Villarreal held at home by Real Betis
Villarreal dropped their first points at home in nine matches when they were held to a 0-0 draw by fellow high-flyers Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Villarreal dropped their first points at home in nine matches when they were held to a 0-0 draw by fellow high-flyers Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Manuel Pellegrini's side had a host of chances to secure a win that would have put them in pole position for a Champions League place but they failed to finish off some promising attacking moves and had to settle for just a point.
The result left Villarreal fourth in the table, level on 52 points with Sevilla but with a game in hand. The Andalucians lost 1-0 at home to Osasuna on Saturday but are third by virtue of their better head-to-head record.
Barcelona, whose lead at the top was cut to six points after last week's 4-2 defeat at Real Madrid, host Getafe in Sunday's late match while their title rivals Real visit Levante.
At the other end of the table, basement club Numancia were left teetering on the brink of relegation after a crushing 4-1 defeat at Real Zaragoza.
Albacete look set to join the Sorians in the second division after they slipped to their sixth defeat in a row, losing 2-1 at home to Malaga.
The outlook is little better for Hector Cuper's Real Mallorca, who were held 0-0 by the Argentine's former side Valencia.
Numancia are stuck at the bottom on 23 points from 32 games, Albacete have 24 and Mallorca, on 25, are nine points behind Racing Santander, who lost 2-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao.