First division - day 25

Real Madrid failed to take advantage of Barcelona's defeat, Fabio Capello's side being held to a 1-1 draw in the Bernabeu stadium by neighbours Getafe. Pulido and Beckham hit the bar at either end before Güiza latched on to Cotelo's pass to give the visitors the lead late in the first half. But Van Nistelrooy levelled the scores from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time after Abbondanzieri brought down Robinho. Madrid were unable to break down a solid defence after that though, and to add to their woes Reyes and Beckham both picked up injuries which will keep them out of Wednesday's Champions League tie with Bayern Munich.

Zaragoza moved up to fifth, just two points behind Madrid, after beating Real Sociedad 3-2. The Basque side took the lead through Herrera early on, but Aimar equalised after the restart, and Diego Milito won a dubious penalty which he converted himself to put his side in front. Ewerthon added a third before Díaz de Cerio completed the scoring in injury time.

Atlético Madrid drop down to sixth, level now on points with Recreativo who beat them 1-0 in the last match on Sunday. Sinama-Pongolle got the only goal with an early penalty after Zé Castro fouled Uche, and the French striker fired a second spot kick over the bar later in the first half.

Espanyol are in ninth spot after drawing 1-1 against Villarreal. Tamudo volleyed the Catalans into the lead from a Luis García free kick before the break, but Diego Forlán produced a spectacular strike to level the scores in the second half, and Cani missed the sitter of the night for the visitors late on.

Racing Santander are level with Espanyol though after beating Osasuna 1-0. The Cantabrians were unlucky to have an early goal disallowed, but Juanjo got the winner after Ricardo could only push out Zigic's header late in the second half, giving Miguel Angel Portugal's side their fifth home win in a row.

Betis's revival under Luis Fernández continues, and they moved away from the danger zone with a 0-1 win at Deportivo. Edu and Miguel Angel combined for Fernando to get the only goal after the restart, handing the Galicians their first defeat in 2007.

Mallorca also moved clear of the relegation spots after a 3-1 win over Levante. All the goals came in the second half, Jankovic and Víctor putting the Islanders two up before Kapo got one back. Arango wrapped things up in injury time though to leave their opponents just two points above the drop zone.

Athletic Bilbao stay in the bottom three though after losing 0-2 to Gimnàstic, who played most of the second half with ten men after Mingo was sent off. Portillo got the first from Pinilla's pass ten minutes before the interval, and Pinilla himself got the second after the restart. The win takes Nàstic off the bottom, above Real Sociedad. (04.03.07)

Sevilla came from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 in an incident packed match on Saturday evening. The result takes the Andalusians a point above their rivals at the top of the table. Ronaldinho headed Frank Rijkaard's side into the lead with a quarter of an hour gone, and they seemed to be on the way to victory when Aitor Ocio gave away a penalty and got himself sent off a few minutes later. But Palop saved Ronaldinho's spot kick, and Kerzakhov and Daniel Alves turned the scoreline around either side of half time. Barcelona ended the game with nine men after referee González Vázquez sent off Giuly and Zambrotta late on.

Third placed Valencia closed the gap with Barcelona to three points after beating Celta 1-0 earlier in the evening. Quique Flores's side could have gone behind earlier on if Cañizares had not been at his best, but Morientes got on the end of Hugo Viana's lifted pass to beat Pinto midway through the second half. The defeat leaves Celta just a point away from the drop zone pending Sunday's games. (03.03.07)