Madrid regains four-point advantage
Real Madrid reclaimed their four-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the Primera Liga following a straightforward 2-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday.
Bernd Schuster's side rarely looked like dropping points as goals in each half from Dutch duo Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder sealed the win.
The result ensured Real will go into the winter break top of La Liga regardless of the result in next weekend's El Clasico match against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
Barca on Saturday whipped Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla thanks to two goals from Samuel Eto'o and one from Eidur Gudjohnsen to add to the woes of Los Che coach and former Nou Camp favourite Ronald Koeman.
Villarreal put an end to their recent slump with an excellent 3-1 win at Getafe to move back into the top four on Sunday.
Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci bagged a brace and Santi Cazorla added a late third to give Manuel Pellegrini's side three valuable points in their quest for a Champions League berth.
Kepa Blanco scored a late consolation for the home side and then missed a penalty following an incident which saw Fabricio Fuentes sent off.
The Yellow Submarine's victory saw them move back above Espanyol, whose fine season continued on Saturday as Daniel Jarque's ninth-minute strike secured a 1-0 home triumph over Levante at the Montjuic stadium.
Fernando Baiano struck a late penalty to earn Real Murcia a valuable 2-1 win over high-flying Racing Santander.
Murcia had taken the lead in the 57th minute through substitute Henok Goitom only for Ebi Smolarek to haul Racing level six minutes later.
Manolo Jimenez may have got Sevilla through to the knockout stages of the Champions League but Sunday's goalless draw at Real Valladolid serves as a reminder that their form in the Primera Liga needs to improve.
In fact the Andalusians were lucky to escape from the Jose Zorrilla stadium with a point with the home side failing to make a two-man advantage count after two Sevilla players were sent off.
Federico Fazio was first to see red five minutes into the second half, with Luis Fabiano following him eight minutes from time after throwing an elbow in the face of Valladolid's Sisi Gonzalez.
Ten-man Real Mallorca will feel they were unlucky not to have taken all three points after a goalless draw at home to Athletic Bilbao.
Mallorca battled for almost an hour with a man down after defender Jose Nunes was sent-off for arguing with referee Antonio Rubinos Perez, but still looked the more likely of the two teams to find the winner.
Deportivo La Coruna and Real Zaragoza played out a predictable 1-1 draw and continue to struggle as the Primera Liga approaches the halfway stage.
Diego Milito put the visitors ahead early on, but Deportivo equalised eight minutes after the break through Fabricio Coloccini in a game of little quality.
The hosts finished the match with 10 men following the late dismissal of substitute David Chapi for two bookable offences.
Real Betis hit back from a goal down to defeat nine-man Almeria 3-1 and continue coach Francisco Chaparro's fine run of results in the hotseat at the Andalusian club.
Chaparro suffered an early setback in an incident-packed match as Almeria took a 10th-minute lead through Alvaro Negredo's penalty.
However, the game was turned on its head in the next 19 minutes as the visitors had both defender Santiago Acasiete and goalkeeper David Cobeno sent-off before Edu then brought Betis level with a spot-kick of their own.
Visiting captain Acasiete was handed his marching orders in the 15th minute after picking up two rapid bookings, and he was joined by Cobeno after the Almeria custodian brought down Alberto Rivera.
Mariano Pavone's match-winning second-half brace then sealed matters in the hosts' favour.
Recreativo Huelva and Atletico Madrid produced an entertaining spectacle with 90 minutes of end-to-end football but no goals in the Nuevo Colombino stadium.