after the Jays missed the playoffs under Jim Fregosi. T

LONDON - Arsenal dealt Manchester Citys Premier League title defence a blow on Sunday, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lit up Spain with multi-goal scoring performances.Citys 2-0 home loss to Arsenal left it flagging five points behind leader Chelsea. It also ended second-place Citys 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions.Ronaldo scored twice to help Real Madrid win 3-0 at Getafe, before Messi bettered that with his 30th career hat trick for Barcelona as the Catalan club eased to a 4-0 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.Heres a look at the top leagues around Europe:___ENGLANDArsenal finally ended its streak of poor away performances against top teams as Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in each half at City.Cazorla converted a penalty in the 24th minute and then sent in a free kick that Giroud headed in for the second in the 66th.City dominated possession but Arsenal for once showed the kind of defensive fortitude that so often has been missing in big away games in recent years. Arsenal lost 6-3 at City last season.Arsenal climbed above Tottenham into fifth place, one point behind Manchester United.West Ham also gave its European ambitions a boost as a superb second-half display saw the Hammers beat struggling Hull 3-0. West Ham climbed above Liverpool into seventh.___SPAINReal stayed one point ahead of Barcelona as the Spanish league reached its halfway mark.Ronaldo took his league-leading tally to 28 goals. Messi trails his rival with 19.Defending champion Atletico Madrid did its part to stay in the title race and set up a promising second half of the season by beating bottom side Granada 2-0, remaining in third place, four points behind Real.Real still has a game in hand to be played next month against Sevilla, which remained in fourth by beating Malaga 2-0.After its exit from the Copa del Rey this week, Carlo Ancelottis team was under pressure to have a strong showing with only one win in four matches to start 2015 after finishing last year on a Spanish record 22-game win streak.Karim Benzema used a skilful change of foot to open a passing angle and set up Ronaldo to net in the 63rd. James Rodriguez then crossed for Gareth Bale and Ronaldo to add goals in the 67th and 79th.Messi tormented Deportivo from kickoff, and Ivan Rakitic met his run with a lobbed pass over the defence that the Argentina forward headed home in the 10th. Messi chipped in his second in the 33rd before firing in his third in the 62nd.___ITALYCarlos Tevez scored twice to help Juventus beat Hellas Verona 4-0 and move five points clear at the top of Serie A.Paul Pogba and Tevez put the defending champion 2-0 up inside seven minutes. Verona goalkeeper Rafael kept the tide at bay until shortly after the hour mark when Roberto Pereyra and Tevez completed the scoring.Napoli beat Lazio 1-0 to leapfrog the Rome side into third spot in Serie A, while Sampdoria remained firmly in the race for the final Champions League spot with a 2-0 win at Parma.AC Milan had another disappointing result, losing 1-0 at home to relegation-threatened Atalanta.Fiorentinas Khouma Babacar scored a last-gasp goal that snatched a 2-1 win at Chievo Verona.Genoa came back three times to rescue a 3-3 draw against Sassuolo. Udinese drew 2-2 at home to Cagliari, and Torino won 3-2 at bottom club Cesena.___FRANCEMario Lemina and Andre-Pierre Gignac scored late as Marseille beat Guingamp 2-1 for its first win in a month while Paris Saint-Germain again struggled in a scrappy 4-2 defeat of bottom side Evian in the French league.After starting the new year with back to back losses and being knocked off the top of the standings by Lyon, Marseille was made to work by a well-organized Guingamp before Lemina headed home from close range six minutes from time to put the hosts in front.Gignac extended Marseilles lead from Dimitri Payets free kick five minutes later with another header. Claudio Beauvue pulled one back from the penalty spot after Rod Fanni was sent off in added time.Marseille moved within one point of Lyon while PSGs win lifted the defending champions to third in the standings — four points behind the leaders — after fourth-place Saint-Etienne was held to a goalless draw at Rennes. Authentic Wholesale Nike Shoes China . Sundays race will be held at the Sepang circuit, adjacent to Kuala Lumpurs main airport where the ill-fated flight took off earlier this month. Authorities now say it is almost certain it crashed in the Indian Ocean, killing all 239 people aboard. Cheap Nike Shoes Online Free Shipping .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 20th consecutive win across all competitions by cruising to a 4-1 victory at Almeria on Friday. http://www.wholesaleshoesnike.com/ . The 19-year-old from Westmount, Que., was edged 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by third-seeded Alize Cornet of France. Cornet broke Bouchard twice in the last set and saved six break points in the three-hour match. Cheap Nike Shoes China Free Shipping . Just ask Arsenal fans. However, Arsene Wenger has repeatedly told anyone willing to listen that finishing in that spot is more important than winning a cup competition. Wholesale Nike Shoes For Sale . