Primera Liga reports

Brief reports of matches played in the Primera Liga on Saturday:

ATHLETIC BILBAO 4 REAL MADRID 2

Real completed a miserable week with a heavy defeat against an inspired Bilbao and left the door open to Valencia and Barcelona to close the gap at the top of the table.

The Basques made the most of some poor defending to go 2-0 up by halftime, midfielder Franciso Yeste curling in round keeper Iker Casillas on 41 minutes and striker Ismael Urzaiz heading in after a free kick immediately after the restart.

Real skipper Raul led a Real comeback when he grabbed two close-range goals early in the second half but Bilbao refused to give way and defender Asier del Horno scored twice within two minutes to give the Basques a deserved win.

ATLETICO MADRID 2 REAL BETIS 1

Atletico deserved a far more handsome win against the Andalucians as they produced one of their best performances of the season.

Veljko Paunovic put Atletico ahead seven minutes into the second half with a low shot after fellow striker Fernando Torres had got to the byline and cut the ball back into his path.

Betis equalised against the run of play when Joaquin guided home midway through the half, but Torres capped a brilliant performance, and celebrated his 20th birthday in style, when he scored from the restart after a neat one-two with Paunovic.

DEPORTIVO CORUNA 1 MURCIA 0

After three defeats in a row Deportivo got back on track with an unconvincing 1-0 win over relegation-bound Murcia to reclaim third place from Barcelona.

Defender Joan Capdevila drilled in at the far post after Victor slipped a pass through a passive Murcia defence following a corner but his side will need to produce a much-improved performance if they want to match AC Milan in their Champions League quarter-final at the San Siro on Tuesday.