Real Madrid kept their calmness under pressure to produce a convincing 3-1 win away to Racing Santander to remain seven points behind FC Barcelona at the end of Spain's 27th round on Sunday.
Real Madrid travelled without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, but Karim Benzema scored twice and Emmanuel Adebayor added a goal as Ronaldo was forgotten with a comfortable win in what could have been a complicated evening in the el Sardinero Stadium..
Meanwhile Barcelona rested key players such as Andres Iniesta and David Villa for the visit of struggling Zaragoza.
Coach Pep Guardiola was on the bench, despite having spent the previous two days in hospital with a distal hernia and saw a goal from Seydou Keita on the stroke of halftime give his side the points.
It was not a vintage performance from Barcelona, but the league leaders were never in trouble and were it not for a series of good saves from Zaragoza goalkeeper Toni Doblas, the margin of victory would have been wider.
Valencia produced a solid display to win 2-1 in Mallorca. Ivan Ramis put the home side ahead from the penalty spot on the half hour but Pablo Hernandez levelled the score two minutes later following a pass from former Mallorca striker Aritz Aduriz.
The winger scored his second of the night early in the second half to assure the points that keep his side third.
Atletico Madrid returned to form with a 3-1 win at home to Villarreal. Atletico's best three players of the season, Kun Aguero, Diego Forlan and Jose Antonio Reyes all scored to lift the club back into European places.
Giuseppe Rossi scored for Villarreal, who played some nice football but were unable to match Atletico's physical drive.
Levante continued their climb up the table with a 1-0 win over Espanyol. Felipe Caicedo once again scored for his side.
Sporting Gijon returned to winning ways thanks to a 2-0 triumph at home against Getafe thanks to first half goals from Miguel de las Cuevas and Andre Castro. The win lifted Sporting out of the relegation zone.
Athletic Bilbao had a hard fought win over Sevilla that lifted them over Espanyol into fifth place in the table.
An incident packed game saw Alvaro Negredo leave the pitch after a clash of heads with Andoni Iriola in first half, Athletic took the points thanks to Federico Fazio's own goal after 65 minutes and an Andoni Iriola penalty two minutes from time.
Sergio Fernandez's 92nd minute header gave Osasuna their first away win in 22 matches as they triumphed 1-0 away to bottom of the table Malaga.
Malaga fall into bottom spot thanks in part to Almeria's 2-1 win away to Hercules. Abraham Paz scored first for the home side, but two goals in three minutes from Sofiane Feghuli and Modeste M' Bami gave the visitors three vital points.
Hercules meanwhile slipped into the relegation zone and next weekend to visit Real Madrid.