Third and fourth place the highlight of Saturday's football in Spain

The battle for third and fourth place in the BBVA Primera Liga maintained its tension on Saturday night as Atletico Madrid cruised to a 2-0 win at home to Getafe to keep the pressure on Valencia.

Fernando Torres was able to celebrate his 31st birthday in style, all be it 24 hours late when he headed Atletico into a third minute lead and the result was never in doubt when Tiago Cardoso doubled Atletico's lead a minute before half time.

Both of Atletico's goals once again came from set pieces and in the second period they contented themselves with controlling a rival who rarely looked likely to get back into the game

Friday had seen Valencia temporarily move four points clear in third place as they won comfortably away to Elche 4-0. Andre Gomes put Valencia ahead two minutes before halftime and second half goals from Paco Alcacer, Otamendi and an own goal from Enzo Rico sealed the win.

Gail Kakuta scored the only goal of the match to give Rayo Vallecano a home win against Malaga that should serve to banish any lingering fears of relegation while Levante remain deep in relegation trouble after Charles' 86th minute goal gave Celta a 1-0 win in the Ciudad de Valencia Stadium.

Athletic Club Bilbao were 2-0 up at home to Almeria before the break in one of the late kick offs thanks to goals from Xavi Etxeita and Mikel Rico and although an own goal from Mikel Balenziaga complicated matters in the second half, Athletic had few problems in chalking up their fifth successive win.

Finally Eibar ended a run of eight successive defeats with a 0-0 draw away to Granada, a result which favors the visitors more than the home side. Endi