SPANISH PRIMERA LIGABARCELONA AND Villarreal failed to put the pressure on leaders Real Madrid as they dropped points yesterday.
Real Mallorca had held the champions to a 1-1 draw on Saturday but Frank Rijkaard's Barcelona side drew 0-0 at home to Getafe, while Villarreal's nine-game unbeaten run ended with a 2-0 defeat away to Sevilla.
Real have 66 points, and are seven clear of Villarreal and Barcelona tied in second and third respectively on 59 points, with seven games left to play.
Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o struck a post in the first half and Giovani dos Santos repeated the feat at the start of the second. Xavi hit an upright from a free.
Villarreal were always up against it at the Sanchez Pizjuan and were pegged back by Sevilla's Brazil striker Luis Fabiano, who raced clear to score midway through the first half. Diego Lopez gave away a penalty three minutes from time, which Mali striker Frederic Kanoute put away.
Atletico Madrid beat nine-man Almeria 6-3 to strengthen their grip on fourth place on 53 points.
Racing Santander stumbled to a 3-1 home defeat to Deportivo Coruna and are fifth on 50 points, two ahead of Sevilla in sixth.
Schalke 04, who travel to Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday trailing 1-0, remain in second place in the Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich following a 1-0 victory over Hansa Rostock in Gelsenkirchen on Saturday.
