Barca extend lead in Spain as Atletico and Real both drop points

FC Barcelona closed in on the BBVA Primera Liga title in the 25th round of games this weekend as they opened a lead of eight points over Atletico Madrid and nine over Real Madrid.

Barca had temporarily extended their lead to nine and 10 points over their closest rivals when they won 2-1 away to Las Palmas on Saturday.

All of the goals game within the first 40 minutes as first Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba combined to set up Luis Suarez for Barca's opening goal after just six minutes.

Las Palmas equalized three minutes later through William Jose, who beat Dan Alves to slide the ball past Claudio Bravo and level the scores, but Neymar assured Barca would take all three points back home in the 39th minute when he was on hand to smash home the rebound after Javi Varas in the Las Palmas goal had saved from Leo Messi.

Sunday saw Atletico drop two points in the title race as they were held to a grim 0-0 draw at home to fourth place Villarreal, who travelled to Madrid looking for a draw and held on with considerable ease.

Real Madrid virtually waved goodbye to their title hopes when they were only able to draw 1-1 away to Malaga on Sunday afternoon.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored from Real Madrid from a clear offside position to put Zinedine Zidane's side ahead, but he also saw Carlos Kameni save his effort from the penalty spot and that was to be vital.

Real Madrid did not play well, but unlike recent games they didn't have the injured Karim Benzema to lend support to Ronaldo and were made to pay by a well-organized Malaga when Raul Albentosa beat Keylor Navas to level the score 20 minutes after the break.

Stephen N'Zonzi and Vicente Iborra looked to have put Sevilla on track for a win away to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday lunchtime as the Cup finalists raced into a 2-0 lead.

However, Manucho pulled a goal back two minutes before the break and Miku's run of form continued when he equalized just after the hour with his fifth goal in five successive games, something nobody has ever done before at the club.

Jonathas' 17th minute goal helped Real Sociedad to win the Basque derby away to neighbors Athletic Club Bilbao, while second half strikes from Dani Parejo and Santi Mina gave Gary Neville his third win in a week as Valencia coach as they won 2-1 away to struggling Granada, who scored a 93rd minute consolation through Ortega Mendez.

Under pressure Espanyol coach Constantin Galca can breathe a little easier after Marcos Asensio's 52nd gave his side a 1-0 win at home to Deportivo la Coruna and probably saved him from being sacked by the Primera Liga strugglers.

Betis and Sporting Gijon shared two goals and the points in a 1-1 draw where both goals came in the space of three minutes with Carlos Castro's second goal in two games putting Sporting ahead in the 65th minute before German Pezzella equalized in the 67th minute for the home side.

John Guidetti's excellent 2016 continued with two goals as Celta Vigo beat Eibar 3-2 - The Swede's two goals and a further strike from Jonny had given them a seemingly comfortable 3-0 lead, but Eibar's never say die attitude saw them pull back late goals through Borja Baston and Takasi Inui to leave home fans asking for the final whistle. Endit