Luck was certainly not on the Catalan giants' side as they hit the woodwork on three occasions with the Getafe goal leading a charmed life.

But a failure to find the back of the net means Barca remain in third place, seven points behind Madrid, although they have drawn level with second-placed Villarreal.

Villarreal's title hopes were hit by a 2-0 defeat at Sevilla.

La Liga leading scorer Luis Fabiano broke the deadlock in the 18th minute before Fredi Kanoute sealed the victory three minutes from time with a penalty.

Villarreal's misery was compounded when defender Joan Capdevila was sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.

Atletico Madrid consolidated fourth spot with a 6-3 defeat of nine-man Almeria.

Goals from Antonio Lopez, Diego Forlan and Simao Sabrosa (two) put the hosts in front at the break although Felipe Melo, Juanma Ortiz and Oscar Negredo made sure Almeria remained in touch despite the dismissals of Ruben Pulido and Juanito.

But Sergio Aguero struck twice in the second half to complete the goal rush.

Fifth-placed Racing Santander's charge for a UEFA Cup place stumbled after Deportivo La Coruna registered a 3-1 win at El Sardinero which boosts their hopes of avoiding the drop.

Xisco gave the Galician side the lead early on and Fabricio Coloccini doubled the visitors' advantage midway through the first half.

Racing pulled a goal back nine minutes before half-time but Xisco added a second six minutes later to seal a third win in four games for Miguel Angel Lotina's side.

Depor move up to the 40-point mark and are now seven clear of the relegation zone.

Athletic Bilbao moved up to eighth with a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Espanyol.

Javier Garmendia's first-half header proved enough to give the Basque side a fourth win in five games.

Espanyol could have equalised in the 73rd minute but Raul Tamudo blazed a penalty over the bar.

Real Murcia gave their hopes of Primera Liga survival a shot in the arm and heaped more pressure on Valencia coach Ronald Koeman after securing a narrow win at the Estadio Nueva Condomina.

Ivan Alonso netted the only goal of the game after 35 minutes to move Murcia onto 29 points, seven points adrift of safety with seven matches remaining.

And Zaragoza also end the weekend in the bottom three after a 3-0 home humbling by Real Betis.

Chile winger Mark Gonzalez was Betis' goal hero with strikes in the ninth and 17th minutes.

Going 2-0 down so early on further damaged Zaragoza's fragile morale and it came as no surprise when Mariano Pavone added a third 18 minutes into the second half.

Valladolid moved five points clear of the bottom three with a 3-0 win at rock-bottom Levante - Joseba Llorente, Victor Fernandez and substitute Borja Fernandez grabbing the goals.

Saturday's action was headlined by Madrid's 1-1 draw at Real Mallorca.

Wesley Sneijder gave Madrid a first-half lead, but Borja Valero levelled for the hosts with 18 minutes to play.

And the league leaders were lucky to escape with a point after Sergio Ramos was given his marching orders in the 66th minute.

Recreativo Huelva won 1-0 at Osasuna to move out of the relegation zone.

Florent Sinama-Pongolle's first-half strike settled the contest.