A full round of matches midweek, with Atlético Madrid extending their lead at the top of the table with a 4-0 victory over Elche on Wednesday night, their fifth win in a row. Fernando Torres took the ball virtually out of Valerio's hands for the first and Diego Alonso converted a penalty for the second on the stroke of half time after Redondo brought down Movilla, the striker's eighth of the season. The second half belonged to the Atlético substitutes, with Dani and Correa both scoring from passes by Luque to take their team on to 30 points, five clear at the top.

Second placed Xerez came from behind to beat Murcia 3-1 and record their sixth home win of the season. They left it late though, with three goals in the last ten minutes after Carrero had headed the visitors into the lead. The first came from a header by substitute Fali Montes, with Pineda putting the home side ahead three minutes from the end from Mena's pass and Viqueira getting another in injury time, again after a good run by Mena.

Recreativo moved up to third in the table with a 1-3 victory at Burgos. David opened the scoring on a counterattack and Raúl Molina added a second before Isailovoc pulled one back. However Epitié made sure of victory four minutes from the end. The result was the third home defeat in a row for Burgos, who drop to eighth in the table. Recreativo's manager Lucas Alcaraz was given a red card by an overzealous referee halfway through the match.

Oviedo dropped two places to fifth with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Numancia, their fourth scoreless draw of the season. Russian midfielder Onopko was sent off for the second time this season having only just returned from a one match ban and the home fans booed their team at the end of the match. Numancia ended the day down in twelfth place.

Racing Ferrol moved back up to fourth with a convincing 3-0 win over Leganés on Thursday night. The Gallician side took the lead early through French defender Philippe Burle (his third in two games) after the visitors failed to clear a free kick, but struggled after that until the last quarter of an hour, when they scored two more through Ismael and Fran Nogueira. It was Racing's first win in four games, and they have a chance to move in to the top three next week when they play their match in hand at Nastic.

One of the division's lowest scoring sides Eibar left everyone stunned with a 7-0 victory over Levante, one of the highest scores ever at this level. Garitano started it off with a goal in the first minute, with Sukia and Félix Guerrero getting a couple each and Oli putting through his own net with only an hour gone. Jorge Sánchez added the seventh near the end to take the Basque side up to seventh in the league. Levante drop further into the relegation zone, and new manager Pepe Balaguer will have his work cut out to turn things around.

Eibar stay a point behind Albacete, who kept up their push on the top spots with 0-1 a victory at next to bottom club Gimnastic Tarragona. Nastic had the best of the game but they lost key players Bernaus and Otxoa to injury early on, and a José goal in the first half left them down and out. Angry fans called for the head of manager Josep María Nogués at the end, and management obliged the following day, replacing him with Jaume Bonet, a long standing member of their technical staff who had been coaching the goalkeepers this season.

Another manager in trouble was Extremadura's Ortuondo after his side lost the local derby 0-4 to Badajoz, a side who had only scored four goals in twelve games before this one. Oscar Sánchez headed the visitors in to the lead just before half time, and Jorge Zafra, Molist and Bracamonte rubbed it in during the second half. Badajoz have recently changed their manager, Carlos Alhinho taking over just three games ago, and their second win in a row takes them over Levante to nineteenth place, within a point of their rivals.

Poli Ejido stay bottom, although they draw level with Nastic after drawing 1-1 at home to their Andalucian neighbours Córdoba in the only match played on Tuesday night. Whelliton gave them the lead in the tenth minute, but Sergio Cruz made it all square later in the half. Ejido's right back Sevilla was sent off in injury time for a second bookable offence.

Two of the league's bigger sides finally came good after bad starts to the season. Racing Santander got their third win in a row under caretaker manager Quique Setien, beating Sporting Gijon 2-1. Juanma headed them in to the lead, and although Uruguayan international Regueiro was sent off ten minutes before half time after picking up a second yellow card for diving, Bodipo increased their lead after the break. Alberto pulled one back for the Asturians, but too late to make a difference.

Salamanca stay ahead of Racing on goal average after beating Jaén 0-1 for their first win in six weeks. Makukula, who is being watched by several big clubs, scored the only goal of the game on the half hour mark to take them back up to ninth. This was Jaén's first defeat after recording three wins in a row, and they fall behind Salamanca and Racing, although with the same number of points.