First division - day 30

Real Madrid moved six points clear at the top after beating sixth placed Sevilla 3-1 in the last match on Sunday evening. Heinze headed them in to an early lead from Sneijder's free kick, and although Kanouté equalised later in the first half after Keita set him up, Raúl put the locals back in front after controlling another cross from Sneijder. Palop did well to keep out Higuaín a couple of times after the break, but the Argentinian striker finally latched on to Guti's pass to beat him midway through the second half.

Racing Santander closed up on the Champions League spot after a 0-3 win at Espanyol, and they are now level on points with fourth placed Atlético. Oscar Serrano and Munitis put the Cantabrians two up with only a quarter of the game gone, both times after Kameni could only push out shots from Jorge López and Duscher. Tamudo had a goal disallowed and Moisés hit the bar, but Iván bolado wrapped things up in injury time, surprising the keeper with a "cow-tail" shot from close up.

Espanyol's defeat leaves them behind Sevilla in seventh spot, now only three points above Almería after Unai Emery's side beat bottom club Levante 2-1. Soriano took advantage of a mistake from Kujovic to open the scoring in the second minute, and Felipe Melo headed the second from a corner before the interval. Substitute Iborra got one back in injury time, but too late to change the result.

Mallorca head up a group of seven sides only separated by three points after a 0-3 victory at Valencia. Ronald Koeman's team were looking to build on their victories over Barcelona and Real Madrid last week, but they fell behind to a Güiza strike in the eleventh minute, and Ramis added a second soon afterwards with a well struck free kick. Güiza headed his second of the evening after the restart, and there were protests from the local fans at the end of the game.

Getafe had one eye on next Thursday's UEFA Cup tie with Bayern Munich, and they suffered as a result, losing 0-2 to Osasuna. It was a physical game, Contra getting sent off for a foul on Monreal early on, and the visitors took advantage to score twice either side of half time, Miguel Flaño heading the first from Puñal's free kick, and Puñal getting the second from the penalty spot after the restart.

A hat-trick from Xisco helped Deportivo to a 3-1 victory over Murcia, taking the Galicians away from the danger zone and leaving Javier Clemente's side seven points away from safety. The visitors went in front in the first minute when De Lucas headed in a cross from Dani Aquino, but Xisco levelled the scores a few minutes later, and got two more in the first three minutes of the second half.

Athletic Bilbao are level on points with Mallorca after a late 1-1 draw at Recreativo. The locals dominated the first half and took the lead when Amorebieta headed a Martins corner in to his own net. But they couldn't beat Armando after that, and half time substitute Aduríz saved a vital point near the end, lifting the ball over Sorrentino and running on to head in to the empty net.

Recreativo stay in the drop zone, although they have caught up Zaragoza, who lost 2-1 to fellow strugglers Valladolid. Zapater gave the visitors the lead on the half hour mark after Diego Milito headed across, but Víctor equalised early in the second half with a hotly disputed penalty. A few minutes later Llorente headed in Sesma's cross for what was to prove the winning goal, although the Maños could have saved a point had the referee not ruled out a late strike from Sergio García. (30.03.08)

Barcelona threw away another chance to catch up on leaders Real Madrid after they lost 3-2 to Betis on Saturday evening. Frank Rijkaard's side went two up within the first quarter of an hour, Bojan opening the scoring after an effort from Eto'o came back off the bar, and Eto'o heading the second himself from Iniesta's cross. But Edu headed one back from a Sobis centre twenty minutes in to the second half, and Valdés had to save an Edu penalty before Juanito volleyed in the equaliser soon afterwards. Two minutes later Edu cut in to beat Valdés for a third time, and Betis had three vital points which takes them up to mid-table.

Later in the evening Villarreal moved above Barça to second spot after a 3-0 win over fourth placed Atlético Madrid. Pellegrini's side got the first seven minutes before the break after Perea could only clear Rossi's cross as far as Cazorla, who fired a shot past Abbiati. And four minutes later Cazorla and Rossi combined down the left wing to set up Nihat for the second. Camacho headed against the post at the other end after the restart, but Nihat ran on to Cazorla's through ball to drill a low shot past the keeper for Villarreal's third midway through the second half. (29.03.08)