Madrid started the night level on points with Barcelona but on top of the table courtesy of a better head-to-head record.

The capital club salvaged a last-gasp 2-2 draw at fifth-placed Real Zaragoza while Barca were denied by another late goal as Raul Tamudo handed city rivals Espanyol a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp.

Sevilla remain the third team in contention even though they too were held, 0-0 at Real Mallorca.

Juande Ramos' men are two points off the pace with just one round of fixtures to go.

There was drama aplenty at La Romareda as Madrid had to come from behind twice to grab a vital point.

A Diego Milito penalty put the hosts ahead after 32 minutes with Ruud van Nistelrooy levelling with a header 12 minutes into the second half.

Milito's second of the evening seemed to have settled matters after 63 minutes but the prolific Van Nistelrooy bundled home an equaliser with time running out.

The Madrid fans' delight intensified further seconds later when news filtered through of Espanyol's equaliser.

It was nothing more than the visitors deserved after an enterprising display which threatened to flounder at the feet and the hand of Leo Messi.

The Argentinian had earlier equalised Tamudo's opener with a blatant handball which was missed by the match officials.

Messi then put Frank Rijkaard's side in front only for Espanyol skipper Tamudo to slip the ball past Victor Valdes to stun the Nou Camp crowd.

The excitement in Zaragoza and Barcelona was not seen in Palma as Sevilla struggled to a stalemate although they can take credit for battling gamely after the 73rd-minute dismissal of Serbia defender Ivica Dragutinovic.

Next week, Madrid take on Mallorca at the Bernabeu, Barca go to already-relegated Gimnastic Tarragona while Sevilla host a Villarreal side still in contention for a UEFA Cup place.

The Yellow Submarine made it seven wins on the trot after seeing off Athletic Bilbao 3-1.

Relegation-threatened Athletic took the lead through Andoni Iraola midway through the first half but the hosts stormed back to win thanks to two goals from Diego Forlan, the first from the penalty spot, and an Aldekoaotalora Ustaritz own goal.

Atletico Madrid started the day in sixth but slipped out of the UEFA Cup spots after going down 3-2 at home to Celta Vigo.

Maxi Rodriguez and Fernando Baiano grabbed a double each with Yao Yago also netting for the visitors.

That result kept Celta's hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Hristo Stoichkov's men are third bottom but now just a point adrift of Bilbao and Real Betis, who were crushed 5-0 at home by Osasuna - Ion Erice Sola scoring twice.

Real Sociedad are on the brink of relegation after missing a penalty and failing to utilise a two-man advantage against Racing Santander.

It seemed their hopes of staying in the top flight were finally looking up when, having dominated the preceding 86 minutes, Santander's Victor Vitolo and Felipe Melo were shown red cards and Sociedad were awarded a potentially season-saving penalty.

But, with the stakes piled high, Mikel Alonso struck tamely at Juan Calatayud and Real finished with a point when they should have had three.

Now, ahead of their must-win trip to Valencia, they sit three points off safety and need Bilbao to lose to struggling Levante and Celta Vigo to slip against Getafe if they are to stay up.

Valencia will at least have three key men suspended for that game barring appeals after Santiago Canizares, Roberto Ayala and Carlos Marchena were all sent off as Los Che lost 4-2 at Levante.

Olivier Kapo also saw red for the hosts, who eventually prevailed thanks largely to two goals from Mustapha Riga.