Premier League, Serie A and Bundesliga pacesetters consolidate their advantages

Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich all took big steps on Saturday night towards winning their respective championships in England, Italy and Germany. Of the troika, Chelsea have the most fragile lead. They're seven points clear of second-placed Arsenal, while Juventus are 14 points ahead of Roma. Bayern Munich also have a double-digit lead - Wolfsburg trail them by 10 points.

Chelsea manager José Mourinho says his side needs five wins and a draw to claim the Premier League title Reuters/Sergio Perez

For the second game running, Premier League leaders Chelsea had to thank France international Loic Remy for the three points. The 28-year-old signed at the start of the season and was made aware that he would be understudy to 30-million-euro-signing Diego Costa.

Just before the international break, Remy came on as a substitute for the injured Costa and scored the winner in the 3-2 victory at Hull City after Chelsea had let slip a 2-0 lead.

At Stamford Bridge on Saturday night, Remy, making only his fourth start of the Premier League season, got the decider just after the hour mark.

Chelsea's title hopes took a huge blow on the stroke of half-time when Charlie Adam hit what he described as a once-in-a-lifetime goal.

Picking up the ball just inside his own half, the Scottish midfielder spotted that the Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was standing outside his penalty area. Adam dispatched a floating 60-metre shot that a frantically backpedalling Courtois was unable to keep out. "It was an outstanding goal from Charlie," said Stoke City manager Mark Hughes. "He is always attempting those kinds of things because he has the confidence in his own ability."

But it was Courtois' counterpart, Asmir Begovic, who ultimately defined the encounter. His attempt to roll the ball out to one of his defenders was intercepted by Chelsea's Brazilian star Willian.

He passed to Eden Hazard, who squared for Remy, and the striker tapped the ball into an empty net to ensure Chelsea's title bid remained firmly on course with eight games remaining.

While Chelsea still have to play the big guns of Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool, Juventus appear to be home and dry in Serie A.

On Saturday afternoon, Miralem Pjanic scored the winner for Roma against Napoli at the Stadio Olimpico. That success took Roma to within 11 points of Juve.

The Turin giants responded with a 2-0 win over Empoli to restore their 14-point advantage with nine games left. The former Manchester United and Manchester City star Carlos Tevez provided Juve's opener after 43 minutes and Roberto Pereyra wrapped up the points in stoppage time.

A few years back in Germany, the clash between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund was described as 'der Klassiker' - a potentially title-deciding crunch.

But that was when Dortmund were jostling with Bayern to be the big dogs of the Bundesliga. Times have sadly changed for Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund. They're languishing in mid-table after an early season flirtation with the relegation zone. Wolfsburg are now the only team capable of hounding Bayern out of the title and Bayern are 10 points clear of them following a 1-0 win at Dortmund on Saturday night.

It was all the more galling for Dortmund as their former darling Robert Lewandowski was on target for his new meisters after 36 minutes. The 26-year-old Poland striker spent four seasons with Dortmund helping them to the title in 2011 and 2012.

Since his move to Bavaria at the start of the season, he's played 36 times scoring 18 goals. His latest strike in the Bundesliga could be the one that adds another championship medal to the already massive Bayern Munich trophy cabinet.