The defending champions slipped to a 2-1 loss at Espanyol, who opened the scoring after just two minutes through Albert Riera before Raul Tamudo added a second in the 53rd minute.

Sergio Ramos' reply came too late for Real, who now have Villarreal breathing down their necks in the table following a 3-1 victory over Barcelona.

Santi Cazorla got the ball rolling for the hosts after three minutes with Marcos Senna adding another from the penalty spot 11 minutes later.

Bojan Krkic halved the deficit for Barca in the 25 minutes but Villarreal made certain of the points with another Senna penalty 10 minutes later to leapfrog their opponents in La Liga.

Barca slipped from second to fourth as a result of the defeat and Valencia's 4-2 victory at Deportivo La Coruna.

The visitors were 2-0 up after 16 minutes following goals from Joaquin (penalty) and Ruben Baraja.

Xisco pulled one back for Depor, but a Fernando Morientes' double (38 and 74) proved enough for Valencia, who survived another goal from substitute Rodolfo Bodipo and the late dismissal of Ivan Helguera to claim the three points.

In Saturday's other match, Sevilla got back to winning ways with a 2-0 result at lowly Levante.