Barcelona kept up the six point gap over second placed Real Madrid after beating Almería 0-2 in the last match on Sunday evening. Guardiola rested Eto'o and Henry after the Champions League match, but Bojan stepped in with both goals early in the second half. Local keeper Diego Alves prevented what could have been a much bigger scoreline.
Sevilla hold on to third place after coming from two down to draw 2-2 at regional neighbours Málaga. Salva scored twice to put the locals two up at the break. But a Kanouté strike and a Luis Fabiano header in the last quarter of an hour saved a point for the visitors. Málaga drop a place to sixth.
Atlético Madrid moved back up to fifth in the table after overturning an adverse scoreline to win 3-2 against fourth placed Villarreal. Mati Fernández opened the scoring for the visitors early on and Cani made it two soon after the restart. But Agüero got one back almost immediately, and after Javi Venta was sent off, goals from Forlán and Antonio López gave the home side the three points.
Deportivo drop out of the UEFA Cup spots after a 3-2 defeat at Sporting Gijón, who move away from the danger zone as a result. All the goals came in the second half, with a Luis Morán strike and a Barral penalty putting the Asturians two up. Sergio got one back from the penalty spot, but José Angel made it three before Riki converted a third penalty.
It was yet another high scoring weekend though, with 37 goals in all. Racing beat Numancia 5-0, with all the goals before the interval. Oscar Serrano got the first and the last, with Luccin scoring from a long free kick and Zigic also netting a brace past Keleman, who chose the wrong day to make his debut.
Numancia stay down in the relegation spots, a point above bottom club Espanyol who clocked up a feisty 3-3 draw against Mallorca. Arango opened the scoring shortly before the interval from a free kick, and although Callejón equalised, goals from Cléber and Jurado and the sending off of Moisés Hurtado seemed to have wrapped things up. De la Peña got another one back though and then set up Nené from an indirect free kick to save an important point against a direct rival.
Mallorca move a point above Getafe, who drop to within two points of the bottom three after a 1-0 defeat at Valladolid. The locals had the better chances, but Víctor Muñoz's side held on until Mario was sent off late on. And with three minutes to go Canobbio ran on to Víctor's pass to score the winner.
Osasuna stay in the drop zone after a 0-0 draw at Betis, who themselves are not clear of danger. The best chance came when Juanito headed a free kick against the post late on, but a disappointed crowd called for the resignation of coach Paco Chaparro after the final whistle. (15.03.09)
Real Madrid moved to within three points of Barcelona pending their game on Sunday after beating Athletic Bilbao 2-5. Robben opened the scoring with an individualist goal midway through the first half, and Heinze headed a second and then put through his own net three minutes later. Llorente levelled the scores on the stroke of half time, but Huntelaar got two after the break, and Higuaín wrapped things up with a late penalty.
Valencia's season is going from bad to worse, and they lost more ground on the European spots after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Recreativo. Camuñas put the visitors ahead soon after the restart after combining with Adrián Colunga. But despite having Marchena sent off, the Ches saved a point thanks to a late strike from substitute Pablo Hernández. (14.03.09)