Defending champion Borussia Dortmund went top of the German league for the first time this season Saturday after defeating neighbor Schalke 2-0 as Bayern Munich dropped to third in the table. Only one point separates the top three teams with Dortmund and Borussia Moenchengladbach on 29 points, but Bayern can regain top spot if it wins at Mainz Sunday. Leverkusen sealed a 3-3 draw at Hertha Berlin. The draw leaves Leverkusen sixth in the table while Berlin are 10th. Hamburg's new coach Thorsten Fink has now gone five games unbeaten after his side drew 1-1 at Hanover. Bottom side Augsburg inflicted a 2-0 defeat on 2009 champion Wolfsburg. Nuremberg enjoyed a 1-0 win over Kaiserslautern, while Hoffenheim grabbed a 1-1 win over Freiburg. Valencia beats Rayo Vallecano Valencia stayed in touch with the top of the Spanish league with a 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano Saturday. The win lifted third-place Valencia to within four points of leader Real Madrid and one point of Barcelona. Novara downs Parma Goals from Raffaele Rubino and Marco Rigoni enabled Novara to come from behind to defeat Parma 2-1 in Serie A Saturday, and Catania scored a last-minute goal to win 1-0 at Lecce. Novara rose to 17th position in the standings, above Bologna on goal difference and two points in front of Lecce, which was on the verge of earning a point against Catania before Pablo Barrientos pounced. Montpellier on top An Olivier Giroud hat-trick sent surprise package Montpellier to the top of Ligue 1 with a 3-1 win at Sochaux Saturday. Montpellier now has 33 points from 15 games and leads second-placed Paris St Germain by three points. Stade Rennes beat promoted Evian Thonon Gaillard 3-2 with a double by Julien Feret to move up to third on 28 points.