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors.Hands up if you remember the last trade made by the Blue Jays. I admit, I actually had to look it up. It was back on December 14th when the Jays sent reliever Brad Lincoln to the Phillies for 33-year-old catcher Eric Kratz and 24-year-old lefty reliever Rob Rasmussen. It has been a quiet winter hasnt it? Of course we were spoiled in the off-season a year ago, when Alex Anthopoulos pulled off that monster 12 player deal with the Miami Marlins and then followed up with that seven player swap with the Mets that landed R.A Dickey. Off-seasons like that come along every 10 years or so, if that. Over the weekend I was curious to see, which team had been the Blue Jays most common trade partner. I can tell you it wasnt the Yankees, though they have made 23 deals with the Pinstripes. It wasnt Cleveland either, though the Jays have made 23 swaps with the Tribe. No, the team the Blue Jays have made the most deals with over their 37-year history according the BaseballReference.com is the Oakland As; thirty to be exact. Going over them one-by-one, I could see only one that the Jays outright lost. That one went down on Dec. 8, 1984. The Blue Jays dealt left fielder Dave Collins and shortstop Alfredo Griffin to Oakland for Bill Caudill -- the guy who was supposed to be the closer who would push them over the top. Of course that didnt happen, and by June of 1985 Tom Henke became the ninth inning guy and the Jays did in fact go on to win their 1st division title. Eventually Griffin found his way back to Toronto and as a utility infielder became part of the World Series teams in ‘92 and ‘93. The Jays very first trade with the As came on February 24th of 1977, when their original roster was still being formulated. The Jays dealt infielder Mike Weathers to the As for veteran outfielder/first baseman Ron Fairly, who had played with the Expos in their early years as well. Fairly provided a sense of veteran leadership and class in the Jays clubhouse that 1st year. On July 31, 1993 at the non-waiver trade deadline, Pat Gillick was trying to put together a deal for lefty Randy Johnson to help make a run at a second straight World Series title. When he couldnt get the arm he wanted, Gillick turned around and dealt lefty Steve Karsay and a player to be named later (outfielder Jose Herrrara) to the As for all-time stolen base king Rickey Henderson. Though he turned out to be a rental, Rickey helped ensure a World Series win over the Phillies come October. J.P. Ricciardi pulled off a deal with the As on December 7, 2001 that helped both teams. He sent closer Billy Koch to the West coast for third baseman Eric Hinske and right hander Justin Miller. Hinske became American League rookie of the year in 2002. The Jays made two more deals with Oakland that they clearly wwon.dddddddddddd On November 18, 2003 they picked up lefty Ted Lilly for outfielder Bobby Kielty, and then on November 18,? 2007 -- exactly years later -- they acquired SS/2B Marco Scutaro from the As for a couple of prospects who never made it in Kristian Bell and Graham Godfrey. The Jays mistake was not keeping Scutaro around longer as he went on to help the Giants win a couple of World Series titles. If you were wondering, the team the Blue Jays have made the fewest deals with is Tampa Bay. Since the Devil Rays/Rays came into the American League, the two teams have only gotten together on three deals and none of them were really memorable. The last was over nine years ago on December 12, 2004 when the Jays sent catcher Kevin Cash to the Rays for right-hander Chad Gaudin. On December 14, 2003, the Jays pulled off a three-way swap with the Rays and Colorado; the Blue Jays getting reliever Justin Speier from the Rockies and sending lefty Mark Hendrickson and Sandy Nin to Tampa Bay, while Colorado received lefty starter Joe Kennedy from the Rays. The only other deal between the Jays and Rays was supposed to improve the Jays pitching depth for a playoff push in 2000. The Jays sent 2B Brent Abernathy to the Rays for lefty reliever Mark Guthrie and right-hander Steve Trachsel. The deal didnt really work out for the Jays as Guthrie went (0-2) with a 4.79 ERA and in 11 starts, the slow-working Trachsel went (2-5) with a 5.29 ERA. Both were gone at the end of the season after the Jays missed the playoffs under Jim Fregosi. To Trachsels credit, he did revive his career over the next six years with the Mets winning 66 games, including 16 in 2003 and 15 in 2006. The Tampa Bay Rays since 2008 have made four playoff appearances and have been to one World Series (2008). On their roster today, they have only four players who were with that team in 2008: Reliever Grant Balfour, who was just re-acquired as a free agent, lefty David Price , star third baseman Evan Longoria and super utilityman Ben Zobrist. The Blue Jays over that same span have only three players who were with them in 2008: Dustin McGowan, who hardly pitched at all do to injuries, Jose Bautista whos been injury plagued the last two seasons, and Adam Lind, coming off a solid season who nevertheless, over the years has been plagued by inconsistency. Technically Casey Janssen has been with the team that long as well, but he missed the entire 2008 season with a torn labrum. A teams core players tell you a lot about the team. Its not hard to see why the Rays have been contenders the last six seasons and the Blue Jays have not. ' ' '