In another weekend of championship action across the globe, new champions were crowned in Uruguay, while the struggle for supremacy in Argentina, Brazil and Russia intensified with the leadership changing hands in all three countries. FIFA.com rounds up the big stories from outside Europe.

Argentinian Clausura: Three's a crowd
A heavy 4-1 reverse for Lanus at bottom club Arsenal de Sarandi enabled Velez Sarsfield to slip back into pole position. Velez overcame Newell's Old Boys 2-1 to move on to 36 points, one clear of Huracan, who climbed up to second after a Paolo Goltz goal gave them the narrowest of wins over San Lorenzo.

El Globo have now gone eight games without defeat, dropping only two points in that time to Estudiantes, and appear to be timing their title charge to perfection.

Big game: A Cristian Pellerano brace and a Sergio Sena penalty in the opening 24 minutes put paid to Lanus's hopes of maintaining their league lead. Maximiliano Velazquez pulled one back for the visitors only for Dario Benedetto to complete a resounding win for Arsenal with an injury-time strike.
Headline grabber: There are just two matchdays remaining in the Clausura, both of them throwing up potentially decisive encounters featuring the top three. Lanus entertain Velez next weekend with Velez then playing host to Huracan a week later.

Brasileirao: Atletico Mineiro overtake Inter
Internacional of Porto Alegre dropped two points for the second time in a week when they were held 0-0 at home by Vitoria. Inter's slip-up allowed Atletico Mineiro, who comfortably disposed of Nautico 3-0 with goals from Junior, Diego Tardelli and Marcio Araujo, to move ahead of them on goal difference.

Curiously, the bottom four all won their first games of the season. After failing to claim maximum points in their opening five matches, Coritiba, Atletico Paranaense, Botafogo and Barueri were all celebrating at the weekend, leaving Avai marooned in last place. Coritiba's win was the most emphatic of the four, Bruno Batata scoring twice in a 5-0 reverse of Flamengo.

Big game: Palmeiras received a timely boost ahead of their Copa Libertadores quarter-final second leg against Nacional in Montevideo when they beat Cruzeiro 3-1.
Headline grabber: The other two Brazilian sides with Libertadores commitments this week both drew. Sao Paulo, who face Cruzeiro on Thursday, were held 1-1 by Santo Andre, as were Gremio on their visit to Fluminense.

Russian Premier League: FK Moscow in the driving seat
Reigning champions Rubin Kazan fell 2-0 at home Rostov to relinquish the leadership to FK Moscow, who disposed of CSKA Moscow 2-0 through goals from Alexander Samedov and Branislav Krunic.

Big game: Krylya Sovetov failed to capitalise on Rubin's reverse, going down 3-2 at Terek Grozny despite a two-goal display from Evgeniy Savin, with Sergei Bendz scoring a late winner for Terek.
Headline grabber: Inconsistent form continues to hinder recent UEFA Cup winners CSKA and Zenit. While the Moscow side lost to city rivals FK, the men from St Petersburg could only come away from their trip to second-bottom Spartak Nalchik with a 2-2 draw.

Elsewhere
There are new leaders in both Major League Soccer conferences. In the East, DC United took over at the top from Chicago Fire after beating them 2-1 thanks to goals from Christian Gomez and Jaime Moreno. Over in the West, meanwhile, Houston Dynamo won 3-1 in Dallas to move ahead of Chivas USA on goal difference.

Defensor Sporting won the Uruguayan Clausura after downing Juventud 2-1 on the final day of the season. Los Violetas will now play off for the overall league title against Apertura winners Nacional. Both champions also have Copa Libertadores quarter-final, second legs to prepare for this week.

In Paraguay Olimpia beat leaders Cerro Porteno 2-1 in the Asuncion derby, with both goals coming from Venezuelan central defender Osvaldo Vizcarrondo. The result helped both Olimpia and Libertad to close to within three points of El Ciclón.

In the quarter-finals of the Chilean Apertura, Universidad de Chile eased to a 4-1 win over Audax Italiano, and Union Espanola, who topped the league in the regular season, drew 1-1 at O'Higgins. In the other two first legs, Everton and Iquique played out a 2-2 draw, while the match between Universidad Catolica and Santiago Morning was suspended due to heavy rain.