A late Raúl goal gave Real Madrid a 0-1 victory over Valencia, taking them seven points clear of Deportivo at the top of the table. It was Raúl's second in three days, and it came after Cañizares had blocked a header from substitute Morientes, Raúl tucking the rebound past the hapless keeper. Valencia stay in fourth place having now lost their last three games against the teams above them.

Bad weather on Sunday in all of Spain except the East coast, with rain in most places and even snow in Vitoria. That may be why three penalties were missed by teams that went on to lose, starting with Luque of Mallorca. Valladolid's Bizzarri stopped his spot kick, and Fernando scored twice afterwards, the second being the only penalty of the day that went in.

Oulare put one wide for Las Palmas and saw his team lose to a late Javi Moreno goal against Alavés, and Celta's Cavallero saved a vital penalty from Osasuna's Sabino to give his team their first win in eleven games after Mostovoi had scored the only goal earlier on.

John Toshack's Real Sociedad won the relegation battle 1-4 against Racing Santander to leave their opponents at the bottom of the table. New signings Llorente and Julio César gave them the lead, and although Arzeno pulled one back at the end of the first half, Khokhlov and De Paula added two more in the second half.

Oviedo went back to winning ways at home beating Numancia 3-0, with Oli on great form making a goal for debutant Geni and scoring the last after Iván Ania had added a second early in the second half.

Villarreal's new signings Palermo and Schelotto were left at home as their side went to Rayo Vallecano, but one of the men they are due to replace, Craioveanu, got the only goal of the game to take the team up to seventh. (28.01.01)

Deportivo were deprived of a victory at Bilbao by a controversial Larrazábal penalty in the second half on Saturday night. Earlier Larrainzar had given the home side the lead, but two goals in three minutes by Makaay in the first half turned the game around. The 2-2 draw leaves Deportivo in second place, four points behind Real Madrid. Third placed Barcelona could only draw as well, 0-0 at Málaga, to stay a point behind Depor.

Espanyol completed a bad week for Zaragoza, beating them 5-0. Velamazán got two, and the other scorers were Sergio and the brothers Roger and Oscar. Espanyol play Barça in the cup next Tuesday. (27.01.01)