Real Madrid are now ten points clear at the top of the table and seem destined to retain the title after Barcelona again dropped points, drawing 0-0 against Espanyol in last Saturday's big Cataluña derby to slip down to third place behind Villarreal, who beat Valladolid 2-0.

Valencia were brought crashing back down to earth following their midweek Spanish Cup success, ending up on the wrong end of a 5-1 thrashing in Bilbao. Ronald Koeman's men are now just two points clear of the third relegation spot and embroiled in an unwelcome and humiliating battle for first division survival.

In Santander, international exile Raúl opened the scoring in the 13th minute, getting the faintest of touches on Robinho's curling cross in from the left after Gago and Sneijder had combined in midfield to create the opening. The home side dominated possession as the leaders sat back to defend their lead, but conceded a late second deep in second-half injury-time when Higuain beat Tono with a clinical low drive.

Sunday, 20th April
Athletic Bilbao 5-1 Valencia
Racing Santander 0-2 Real Madrid
Murcia 1-4 Mallorca
Osasuna 0-1 Deportivo La Coruna
Levante 3-1 Getafe
Villarreal 2-0 Valladolid

Saturday, 19th April
Sevilla 1-4 Almeria
Real Zaragoza 3-0 Recreativo Huelva
Atletico Madrid 1-3 Real Betis
Barcelona 0-0 Espanyol

Liga table, points after 33 games
1  Real Madrid  72
2  Villarreal  62
3  Barcelona  61
4  Atletico Madrid  54
5  Racing Santander  53
6  Sevilla  51
7  Almeria  48
8  Athletic Bilbao  46
9  Deportivo La Coruna  46
10 Espanyol  46
11 Real Mallorca  44
12 Real Betis  44
13 Getafe  41
14 Osasuna  40
15 Real Valladolid  39
16 Valencia  39
17 Real Zaragoza  37
18 Recreativo Huelva  37
19 Murcia  29
20 Levante  25

Sunday, 27th April
Deportivo La Coruna vs Barcelona
Espanyol vs Real Zaragoza
Getafe vs Atletico Madrid
Mallorca vs Racing Santander
Murcia vs Sevilla
Real Betis vs Villarreal
Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao
Recreativo Huelva vs Levante
Valencia vs Osasuna
Valladolid vs Almeria