Top three in La Liga start new year with victories

Raul scored from close range Saturday to give first-place Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over lowly Murcia as the La Liga returned to action from a brief holiday break.

The striker netted his ninth goal of the campaign, which is third best in the league. Murcia had a few chances to grab a point in the second half, with the best opportunity coming when Luis Garcia hit the crossbar with five minutes to play.

Real remained two points up on Valencia, a 4-2 winner Sunday over Villarreal.

Murcia has a just one victory in 18 matches this season and sits next-to-last in the 20-strong league.

Ruben Baraja and Pablo Aimar scored a minute apart in the second half to get Valencia going after an opening-half goal by Villarreal's Juan Riquelme. Baraja scored his second and Miguel Mista completed the scoring with two minutes remaining.

Third-placed Deportivo Coruna stayed within reach of the leaders following a 5-0 victory at Galician rivals Celta Vigo. Victor Sanchez scored three times.

Deportivo is six points behind Real in third place. Celta fell in the relegation zone to 18th place.

Osasuna and Atletico Madrid are next in the table tied with 28 points after playing to draws on the road. Atletico was scoreless at Real Zaragoza on Saturday, while Osasuna finished 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao.

Barcelona's decline in the standings continued with a 3-0 defeat at Racing Santander on Sunday. Barca slid to 12th place with a huge 18-point gap on Real Madrid.