Barcelona fought back from a goal down to secure a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona fought back from a goal down to secure a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao and extend their Liga advantage over second-placed Osasuna.Osasuna succumbed to Valencia on Saturday and Barca capitalised on Sunday, despite falling behind to Fernando Llorente's glancing header.
Frank Rijkaard's side were level at the break when Ronaldinho converted the simple task of scoring from the penalty spot.
Wonder kid Lionel Messi tapped home in the second half to give Barca the lead for the first time and it was almost three when Mark van Bommel struck the crossbar.
The home side were down to 10 men when Deco saw red late on for reacting to Carlos Gurpegi's claims he went to ground rather easily.
Bilbao were unable to muster an equaliser meaning the Catalan giants are now seven points clear at the summit of the Liga table.
In the evening clash Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-2 at El Santiago Bernabeu, thanks largely to Zinedine Zidane's hat-trick.
Guti's fine left-footed finish after six minutes from Zidane's cross gave the home side the perfect start to the contest.
However, Luis Fabiano levelled matters after the break after Enzo Maresca's shot was parried by Iker Casillas.
Real regained their advantage when Zidane netted from the penalty spot and soon after he made it 3-1 with a fine finish from Guti's pass.
Although Aitor Ocio slammed home to set up a tense finish, Zidane completed his hat-trick in injury time to clinch the victory.
Lowly Alaves stunned Deportivo La Coruna at El Riazor with a surprise 2-0 success.
Alaves had just two Liga wins to their name before the game, but claimed the points thanks to goals either side of half time from John Aloisi and Bodipo.
Getafe and Celta Vigo shared the points with Lopez Angel's equaliser cancelling out Jaime Gailan's opener.
Espanyol eased their relegation worries with a late 1-0 win over Real Sociedad.
The visitors were down a man following Daniel Jarque's first half dismissal, but they still claimed the win thanks to Raul Tamudo's last gasp effort.
Racing Santander survived two dismissals to beat 10-man Villarreal 1-0 at Estadio El Sardinero.
Sergio Meta fired the home side ahead after 20 minutes, but Pablo Alfaro was sent off just before half time.
Amazingly Pablo Pinillos then saw red and the cards continued to flow when Hector Font was dismissed for the visitors.
Despite the additional space on the field no further goals materialised meaning Racing left with all three points.
Real Mallorca remain in the drop zone after going down 3-1 to Real Zaragoza.
Quick-fire goals from Oscar Gonzalez and Diego Milito put the home side in the driving seat.
Juan Arango pulled one back for the visitors, but Milito's second settled the contest.
Click below for match summaries:
Barcelona 2-1 Athletic Bilbao
Deportivo 0-2 Alaves
Getafe 1-1 Celta Vigo
Malaga 0-2 Cadiz
Racing Santander 1-0 Villarreal
Real Madrid 4-2 Sevilla
Real Sociedad 0-1 Espanyol
Real Zaragoza 3-1 Mallorca
