After a low-key first half, Lionel Messi gave Barca the lead from the penalty spot after Raul Albiol was sent off for hauling down David Villa when the Spain forward was clear on goal.

Madrid kept themselves within eight points of the summit with a penalty of their own, though, Cristiano Ronaldo converting after Marcelo tumbled over Dani Alves' clumsy challenge.

A decisive second-half showing from Valencia against bottom club Almeria ensured they remained six points clear of Villarreal in the race for third spot.

Having dispatched their rivals for the Champions League berth 5-0 last time out, Los Che were on a high going into the match but found themselves frustrated by the relegation strugglers during the opening period.

Roberto Soldado opened the floodgates six minutes into the second period before Marius Stankevicius doubled the lead and substitute Jordi Alba added the icing on the cake nine minutes from time.

Sevilla's European hopes were dealt a severe blow as the Andalusians lost at out-of-form Getafe.

Miku scored the only goal of the game when he took advantage of some poor marking by Federico Fazio to latch onto Dani Parejo's pass and beat Javi Varas.

Sevilla started the day in fifth position, eight points behind fourth-placed Villarreal, but had been making positive noises about a return to the Champions League. With only six games now left, though, such a feat seems highly unlikely for Gregorio Manzano's side and they could drop out of the top six by the end of the weekend.

Julio Baptista made a memorable return from injury as he bagged two goals in Malaga's impressive Primera Division victory over Real Mallorca this evening.

Baptista had been sidelined for six weeks, but was back in the side and made an immediate impact to boost the Andalusians' survival hopes.

Sebas Fernandez gave Malaga the lead after 26 minutes and Baptista doubled the home side's advantage prior to half-time, before adding a second early in the second period to move Manuel Pellegrini's men provisionally out of the relegation zone.