First division - day 23

Leaders Barcelona were beaten 2-1 by Valencia, a result which left them sharing top spot with Sevilla. Angulo scored one and set up another early in the second half, and an injury time free kick from Ronaldinho was scant consolation. A couple of hours later Sevilla beat another title candidate Atlético Madrid 3-1 to move level with Frank Rijkaard's side on points. Kanouté scored twice and Alves got one in between, with Pablo pulling one back after Palop had saved a Fernando Torres penalty.

Seventh placed Getafe were beaten 2-0 by Athletic Bilbao, Aduriz getting the goals either side of half time to keep the Basque side out of the drop zone. Getafe's defeat means that Recreativo move above them again after they beat Real Sociedad 1-0, Beto heading the only goal from a corner at the beginning of the second half. Espanyol are now ninth after a 3-1 win over Mallorca, Luis García twice giving them the lead after Jankovic equalised his first goal, and Edu Costa wrapping things up in injury time.

Racing Santander are level with Espanyol after they won 4-1 against bottom club Gimnastic. New signing Grahn gave the visitors the lead immediately after coming on as substitute, but goals by Scaloni, Matellán (in his own net), Colsa and Zigic turned the scoreline around. Nàstic and Real Sociedad appear to be doomed after Celta beat Osasuna 0-1, an early Baiano header giving them their first league win since mid November. Only one point now separates five sides battling to avoid the third relegation spot after Deportivo and Levante drew 0-0. (18.02.06)

Just a few days away from their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid are still struggling to find their form. And once again they failed to score after being held to a 0-0 draw in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium by Betis. The closest they came was shot from Van Nistelrooy after the break which hit the bar, but Nano hit the post at the other end a few minutes later, and Casillas was once again Madrid's best player. To top things off David Beckham got himself sent off in the last minute after a rash tackle on Isidoro just seconds after the referee had turned down his penalty appeal.

Zaragoza consolidated sixth spot, now just four points behind Madrid, after beating Villarreal 1-0 in the last match on Saturday evening. Despite the lack of goals both keepers were in action early on, César keeping out Tomasson and Barbosa making top class saves from Gabi Milito and Sergio García. The home side opened the scoring on the half hour mark when the visiting keeper could only push Zapater's shot onto the post, Diego Milito turning the ball into the empty net from close up. Barbosa prevented the scoreline from increasing but he couldn't prevent his side's third defeat in a row. (17.02.07)