pitch, with one firecracker exploding a foot away from Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.

Roma went close when Totti's indirect free-kick was blocked by Alessandro Costacurta's outstretched leg, before Cassano's backward header narrowly cleared the bar.