Just days after Ramon Calderon resigned as president amid allegations of vote-rigging at the club's last general assembly, Javad Nekounam headed the Navarran side ahead from Jaroslav Plasil's cross but Madrid recovered to equalise through Sergio Ramos (50).

In-form striker Gonzalo Higuain, in the side ahead of Klaas Jan Huntelaar, scored the second after 64 minutes before Arjen Robben added another in injury time.

Valencia's recent good form suffered a blip as they lost 3-2 at Athletic Bilbao despite leading twice, while European hopefuls Villarreal scored two first-half goals to beat Real Mallorca 2-0 at El Madrigal.

Espanyol's season plumbed new depths as they suffered a 4-0 hammering at Malaga, struggling Recreativo Huelva beat Sporting Gijon 2-0 at home and Real Betis also climbed further from the relegation zone with a creditable 3-1 win away to Valladolid.

On-loan striker Nikola Zigic earned Racing Santander a 1-0 win against Getafe at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Last night Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o both struck twice as Barcelona thrashed Deportivo La Coruna 5-0 at the Nou Camp to amass a record total of 50 points at the league's halfway stage.